Haven’t
you been thinking, “UB needs a blog!”?
Central staff has thought about it and we have made it happen! This will be a place where you can learn new
UB information as it happens. This blog
will now take the place of the previously printed Student Newsletter and the
SAC articles will be posted directly to the blog. Along with SAC articles, the central staff
will post helpful news articles that will pertain to you, program updates and
much more!
We’re
still working out the nuts and bolts, but please check back often as more
interesting information will be added!
For
now, we would like to give you an update on the new UB grant that will start
September 1st. Below is a
message we have written for all our students, parents, and community
members. Enjoy!
We are excited that
our Upward Bound program was successfully funded for the five year grant cycle
of 9/1/2012-8/31/2017! A lot of people played a part in making sure that our
application was thoughtfully and accurately written. Thanks to all of you!
As we embark on the
next five years we feel it is important to highlight a few of the changes from
the previous grant. In order to field a competitive grant application, we had
to make sure that we were addressing changes in the educational landscape since
we submitted the last grant application. Here are a few of the changes:
Use of Technology: Technology resources will provide us with the capability
to interact more efficiently with students in a more timely fashion. We will
have our own E-companion website and we will ask that all students become
accustomed to checking it on a frequent basis. During the Academic Year it will
serve as our main platform by which we disseminate information. We will also
utilize it for various purposes during the summer component.
College Prep
Curriculum: We have been
required to work closely with each student to ensure that they are taking the
necessary courses while in high school to be prepared for success in college.
While this has always been an emphasis of our program, we are now being held
accountable for reporting a percentage of students who are successfully
completing these courses. So---be ready to challenge yourself academically!
Saturday Academies: Instead of “Saturday Sessions” we will now be holding
“Saturday Academies” during the school year. We have reduced the number of
meetings from 11 to 8. Saturday Academies will not have academic classes, but
will include speakers, workshops and group activities. They will still be held
from 8:30 to 12:00 on selected Saturdays.
Increasing Student
Population: We have been required
to increase the number of students we serve each year---we now must serve 80
students on an annual basis. While this does stretch our budget somewhat, we
feel that it is a great opportunity to impact more students. One thing we will
need from our current student population is help in recruiting---be sure to
spread the good word about Upward Bound so we will be able to easily hit our
targeted numbers!
Providing Follow-Up
Services to Graduates: Our staff is
responsible for tracking students until they graduate from an institution of
higher education. With that in mind, we will continue to provide UB graduates
with guidance and assistance as you work to complete your college education.
This will require a willingness on your part to provide us with information
about your progress. This is when the phrase “Once a UB’er, Always a UB’er”
becomes very important!
Other subtle changes
are also planned. We are extremely excited for the next five years! Thanks for
all of your support in the past and we look forward to working with all of you
in the future!
Phil, Kori, Jackie
and Ashley
