On Nov. 9, Spanish teacher Amy Peddie and 22 students went to the Indiana Latino Institute Education Summit downtown at the JW Marriott hotel. When they entered the room, tables and booths lined the hall, each offering different clubs, organizations, or opportunities for the students attending. Workshops for students offered at this year’s summit included Financial Aid Literacy, STEM careers, FAFSA Navigation Tips and Life During and After College, according to the Indiana Latino Institute website.

The Summit is designed to help latino high school students get into and succeed at the collegiate level. By attending different workshops, hearing motivational speakers and interacting with representatives of different colleges, latino students learn how to best succeed after high school. Students have gone to the summit for the last five to ten years, according to Peddie.

“It’s kind of changed over the years. It’s gone from like a workshop (where) it used to have workshops that the kids could sign up and go to. Now it’s more like it’s an information session,” Peddie said. “I’m not sure which is better, but it’s been very interesting to see how it’s changed over the years.”

The Summit also featured speakers such as motivational speaker Carlos Ojeda Jr., Rafael Sanchez from RTV6 and President/CEO of Indiana Power and Light Rafael Sanchez.

“(Ojeda Jr.) had some funny moments and some sad moments that made me want to cry and added a lot of humor,” sophomore Isah Vargas said.

The atmosphere of the Summit helped add to the experience, with a “positive, upbeat” feeling according to Peddie and Vargas.

“It was very enlightening and you could just see everyone and see how many people (are) in the community,” Vargas said.