South Texas College hosted Noche de Familia for approximately 30 Ascender students and parents on Thursday, October 13 from 6 to 8 PM at the Pecan campus. Dr. Zuñiga was the guest speaker, and he gave a motivational speech about pushing through obstacles and barriers. He grew up in a low-income family and he was in the Special Ed program; however, he graduated third in his class and eventually went on to get a masters and a doctorate degree. He told the students that he was part of a program similar to ASCENDER that helped underserved students and that helped him to succeed.

Cake, sandwiches, fruit, chips and sodas were served. Parents and students played a traditional Loteria game and several raffles were conducted where students won speakers, LED lights, and ring lights for their cell phones. Juan Ramirez and Angelica Cerda were the faculty attending the event