The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) is the parent organization of Equipando Padres, a program that is dedicated to providing parents and guardians of first-generation college students the knowledge and tools to support their children in earning engineering degrees.
On February 18, SHPE announced the first six offerings for this pilot program in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The statement said that over 26 parents completed the course, with an additional 24 volunteers, facilitators, and SHPE staff in attendance. This included special support from two Universidad de Puerto Rico campuses – Mayagüez and Ponce. During March, other pilots were held in Miami, FL, and Los Angeles, CA.
Recently, SHPE gave a big shout-out to Raytheon Technologies for their support of the program, conceived by Dr. Kimberly D. Douglas and built in partnership with Raytheon Technologies. The program launched in the fall of 2021.
According to SHPE, the program was developed and executed under SHPE Director Dr. Dayna Martínez and her team members – Enrique Guzmán, Liliana González, and Yajaira de La Paz.
The statement said SHPE plans to deploy Equipando Padres University nationwide this spring. Future dates include Hartford, CO, on May 6 and Charlotte, NC, on May 20, as well as a virtual session.
According to SHPE, the Equipando Padres program, supported by Raytheon Technologies, began by delivering one-hour workshops with virtual pre-college events. At the same time, SHPE worked to develop content to launch Equipando Padres University.
Equipando Padres University is a multi-year parent and caregiver experience that will parallel their child’s college experience in earning an engineering degree.
SHPE’s first offering in Equipando Padres University is a half-day experience for adult family members with children interested in pursuing engineering. It is delivered by engineering professionals, students, parents, guardians, and staff to support caregivers who have students currently interested in exploring engineering careers.
The first Equipando Padres University offering focuses on three topics: Why College, Choosing a College and Preparing for College Visits.
HLPUSD parents gained insight into STEM college and career pathways, while students participated in a introduction to music production, engineering and coding, during the Equipando Padres University and Meta Code Remix workshops. Please visit https://t.co/LM4A6oXlRf to read more! pic.twitter.com/6pnlIbkIzk
— Hacienda La Puente USD (@hlpusd) April 5, 2023
Thanks to Equipando Padres providing the parents of first-generation-to-college Hispanic students the knowledge & tools to better support their children earning engineering degrees. The conversation & training was awesome.TY @CTEMiami @hghs_gladiators https://t.co/2R5ARxuI4j pic.twitter.com/XPwr7KvT0U
— Lupe Diaz (@drldiaz) March 11, 2023
Introducing the Equipando Padres Program with @RaytheonTech! The program will focus on supporting parents of first-generation and low socio-economic status engineering students to better help their children earning engineering degrees. #RaytheonTech #shpehttps://t.co/wT5SfySUIq
— SHPE National (@SHPE) October 5, 2021
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