Mark Braboy
Blue & White Flash/Staff Writer
For many high school students, having the proper education needed to be prepared for college is very hard to come by, especially for those who are underprivileged from rural areas and the inner cities. Fortunately, summer enrichment programs like Upward Bound are created to meet the needs for such students so that they can further narrow the educational gap of students from low income backgrounds.
Upward Bound is a six week pre-college program whose objective is to serve high school students who will be first generation college students in disadvantaged families, first generation military veterans, and students with disabilities in order to help prepare them for college. It is a federally funded TRiO program that is sponsored by Jackson State University and the U.S. Department of Education. The program provides students instruction in foreign language (Spanish), literature, composition, mathematics, public speaking, science and practicing good study habits along with male and female mentoring, tutoring, and academic advisement.
According to Reginald Castilla, the director of the program at Jackson State Upward Bound at JSU has been in existence for quite some time, but as of six years ago has been refunded.
“For many years, we had an Upward Bound program at Jackson State serving over 100 students in several counties. We lost that grant, but fortunately through the efforts of Dr. Gordon we were able to get funded and now we’re back operating; this is our second term. So we’ve served five years and we’re on our second grant for another five years.” He said
Like many other TRiO programs across the country, JSU’s Upward Bound has also been affected by the budget cuts from the Sequester by 5.3% money lost. Despite the financial loss, Castilla says the quality of the program has not been at all affected.
“We’ve committed to offering a quality academic program and cultural experience for our students so we’ve cut from other things. We just had to make some tough choices but we’ve managed to do that and not cut away from the fabric of our program.” He said.
JSU’s Upward Bound program provides students with a rigorous and diverse schedule of activities. The students of the program begin with their academic classes in the morning. In the afternoon, the program offers a diverse set of activities for students to take part of such as leadership development courses, lectures series about college different career choices, and physical activities on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Wednesdays at the Walter Peyton Center and the T.B. Ellis building which includes physical fitness, dancing, karate, swimming, and team sports such as Volleyball among others.
The program also includes a strong community service component for students and also includes some of the best educators from the Jackson Public School system including many who have been ranked “Teacher of the Year”. The curriculum is specifically designed for its students and has also incorporated ACT prep for its students
“What sets us apart from other groups, ultimately, is that we’re striving to be a program that’s known for academics whereas Upward Bound in the past has kind of had the stigma of being just a summer program where kids just come, hang out, get a stipend. But we’re striving to be known as a program for a serious academic curriculum. When you about our program, that’s what I want people to hear about it.
Jibri Weathers, a sophomore industrial technology major from Jackson, Miss said, “Upward Bound is a really good program for me, personally. I met a lot of new friends and a lot of new people. Mr. Castilla really helped me out my 12th grade year and helped me get many scholarships. I just had a good time and it was really fun for all four years of high school.”
He adds “It defiantly helped my work ethic in high school and I’ve gotten a lot of tutoring. [Mr. Castilla] put together a lot of workshops about taking the ACT and getting into college for us as well.”
Erica Hill, a junior from Forest Hill High School said. “The program has really helped me a lot and it has gotten me ahead in school as well as helping me find the colleges I want to go to and helping me get into them. He really helps us take the ACT and the SATs and help us with school in general.
She adds “I enjoyed making new friends and learning new things and exploring different states and different schools.”
According to Castilla, students can join by way of a simple application process which requires students to either be a first generation college student (no parent in the household has college degree), come from a low income household, or both. The process involves an interview with every student that applies and the program makes their decision based on the recommendation from their teachers and principals. It is a first come and first serve basis because the space is very limited (50 slots) and at least 2/3rds of the students must both of the requirements.
Additional requirements, according to the JSU Upward Bound web page includes the students must have at least a 1.5 GPA, must have completed the 8th grade, and preference will be given to students who attend Jim Hill, Forest Hill, Lanier, Provine, and Wingfield High school. All services are free of charge.
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