The Lone Star College-North Harris office of Student Outreach and Recruitment (S.O.A.R.), along with the college’s Filipino Young Professionals (FYP) group, will host two events in October, PATAK Conference and PATAK Filipino Festival. The events, which coincide with Filipino Heritage Month, are designed to create a talent pipeline for leadership and success among Filipino youth in Houston. PATAK, which means drip or drop in Tagalog, is also an acronym for the event’s theme of Pilipino Americans, Taasan Ating Kabataan or Filipino Americans, Uplift Our Youth.

The PATAK Conference will be held on Saturday, October 1, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m in the conference center at LSC-North Harris’s Student Services Building. It is a free event for youth ages 12 to 21 and their parents.

“We expect PATAK to provide drops of knowledge about educational, career and life choices to Houston’s Filipino youth,” said Patlindsay “Pinky” Catalla, a recruitment specialist at LSC-North Harris and one of the event’s organizers. "Although Filipino Americans is one of largest Asian American ethnic population in the United States, there is a lack of educational and cultural resources focusing on their success. We’ve designed these events specifically to address this need. It is the only current educational program specific to Filipino families in Houston area."

Highlights of the conference include: free breakfast, lunch, and t-shirts, college preparation, learning how to pay for college, a career exploration fair, breakout sessions with FYP mentors, and more than $1,000 in scholarship opportunities.

While the conference will focus on educational opportunities and resources, the PATAK Filipino Festival will celebrate the Filipino culture. The festival will take place on Saturday, October 15, in the courtyard at LSC-North Harris and adds a community service cornerstone to the PATAK program.

The Filipino Festival is a free event and the public is welcome. Unique festival highlights include: authentic Filipino cuisine fundraiser (cash only), $200 youth talent competition, adobo cooking contest among local Filipino restaurants, balut and longonisa eating contest, Tinikling battle, amateur DJ battle, an arts and crafts show, chess tournaments and traditional games, a farmers market with homegrown products, Filipino martial arts, and a myriad of Filipino community resources. More than 1,000 people are expected to attend.

For more information or interested in registering for the PATAK Conference or volunteering opportunities, students and community members can do so online at PatakSeries.blogspot.com, or by calling 281.765.7980.

Lone Star College-North Harris is located at 2700 W.W. Thorne Drive, one-half mile south of FM 1960 East, between Aldine-Westfield and Hardy Roads. For more information about the college, call 281.618.5400 or visit LoneStar.edu/NorthHarris.

With more than 75,000 students in credit classes for fall 2011, and a total enrollment of more than 90,000, Lone Star College System is the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area, and the fastest-growing community college system in Texas. Dr. Richard Carpenter is the chancellor of LSCS, which consists of five colleges including LSC-CyFair, LSC-Kingwood, LSC-Montgomery, LSC-North Harris, and LSC-Tomball, six centers, LSC-University Park, LSC-University Center at Montgomery, LSC-University Center at University Park, Lone Star Corporate College, and LSC-Online. To learn more visit LoneStar.edu.

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