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Technical college recruits Hispanics

• Albany Technical College reaches out to the community’s Hispanics.

Joshua Brown

ALBANY — A handful of Albany’s Hispanic population recently heard about some of their educational opportunities at Albany Technical College Wednesday during an outreach luncheon.

Admissions Dean Lisandra De Jesus said she and her superiors decided to do some sort of outreach to the Hispanics of Albany and came up with the idea for the luncheon.

“The purpose is to inform the community of the great programs we have available to them, explain the admission process, learn from the community what are their needs and how we can meet those needs” De Jesus said.

Arturo Bello of Leesburg said he attended the event to find some job possibilities. He worked for Eastern Airlines until it went out of business in the early 1990s and has held several other jobs since then.

For the last year, he said, he’s been the housekeeper of the family, fixing septic tanks and learning about pesticides in relation to house upkeep. But now, he said, he wants a career to pursue.

“I just want to make a living,” the Puerto Rico native said. “My motto is ‘If you want me to clean toilets, I’ll clean toilets. If you want me to paint buildings, I’ll paint buildings. If you want me to mow the grass, I’ll mow the grass.

“The main thing is to have a desire of learning and to put your thoughts together and just do it.”

Colombia native Alejandra Elliott, who has lived in the United States for about a year and a half, said she came to the event to network with other Latinos.

As the director of the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce’s International Festival, she wanted to attend the event to find people who might be interested in participating in the festival.

About 10 Hispanics attended the luncheon, which mostly provided information about Albany Tech and the programs it offers that might be of interest to Hispanics.

De Jesus said she was happy with the turnout and hoped to make the event biannual, with the goal of increasing attendance each time.

“Our goal is to enhance and to continue to provide qualified individuals to the Albany workforce for economic development,” she said.

Hispanics looking for more educational opportunities could call her office at (229) 430-3520, she said.

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