TRiO continues to change local students’ lives

    PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Two years after its major expansion, TRiO College Access Services is providing the opportunity for further education for students who don’t normally have the means to attend college. The program offers services such as tutoring, college visits, assistance with college, scholarship and financial aid applications, college entrance test preparations and numerous other services meant to address specific barriers to college.
Upward Bound and Educational Talent Search (ETS) are both programs of TRiO College Access Services, which is primarily based at the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s campus. In 2011, TRiO received a five-year, $1.15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to help middle and high school students prepare for and enroll in college, and succeed once they got there. Together, these programs work to serve 629 Aroostook County high school and middle school students. They provide preparation and guidance to ensure that each student has the best opportunity possible to achieve his or her college dream.
“Upward Bound offers an opportunity to travel or see cultural events that many students can’t afford or don’t have the means to attend,” said Danette Madore, Upward Bound coordinator. “ETS works with students at a younger age to present them with opportunities before they reach high school.”
ETS follows local school calendars and advisors meet with students individually or in small groups following a curriculum appropriate to each grade level. This program focuses more on peer tutoring and presentations during the school visits. ETS works extensively with students to build leadership and evaluation skills.
Upward Bound holds whole group “Saturday College” events several times during the academic year, along with individual advising meetings at host schools. In addition, Upward Bound includes a residential summer program where students live on the UMPI campus for up to six weeks in the residence halls, taking academic enrichment courses, electives and participating in work experience or taking college courses for credit, and generally getting a taste of what college life entails in a protected, supportive environment.
The program also includes one week of college visits throughout the state. Colleges range from the University of Southern Maine, University of Maine, Colby College, Bates College, Thomas College and the University of Maine at Machias. Last year, after visiting the colleges, students traveled to Bar Harbor where some saw the ocean for the first time and enjoyed activities like rock climbing and canoeing in the ocean.
While Upward Bound and ETS share an overarching goal, there are important differences. ETS staffers work with students as early as sixth-grade while students are accepted into Upward Bound at the ninth- or tenth-grade levels. Academic preparation is intensive in both programs but offered in different ways.
“Both Upward Bound and Talent Search give a voice or help find a voice for those without,” said Madore. “A lot of talent goes wasted because students lose direction and can’t find a place to fit in, so the work we do is really about helping students to find their place. We get into this work to make a difference.”
For more information about Educational Talent Search and Upward Bound programs, call 768-9591 or toll-free 1-800-734-3636, or email Darylen Cote at darylen.cote@umpi.edu.