Gifted high schooler Brianna Logue helped celebrate the 10th birthday of the Black College Expo Saturday as the educational event that has helped more than 250,000 students get into college was hosted by the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The one-day event included seminars, workshops, and a $10,000 scholarship presentation by title sponsor, Southern California Edison to a deserving high school senior.

Edison representatives and other companies also actively recruited college students for paid internships and conducted on-the-spot interviews.

One of the things the expo has done for Southland students is expose them to historically Black colleges and universities.

Eleven years ago, less than 3 percent of the enrollment at HBCUs came from California. Now, some HBCUs report that as much as 20 percent of their students come from California.

“This is my fourth year coming to the expo,” said 15-year-old Logue, a sophomore at Diamond Ranch High School in Pomona.

She attended the event with her father, Dorian, a high school football coach, and younger brother, Dorian.

“I really like Howard and Hampton, but this year I’ve seen some new colleges. I want to be a lawyer and also learn sign language. My stepmom’s mother is deaf and I’m taking sign classes in school.”

Her father, who attended the University of La Verne in the Inland Empire stressed how important those opportunities can be.

“I started Brianna and my other 15-year-old at 11 so that they would have an understanding that you don’t just have to look at what’s local, like a Cal State,” he said.

“Here they get a chance to put their hands on a Black experience early and when it comes time for them to make decisions they already have that mindset about HBCUs.”

The Black College Expo is scheduled to hold four other expos across the country this year, starting this weekend in Oakland. Other expos are scheduled for its Atlanta, Feb. 27; New York, Nov. 6; and Washington, D.C., Nov. 13.