Before coming to UC Berkeley, senior Xavier Salazar was not on the path to getting a college education.

Salazar dropped out of high school as a sophomore with a 1.4 GPA. But after his sister encouraged him to continue his education, he took the initiative to complete his diploma at a continuing school.

Salazar said he and other ethnic minority students at his high school in Marin County were placed in remedial classes although they were academically capable.

"We were really put down by the school," he said.

Hoping to help high school students facing similar educational challenges, Salazar was one of the founders of Spread the Word, a UC Berkeley student group that aims to mentor disadvantaged students and educate them about ways to go to college.

Started in the fall semester as a project in the Education 190 class at UC Berkeley, the group makes trips every few Fridays to Richmond High School.

UC Berkeley junior Latieshia Flowers, another member of Spread the Word, said the group selected Richmond High because of statistics from a California Department of Education report.

Richmond High was found to have a high percentage of low-income families and a high drop-out rate for the 2006-07 school year, according to the report.

The report stated that 132 out of 1,677 students at the high school dropped out in the 2006-07 school year.

"We were trying to find a school that was predominantly low income, (that) didn't really have a lot of qualified teachers," Flowers said. "Basically, a school that was lacking a lot of support."

At Berkeley High School, the report showed that only 60 out of 3,384 students dropped out in the 2006-07 school year.

"We decided that Berkeley High School did not need us as much as Richmond High School," said UC Berkeley junior Dannielle Glover, a member of the group.

Jessica Price, an instructor with Teach for America, which sends teachers to Richmond High, allows Spread the Word members to teach her classes every few Fridays. Price said the members faced barriers to receiving a quality education themselves, such as exposure to drugs and gangs.

She said Richmond High does not have enough security, adding that gang members manage to sneak in to talk to students they have recruited even though police officers patrol the lobby.

"It seems like we have a lot (of security), but we don't," Price said.

One aspect of college opportunities taught to students is how to acquire financial aid, which members taught through a game they had developed that was similar to the Monopoly board game.

Richmond High freshman Genesis Castillo said the group showed her that financial aid could help her pursue higher education.

"I can go to college and be somebody whether I have the money or not," she said.

Chela Delgado, one of the graduate student instructors for the Education 190 class, said Spread the Word was "a particularly committed, cohesive group" and did well in the class.

The group is not the first to continue its project after the assignment it was created for was completed, according to UC Berkeley education professor John Hurst, who founded the education minor.

He said other UC Berkeley programs, including the SAGE Scholars Program, began in an education class.

Flowers said the group is looking to get involved with more students at Richmond High and expand to other high schools in Richmond, Oakland and other Bay Area cities.

"The ultimate goal is for our program to be in all the high schools in the area that are struggling," she said.

Tags: RICHMOND HIGH SCHOOL