The University of Toledo will host the Latino Youth Summit from 9:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, May 15 and 16 for area high school and middle school students.

Junior high students will attend May 15, while high school students will visit May 16.

Each year, more than 500 Latino junior high and high school students visit campus to learn more about the different educational opportunities UT provides along with other postsecondary options.

A goal of the summit is to equip students and families with information and resources for college planning and different career paths that are available through sessions of pre-high school and pre-college course work.

“This is our 16^th annual Latino Youth Summit,” said Aleiah Jones, program coordinator in the Office of Multicultural Student Success at UT and committee chair of the event. “It has a legacy in our community as being the largest gathering of Latino youth in northwest Ohio.”

The summit aims to encourage students to strive for success and a promising future while instilling a sense of pride for their heritage. It also seeks to address the Latino achievement gap in northwest Ohio, according to Jones.

During this event, students will participate in hands-on activities in different fields such as pharmacy, nursing and engineering, and learn about educational opportunities both at UT and abroad.

High school students who register and attend the event are encouraged to apply for the President’s Summit Award worth $2,000 annually. Ten of these scholarships are available and will include room and board for each recipient’s first year.

This year’s keynote speaker is Josué “JQ” Quiñones, an educator and life coach. His address is 10 a.m. in the Thompson Student Union Auditorium on both days of the summit.

Quiñones was born and raised in the Hunts Point area of the South Bronx in New York. He will share his story about attending college to create a better life for himself. He is dedicated to inspiring and providing motivation to audiences along with encouraging them to live a “quality lifestyle built for success” and has spoken to more than 20,000 students and professionals.

“As he frequently shares, his life experience has led him to truly believe what you actively and consistently engage in, or surround yourself with, is a determining factor of success,” Jones said.

This ideology and lifestyle led Quiñones to coin the phrase: “Success is a lifestyle!”