welcome to "comunidad del valle." today we look at maria key vargas who are planning another summer concert in san jose. plus cash for your college. this is your "comunidad del valle." we begin today with some exciting things happening over at cet. the center for employment training. our guest from cet, let's start with the renovations. you're going through a whole renaissance, if you will there. >> yes. >> what's happening there? >> so, cet, you know, since its

establishment back in the '60s our major mission has always been to service folks to get back out into the workforce. and, since then we're talking now close to 50 years, the building that we're currently in happens to be a building that has been around, really, since the 19-unders. and it's about that time that it goes through its face-lift. we get new classes ready for our future workforce. it's massive what we have coming up. >> here are some classroom shots from your school and some of the on-site training that you provide. basically you do give folks a second chance. proud to say my brother, older brother and my sister were both graduates of cet programs, and are now -- that they now have great careers. >> awesome. >> so the history, and the instruction there at cet kind of doesn't compare because it's really second to none. >> right, right. and what's great is that we

continue to service community whether they're working in the field, whether it's community that just graduated high school. whether they just are unemployed. and our biggest target right now are also the women. women pursuing nontraditional. that it's okay to pursue something different. because just because rosie the riveter is not here today, it's okay. >> at cet you are training women. >> we are training women. we have those training dollars. we've been fortunate to have a lot of awesome donors and supporters who believed in what we do. and because now we are nationally acrcredited through the council on occupational education these are opportunities that are endless. >> what does that national accreditation mean to you and to your students? >> it means a lot. it validates the training that we offer. not only are students coming in to get employment -- i'm sorry, just the training. but they're actually we're

declaring that yes, we will assist you with employment assistance. and yes we do have a high percentage of our students getting employed after they graduate. which is huge. it's a part of our mission. >> our next guest is talking about cash for college but you also provide some sort of a funding assistance, if you will. >> we do. >> for those who can't afford -- >> we do. thankfully we do offer financial aid and we also offer other grants. we do have a private donors who have provided us funding dollars. so, it's just a question of just coming in, meeting with our advisers. they go over everything. they go over your income, and if, for example, if you still can't find a job, or if you're looking for other opportunities, or you're looking for something new, come on in, it's a nurturing environment, it's a beautiful environment. it's -- it's a great place to start something different, something new, whether it's hvac, electrician, culinary arts. you would think that you have to go to the real expensive place.

you don't. you know, there's some places i can't tell you how many companies hire directly from cet because they know that the quality, and the student that's coming out from an organization that our main focus is to get them to prepare for the workforce, and ultimately to become self-sufficient. >> some folks might get -- they might have the amount of patience that i have, which is very little. but what does that mean if i'm looking to get trained on a certain occupation, how long are these programs? i mean, how soon, if i really apply myself how soon can i go out -- >> if you apply yourself every day on time you can be finished within six months. >> wow. >> and we're talking about that's about 900 hours. the great thing is it is full time. and you can start any time. meaning, if you decide tomorrow you know what? i want to do something now. i want to get started, i want to go meet with leslie or myself or

one of our staff, you just come in, we can get you started. it's a real simple process. there is no pretesting. there is no prerequisite. but, yeah, it's as simple as just coming in and we can get you started right away. >> i'm asking all the questions. let's show the information about go ahead and give us whatever other input you'd like or any final thoughts that you might have for our viewers. >> well, we welcome the community to come on by to cet. we have a craft fest that's happening on march 15th. we have our massive free lunch that's going to happen in may. and we also have several other activities. so you can visit us on our website cetweb.org but most important i highly recommend that you come in to our campus. we're in the heart of downtown san jose on 701 vine street and you can come in any time. you don't need an appointment. we're open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. >> the crab feast is kind of luring. >> yes, yes. and it's delicious. you know, and it's -- our chef

is also a cet alumni. but it is our annual, and we're also have like i mentioned, several other activities, we host annually at cet. we are, as well, the leader in training our workers. >> go back and look at the website cet.org and find out all the opportunities that you might make yourself available to, and also make sure that you attend some of these events that are upcoming here at cet. thank you very much for training our unemployed out there and those who are looking for more up. up next on "comunidad del valle," cash for college. stay with us.

she's back with her annual bag of goodies for our viewers here on "comunidad del valle." sonia ramos is with cal soap and she brings with her lots of money in scholarships and grants. welcome back to the show. >> thank you for having me. >> tell us about cal soap is and what it does and who it helps? >> cal soap is the california

student opportunity access program. we work in san jose amongst other regions throughout california to help citizens who are low income first generation students to get to college. we want to make sure that students and families are informed about all of the various options available to them. and help them along the way in terms of the process for preparing for college. making sure they're taking the right courses. making sure they're completing their s.a.t. and a.c.t. tests. making sure that they apply for financial aid, most importantly. everything that has to do with college, and preparing for students, we want to make sure that they have that, the cools and the resources to get there. >> for instance, right now it's the middle of february, if i have a child who is a senior, what did i miss out on already if i haven't done it and what do i still have a chance to do? >> applications have passed. so we are beyond the application period for uc, csus and privates. there may be some out-of-state colleges continuing to receive applications and accepting applications.

really at this point it's a critical time for students who are needing to apply for financial aid, and as well as students who are getting ready for the community college who are already taking, instead of the traditional high school to four-year institution, who are going through the community college to transfer, until they get to the four-year institutions. >> you and i have talked about this before. filling out an application for college is intimidating in itself. the financial aid application is also be intimidating. but that's where y'all come in. you give workshops and you make sure that any parent, any student needs help in filling out these long forms that can be complicated at times, you're there to make sure that it eases the process. >> yes. so during this period, january 1st through march 2nd, which is a critical deadline we are focusing on helping students and families submit and complete the application. there are various forms of aid that are available to students from low-income backgrounds who have need. like the cal grant program. as well as for students who are undocumented who also are just as needy in terms of financial

support to make it through college. you can now apply with the california dream act application. so we are able to support students in those two groups, as well as we have a new -- the legislature just recently passed the middle-class scholarship which is a new form of financial aid for middle-class families who have been priced out of college traditionally. and now, those families who earn anywhere between 101 to $150,000 can receive additional financial aid support. >> well that's great. because you do have a lot of families that maybe don't qualify to be considered extremely low income, but they're making as much as you would hope they would, so they're kind of left out. >> yes. so this has been a group of families and students who have not been able to access that financial aid because they just miss those income and asset requirements needed for the cal grant program so now any of those families that fit -- fall in between that range of income

can qualify for middle-class scholarship. and this is a four-year program, and will increase in terms of the amount of financial aid support that it provides to families, for over the next four years. starting with about 14%, covering 14% of those students tuition, to a uc or csu up to 40% at a school maximum, fourth year where all of the aid is ready available for families. in that fourth year. >> that's great. >> and are you still offering the workshops? >> we are. the workshops are running still through this month. the march 2nd deadline is a saturday or a sunday. i can't remember. but, saturday or sunday but the march 2nd deadline is critical. we want to make sure that students get help during those workshops. at those workshops we have college financial aid experts who are there providing students with those, you know, answering those questions, those hard questions. helping them through the actual

application. we have lots of volunteers. we trained over 100 volunteers this year. we had 34 workshops that we're offering when we get back from this next break that students have in the winter, we'll have about five other workshops that will be available and they're offered throughout the state of california. >> and so what i'm getting from what you're saying is that there really is no excuse for you not to go to college. if money was the excuse you can drop that excuse because it really shouldn't be. >> yes. and even more importantly there's an incentive for attending a cash for college workshop so students who actually come on the day of cash for college workshop, fill out the survey, complete their application, can qualify to win a $1,000 scholarship. so, all students need to do is make sure that their submit their fafsa, complete a high school gpa and get that verified and can qualify for $1,000 scholarship and win that in the raffle. >> that's awesome. we just threw a lot of information at you. we show you a website that you can go to for more information.

go to cal grants but dial that number also on the screen because then you can talk to sonia and find out more about maybe where these workshops -- or is there a website? >> they can go to calgrants.org website and put in their zip coat and find the closest workshop near them. >> well that's easy. calgrants.org. and dial that number also for more information. thank you so much. because every year you come and tell us about these wonderful opportunities, and it really gets to the point where going to college should be no excuse for not doing it. the opportunity is there. >> we're here to help. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. >> up next, a conversation, stay tuned.

we had a conversation with them more than a decade ago when they were celebrating 100 years of existence. we're talking, of course, about coming back to san jose for a special performance on june 28th with yo lando and some local dance groups, as well. but we'd like to take you back with our conversation with vargas and ask you a favor please don't laugh at the hair.

>> let me tell you one thing i'm just 22 years old. and i feel very, very content. i say content, very happy. because -- mario, and arturo mendoza, the harp player. over here, he used to play with the people that are very -- >> would it be mariachi music without -- >> no, no, no, no way. but i think he was the greatest -- greatest composer in real mexican. and like when you go to --

>> okay yes. >> and there are -- when you're in the country, you know. in the bar crying because you -- >> i don't drink. >> by the way, you always -- >> that kind of composure like that, it -- there's no word i mean, there's too many composers, very good composers like juan. but i think jimenez is right in the middle of mariachi. right in the center. >> we all have this impression that mariachi is a bunch of big, old, fat -- >> well we have some fat. but it's because -- >> we have a lot of young people

here. >> that's what i was saying. you missed up -- >> okay how does it feel for the fact that you're touring now, and that you're in california? is it different to play for american people than it is to play for mexican people? >> well for us it's almost the same. 9 things that we tried, they are -- you know, it's -- we're going to sing something different. >> all right. >> manuel -- >> come in. come in. just a little bit -- >> come on, come on. >> seeing some of those. >> right here. ♪ ♪

>> you know, with a mexican voice like manuel, sounds like you were singing in a mexican song. >> that song was actually -- in japanese. >> didn't know that. ♪ >> how does it feel to be playing for the best? you guys are the best, obviously. but you guys have played for the best. >> well -- we -- we don't think we have the best. we are the best for a lot of the mexican music because we have been all over the world, playing our music. that's one of the reasons we are the best.

[ speaking spanish ] [ speaking spanish ] [ speaking spanish ] [ speaking spanish ]

[ speaking spanish ] >> how does it feel that there are people all over this world, literally, in japan, and canada, in europe, who are requesting mariachi music? >> well, it feels just wonderful to be playing for all kinds of people. by the way we're going to japan next week, so hello. we're going to be there for ten days. it feels very, very wonderful that all the people like the

music, and most mariachi playing make you feel like you are in the clouds, you know. >> that's from a decade ago. again they'll be playing june 28th at the center for performing arts in san jose. one of the local mariachi will be accompanying them. after these messages more. they're going to play.

now here's what's happening in your c chlt munidad.

and we're celebrating a special day. ♪ and here is our address, e-mail address for next week. follow me on twitter. my handle is @newsdamian. pick up a copy and support your bilinguals all across the bay area. we thank you for sharing a part of our sunday with us. we're going to leave you now. don't forget june 28th at the center for performing arts. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

>> hi, everyone wul coelcome to the money." the markets breathe a sigh of relief. what does it mean foto your mon? >> horrible weather across the country. the new face of feminism. a controversial author who says women can't have it all. we need a men's revolution. "on the money" starts now. >> announcer: this is america's the marketsnoon sth financis