Non-profit honors 65 PC-MEP graduates

SAN JOSÉ, Calif. (Aug. 5, 2004) - 65 minority students in the age group of 10-16 will proudly graduate from Unity Care Group’s Pre-College Minority Engineering Program on Friday, Aug. 13, with a better understanding of science and math-based careers. The graduation ceremony will be held in Room 189 of the San José State University Engineering Building from 7 to 9 p.m. Ann Johnson, director of engineering at Silicon Graphics Inc., will be the keynote speaker. SGI, the world's leader in high-performance computing, visualization, and storage, has been a supporter of the engineering program for the past three years.

The Pre-College Minority Engineering Program, or PC-MEP, is an educational program that introduces students to the latest technologies by encouraging them to explore, design and build technology-based projects. It is hosted by the San José State University Engineering Department during the summer months and local middle and high schools during the school year.

This summer students researched and learned about different technologies like semiconductor manufacturing, computer networking, software and digital video production. 27 students participated in the first summer session that lasted from June 21 till July 16 and 39 students attended the second session from July 19 till August 12.

PC-MEP is one of the many youth development programs of Unity Care Group Inc., a community-based non-profit youth development agency serving Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. Unity Care’s mission statement is to provide quality youth programs for the purpose of creating healthier communities through life-long partnerships.

For more information on PC-MEP please contact Shon Ellerbe at 408-971-9822 or by e-mailing him at shon@unitycare.org

STORY SOURCE: Unity Care Group Inc., 237 Race Street, San José, CA - 95126.

CONTACTS: Media: Mansi Bhatia, 408-971-9822, mansi@unitycare.org; Program: Shon Ellerbe, 408-971-9822, shon@unitycare.org