(David Gonzalez)
On Saturday, the Upward Bound program hosted a field trip to West LA College for students to learn about internship opportunities and find a passion for new career fields. Upward Bound’s college program is free to join and it gives Hamilton students the opportunity to find their dream college.
At the beginning of the field trip, while all students and staff walked to the main area where all different kinds of stands were located, the college program educators set up a booth for students to visit. Some booths consisted of people explaining climate change, financial aid, reptiles, cleaning programs, and more. Students were then able to receive gift bags with prizes in them from many different booths if they did a survey. They also had the opportunity to create their own shirts.
The reptile booth caught the attention of many students. Reptile expert Susan Estrada held a snake and showed off other reptiles, including a turtle, a Madagascar hissing cockroach, a bearded dragon, and a prehensile-tailed skink. Many students got the opportunity to hold the snake around their neck as well.
(David Gonzalez)
A majority of the animals were rescued from abandoned schools and other places that couldn’t care for the reptiles.
“If you were to have them here, they would be considered illegal to have as a pet,” Ms. Estrada said about the prehensile-tailed skink.
Ms. Wilson, the college educator for Upward Bound who organized the trip, said she appreciated how many different vendors offered intriguing and meaningful information to everyone at the event.
“When it comes to Saturday Academies I love thinking outside the box and sparking students’ interest in the unknown,” Ms. Wilson said. “This field trip was just that.”
