The rowdy teenagers suddenly became quiet when they climbed onto the bus and took a seat behind the driver.

They knew the story of Rosa Parks, whose visage sat immortalized in stone on the 1955-era bus in the middle of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tenn.

Still, the feelings of resentment, shame, outrage and disbelief boiled over when the driver – re-enacting the treatment they would have received in Memphis in the 1950s – screamed at them to get to the back of the bus.

The five youngsters from South Los Angeles high schools are part of the USC Trio Program’s Upward Bound Math/Science. They were in Memphis last month as participants in ThinkQuest, a national competition to build the best Web site, accompanied by Cecilia Carbajal, an assistant director of USC’s program, and instructor Oscar Menjivar.

In front of 2,000 peers, the students were given gold medals for their work on “The Social Impact of Comics,” a Web site that examines the role of comic books, which can be seen at http://depts.washington.edu/trio/quest/awards/gold08.html. In total, USC Trio teams took home medals in five of the 10 categories in the national competition among 105 schools.

Yet the students learned so much more from this competition. Some flew on a plane and experienced 20-degree weather for the first time. They also gave a presentation on their site in front of other students from Kentucky, Kansas and Hawaii.

Their first stop in Memphis was the Lorraine Motel – now home to the National Civil Rights Museum – where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.

“It touched my heart,” said Alan Esquives, a sophomore at Manual Arts High School. “We saw how in the past people used to get beat up because of their color and how Martin Luther King changed the whole world. And there we were, room 306, where they killed him. It really touched me. I truly believe they were fighting for all.”

The story has come full circle in many ways. The youngsters were in Memphis because of King’s legacy. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson and Congress began creating programs to help low-income and first-generation students overcome class and social barriers to higher education. Today TRIO programs are in more than 1,200 colleges, universities and agencies across the country.

The USC TRIO programs, which include four Upward Bound programs, serves more than 2,000 students in four middle schools and 12 high schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Last year, 93 percent of TRIO seniors were accepted to post-secondary institutions.

“He wouldn’t stop. He just talked about everything,” said Alan’s proud mother Heidy Rivera, a medical assistant. “These things motivate him to keep on studying, to keep on going. The most important thing is that he’s getting knowledge. His biggest dream is to become a doctor. He knows sooner or later, it’s going to happen.”

When asked about his dream, Alan responded without hesitation.

“I will succeed and be a doctor one day.”

The gold-medal winning team next will compete in the Oracle Thinkquest Web site challenge in San Francisco and could bring home laptop computers as a prize in June.

Visit the all the honored websites.

Gold Award: “Comic Books”
The purpose for the website is to demonstrate audience that comic books are not just a form of art by using different eras of popular superheroes.

Group Leader: Brian Bravo (Canyon HIGH SCHOOL)
Group Members:
Raul Chavez (Los Angeles HIGH SCHOOL
Alan Esquives (Manual Arts HIGH SCHOOL)
Elizabeth Esteves (Lucerne Valley HIGH SCHOOL)
Alison Martinez (Belmont HIGH SCHOOL)

From left, Bryan Bravo, Alan Esquives, Elizabeth Esteves, Raul Chavez and Alison Martinez

Silver Award: “Amazon Rain Forest”
The purpose for the website is to educated people about the Amazon Rainforest and its uncontrolled deforestation.

Group Leader: Nykeemah McClendon (32nd St. Math/Science Magnet)
Group Members:
Cristina Bonilla (Washington Prep HIGH SCHOOL)
Pablo Dominguez (Belmont HIGH SCHOOL)
Lenny Gonzales (Central Valley HIGH SCHOOL),
Edward Ramirez (Loyola HIGH SCHOOL)
& Marco Orantes (Manual Arts HIGH SCHOOL)

Bronze Award: “Physics of Skateboarding”
The website informs teaches and students about how physics and geometry play a role in skateboarding.

Group Leaders: Fanny Cruz & Luis Alvarez
Group Members:
Larry Gant (Washington Prep)
Erick Juarez (Manual Arts HIGH SCHOOL),
Searit Huluf (Los Angeles HIGH SCHOOL) &
Eli Vargas (Loyola HIGH SCHOOL)


Bronze Award: “Salmonella”
The purpose for the website is to educate people about the Salmonella Bacteria.

Group Leader: Eric Evangelista (32nd St. Math/Science Magnet)
Group Members:
Donna Cruz (Belmont HIGH SCHOOL),
Keyla Alarcon (Belmont HIGH SCHOOL), Kevin Fuentes (San Gabriel HIGH SCHOOL),
Kendall Hernandez (Washington Prep)
Danny Soto (Bravo Magnet HIGH SCHOOL)

Honor Award: “Impact of Advertisement”
The purpose for the website is to inform people about the impact of advertisement.
Group Leader: Akia Mckell
Group Members: Noe Cruz (Belmont HIGH SCHOOL)
Leonel Fuenes (Manual Arts HIGH SCHOOL)
Maria Ibe (Belmont HIGH SCHOOL)
Brian Jacinto (North Hollywood HIGH SCHOOL)
Zennay Zepeda (Downtown Business Magnet)


Info about the program: This year five educational websites from USC-TRIO Programs (Upward Bound Math/Science) competed against more than 100 teams from across the United States.
In this program, students participate in a summer academic program where they take college level classes in Journalism and Engineering in addition to developing educational websites to submit to a competition.
Developing the websites consisted of intensive academic research at the USC Libraries, the internet and conducting interviews with experts in the selected fields. During the process, students learned how to use and apply computer software’s programs such as: Word, Dream weaver, Flash, and Photoshop. Students are coached by Oscar Menjivar (LATTC-Instructor) and recent alumni who worked with the program.
Students develop strong teamwork abilities along with effective communication skills, goal setting to create accountability measures in order to make sure that everyone was doing their part in the project. Each group of six students had a student leader that provided guidance, conflict resolution and motivation.
Extra Information & Quotes

"To have five projects in the TRIO ThinkQuest finals is unprecedented and it speaks directly to the dedication, creativity and energy of our amazing TRIO students and staff", Kristen Soares, Interim Vice President of Civic and Community Relations.

“Making this website was one of the best experiences I ever had” Elizabeth Esteves (Lucerne Valley HIGH SCHOOL)

“This website took a lot of energy, but it was fun during the process” Danny Soto (Bravo Magnet HIGH SCHOOL)
“We had good times together while doing this website” Maria Ibe (Belmont HIGH SCHOOL)
“Preparing for this competition was unpredictable and extremely exiting at the same time. We struggle trying to find access to computer labs on a daily basis, but our students and staff members’ dedication surpassed any expectations” Cecilia Carbajal, Upward Bound Math/Science- Assistant Director
TRIO ThinkQuest (TTQ) (Research and Web-Development) Data from University Of Washington
• 105 teams and 307 students participated
• 80 sites were submitted for judging (5- from USC-TRIO)
o 15 awarded Quarterfinalist (5- from USC-TRIO)
o 11 awarded Semifinalist (5- from USC-TRIO)
Final Results:
• 4 awarded Honorable Mention Finalist (1- from USC-TRIO)
• 3 awarded Bronze (2- from USC-TRIO)
• 2 awarded Silver (1- from USC-TRIO)
• 2 awarded Gold (1- from USC-TRIO)

Photos by Cecilia Carbajal