Continental Airlines Expands ‘Volando al Futuro’ Educational Partnership.

Continental Airlines has expanded its “Volando al Futuro/Flying Toward the Future” partnership with Upward Bound, adding Miami- and Chicago-based projects to the list of educational programs that will receive airline tickets for Hispanic
high school students and their parents to make college visits.

Upward Bound programs at Florida International University in Miami and at Columbia College in Chicago will participate in “Volando al Futuro” during academic year 2003-2004, joining programs in Houston, New York City, San Antonio, and Los Angeles. Upward Bound is designed to prepare low-income first-generation college-bound students for the college experience.

Last year 12 Hispanic Upward Bound participants and 12 parents or teachers received the “Volando al Futuro” Continental tickets to visit distant campuses to evaluate whether they wanted to leave their hometowns to go to college. All of the students later enrolled in the colleges they visited.

“Our students sometimes give up their college dreams because their parents are concerned about their moving away from the family,” said Sofia Santiesteban, Director, Upward Bound, Florida International University, Miami. “Hispanic families tend to be very close. Continental’s ‘Volando al Futuro’ program gives parents a greater sense of comfort about their children’s college experience.”

Upward Bound program offices are located on college campuses or in community organizations. In addition to the Miami and Chicago partners, Continental’s “Volando al Futuro/Flying Toward the Future” program will work with Upward Bound programs at the following locations during the 2003-2004 academic year: Houston Community College, Houston, Texas; Columbia University, New York City; Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas; TELACU, Los Angeles, Calif.; and the Latin American Youth Center/George Washington University, Washington, D.C. Upward Bound administrators determine the selection process for the Continental tickets.

“‘Volando al Futuro’ makes it possible for high-achieving young Hispanic students to experience a world of educational opportunities they otherwise might not have had,” said Maria Cristina Osorio, Manager of Public Relations, Latin America, Continental Airlines.