Recently the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) visited Delta, Colorado on April 25, 2023 to attend the Outdoor Industry Sweitzer Lake Excursion. LULAC is an organization that teaches and celebrates the Latin American community and focuses on what they can do for their community. Krista Drendal is the faculty leader of the club. Current Members in leadership positions consist of Greg Blanco (Member), Maria Sabas (Vice President), Alexia Serrano (Vice President), Brian Perez (President), and many others.

     The Switzler Lake is a day-use nature, picnic, and water recreational area where you can go fishing, biking, paddle boarding, swimming, boating, camping, and hunting.

     For this event, students from Gunnison, Delta, Montrose, and Ridgeway school districts interacted with regional experts like the Nature Connection, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, US Forest Service, and Rigs Outfitters.  A River Watch representative facilitated the experiences to teach students about career pathways available to them in the outdoor and recreation industries.

      Kleber Flores, Greg Blanco, Maria Sabas Aguilar, Dayna Dominges Castro, Evania Lopez, Yadira Canare, Genesis Mendez, and Angel Morales all went on this rainy trip, and had fun participating in activities like fishing, mountain biking, archery, tree coring, and listening to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife, US Forest Service, and RiverWatch representative talk about their careers and how they got to that career.

     “It was good and mostly rainy and the activities were fun like archery,” Kleber Flores said.

This trip was hosted by the Western Slope Schools Career Collaborative. The Western Slope Career Collaborative is an organization that aims to bridge the gaps between high school, college, and careers for students through shared programming and resources between Delta, Gunnison, Montrose, and Ridgway school districts, Technical College of the Rockies, Colorado Mesa University, Western Colorado University, and industry partners.