ATLANTA, Feb. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T's* Hispanic/Latino Association, HACEMOS, will host its annual HACEMOS National High Technology Day in 31 cities across the country on Thursday, Feb. 28.

Now in its 15^th year, HACEMOS National High Technology Day engages students at risk of dropping out of high school in hands-on technical activities and interactive workshops designed to encourage them to consider careers in science and technology. This year's event is expected to host about 1,800 teens in 33 cities across the country.

In more than half of the participating chapters, HACEMOS will collaborate with AT&T Aspire Mentoring Academy, the key community engagement program of AT&T's $350 million investment in Aspire, which is focused on high school success leading to college and career readiness. Through Aspire Mentoring Academy, AT&T employees are engaging in their communities and providing 1 million hours of mentoring to students at risk of dropping out of high school.

HACEMOS National High Technology Day is designed to give students insight into the many opportunities available in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields—areas where Latinos and other minorities have historically been underrepresented. HACEMOS aims to build stronger communities by providing positive role models and demonstrating the importance of education to achieve success in life.

"We're thrilled to once again offer our future leaders real-world insight and guidance by offering them full access to our company's senior leaders, employees, and program speakers," said Delia Hernandez, National President of HACEMOS, the Hispanic/Latino Association of AT&T.  "Careers in science and engineering are extremely rewarding and we hope to spark our participants' interest in these fields."

The theme for this year's National High Tech Day is Awaken Your Dreams, intended to expose student participants to opportunities in technology fields, the prevalence of technology in their future and the importance of specialized skills and higher education. 

Programming will vary by location and include an introduction to circuitry and workshops featuring cyber security, mobility and AT&T U-verse^® technologies. In addition, there will be specialty tours, keynotes from top AT&T executives and students will connect with other high schools using AT&T Telepresence Solution®, AT&T's advanced, high definition videoconferencing service.  Students will also have the opportunity to simulate the dangers of texting while driving through AT&T's It Can Wait campaign.

HACEMOS National High Tech Day will broadcast two live national webcasts featuring the youth engagement company CoolSpeak. Motivational speakers from CoolSpeak include Carlos Ojeda, Jr. in Middletown, NJ, Lilyan Prado Carillo in Dallas and Ernesto Mejia in Chicago. They will deliver messages of education, leadership, community activism and entrepreneurship on the webcasts, available to participating HACEMOS chapters and schools nationwide.

In Miami, the event will feature Fernando Fiore, an Emmy award winning broadcaster, who is the host of "Republica Deportiva" (Sports Republic), the top-rated weekly sports entertainment program airing on the Univision Network.  Mr. Fiore covers sporting events around the world for Univision Deportes, the sports arm of Univision Communications Inc.

HACEMOS chapters will also feature remarks and presentations by various AT&T leaders including Carmen Nava, Senior VP – Customer Experience; Marian Croak, Senior VP – Applications & Services Infrastructure; David Christopher - Chief Marketing Officer; Marissa Shorenstein, President – New York; and Rodney Smith, President – Connecticut.  Jose M. Gutierrez, President – Wholesale Solutions, and Glenn Lurie, President Emerging Enterprise and Partnership, made significant contributions to support the event.

This year's event will link about 1,800 high school students from close to 70 schools in:

• Atlanta, Georgia
• Austin, Texas
• Charlotte, North Carolina
• Chicago, Illinois
• Corpus Christi, Texas
• Dallas, Texas
• Fresno, California
• Ft. Worth, Texas
• Houston, Texas
• Joplin, Missouri
• Kansas City, Missouri
• Lake Mary, Florida
• Los Angeles, California
• Lubbock, Texas
• Mesa, Arizona
• Miami, Florida
• Middletown, New Jersey
• New Haven, Connecticut
• New York, New York
• Norman, Oklahoma
• Orange County, California
• Sacramento, California
• San Antonio, Texas
• San Diego, California
• San Juan, Puerto Rico
• San Ramon, California
• Southfield, Michigan
• St. Louis, Missouri
• Tampa, Florida
• Washington, D.C.
• Whitehall, Pennsylvania

AT&T's Hispanic/Latino Association HACEMOS, with approximately 5,000 members, recognizes the importance of educating Hispanic youth and preparing them for a technology-intensive future. Its members are dedicated to developing and supporting technology education projects in communities where they live and work. For more information about National High Technology Day, please visit HACEMOS.

AT&T is deeply committed to the Hispanic community and organizations that support education and community vitality. For more information please visit espanol.att.com. 

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

About AT&T
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