The long-awaited milestone celebration of The Puente Project's 40th anniversary took place in the midst of a statewide faculty professional development conference held early March, in Riverside, CA.
This conference gathered hundreds of Puente practitioners from middle school, high school, and community colleges throughout California for three days of training workshops, dynamic keynote speakers, and community building. The conference theme was Healing and Justice in Education: Recommitting to Puente’s Mission thorugh the Equity Framework. Julia Vergara, Executive Director, opened the conference included other dynamic speakers including Dr. Christopher Emdin, Co-founders Pat McGrath and Felix Galaviz, Reyna Grande and Dr. Laura Rendon. Since 1981, The Puente Project has worked tirelessly to transform the educational landscape for historically underserved students in California Community Colleges. Ten years later, Puente expanded to High School campuses expanding the area of reach for college access. More recently, Puente's secondary programs have also expanded to include a growing number of middle schools. Campuses throughout the state of California have seen student success soar for over 40 years, and The Puente Project continues to grow in numbers and offerings.
