{"id":16245,"date":"2016-10-13T16:02:05","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T20:02:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=16245"},"modified":"2019-10-09T10:09:31","modified_gmt":"2019-10-09T14:09:31","slug":"building-bridges-post-secondary-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2016\/10\/building-bridges-post-secondary-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Bridges to Post-Secondary Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u2014By Sarah Webb<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Just after 9:30 A.M. on a humid May morning, more than 100 prospective college students crowded into the Card Auditorium in the Engineering, Math, and Computer Science Building on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) campus. But unlike the typical campus tour groups of high school students and their parents, these students arrived on school buses from their elementary school classrooms. These 5<\/span>th<\/span> graders had come to campus to learn how they might become Mocs in another 8 years, through a year-old UTC program, College Knowledge Now!\u2014or CK Now! for short.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"26451470884_e94546a4b7_z\"<\/a>In the past school year, nearly 1,500 students from Hamilton County Schools or rural areas of nearby counties have participated in CK Now! For many, it was the first time that they\u2019d set foot on a college campus. In a few hours, these elementary school students listened to current UTC students to learn about how they got to college, student athletics, and the pathway to post-secondary education. Because of the new Tennessee Promise program, which provides two years of tuition-free community college or technical school education free of charge to the state\u2019s high school graduates, students have a new option to finance a college education or other career training.<\/span><\/p>\n

Seeing opportunities<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In 2007 Sandy Cole and her team in UTC\u2019s Center for Community Career Education started an after school program that prepares students at a nearby elementary school for college. \u201cI\u2019m a firm believer,\u201d Cole says, \u201cthat kids in 5<\/span>th<\/span> grade can see themselves in college if they happen to visit a college.\u201d Although camp-based opportunities such as UTC\u2019s Youth University were already available to 1<\/span>st<\/span> to 6<\/span>th<\/span> grade students, those programs are often out of reach for low-income families,\u201d she adds.<\/span><\/p>\n

The original program, called Post-Secondary Awareness With Success (PAWS), serves 50 4th and 5th graders each year at \u00a0Brown Academy, a public school at the south edge of the UTC campus, and is facilitated by 60 UTC student mentors. Two afternoons each week during the school year, the mentors lead activities that help students learn more about college and help them with their schoolwork. There\u2019s also a short program each summer.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of those student volunteers was Jonathan Brocco, who started working with PAWS in 2009 as an undergraduate education major. When he decided to pursue a Master\u2019s degree in Education at UTC, he took a position as a graduate assistant in 2014 working with Cole and, in his free time, helped organize PAWS and other related programs.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the meantime, teachers at other area schools had learned about the PAWS program and wanted their students to have the same opportunities. Cole wondered how they could expand their program and reach more of the estimated 4500 disadvantaged 4<\/span>th<\/span> and 5<\/span>th<\/span> graders in Hamilton County.<\/span><\/p>\n

To figure out their next steps, Brocco and Cole participated in Co.Starters for Causes, a business development course for non-profits and social entrepreneurs co-sponsored by Chattanooga\u2019s Company Lab and Causeway, during the summer of 2014. \u00a0They soon realized that the best way to accommodate more students was to build a new program. They designed their new curriculum in the form of a one-day field trip, an orientation-style program that allowed 4<\/span>th<\/span> and 5<\/span>th<\/span> graders to visit UTC\u2019s campus. During the day, they get a taste of college classrooms, dorms, and athletics – whetting their appetite for more. In January 2015, Cole and Brocco received a $15,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga to fund the program, which became CK Now! The Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce provided an additional $1,000 to help defray the cost of transportation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Intro Course <\/strong><\/h4>\n

Brocco\u2019s enthusiasm is infectious. On this day, the tall, bearded recent UTC graduate started by asking students to write their own brief application essay, describing what they knew about college before they arrived that day. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Jonathon<\/a>

Jonathon Brocco<\/p><\/div>\n

He told the students from Orchard Knob Elementary School and Hillcrest Elementary School of his own journey toward a college education. After several high school summers of working at a Little Caesar\u2019s Pizza in Nashville, he realized that he wanted a different future. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to cut grass. I didn\u2019t want to make pizza,\u201d he says. Others might enjoy it, he admits. \u201cBut I wanted to do something where I could interact with people, where I could think.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

In between, he showed videos of other students talking about their postsecondary experiences. And he gave students basic information about their options, including technical schools, apprenticeships, 2-year degrees and 4-year degrees. He also described the application process and standardized tests such as the ACT. Finally he explained that financial aid, including scholarships, grants and loans, are available to help pay for college expenses. He introduced the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, a form that students use to apply for many of these financial aid opportunities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hard work, good grades, and good behavior are the keys to taking advantage of educational opportunities after high school, he added. A whole range of interesting career opportunities are available, he explained. \u201cYou are the only one who gets to decide what happens in your future.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Early college prep<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Though the chance to attend college is years away for these students, elementary school is the perfect timing for a college readiness program, Cole says. When founding PAWS, she was originally thinking about a program that steered middle school kids away from gang participation. But after conversations with a criminal justice professor, she learned that middle school was too late to intervene. \u201cBut I got excited about the opportunity to work with elementary school kids,\u201d she says, an age group that her center hadn\u2019t focused on previously.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted our students to think about the college track early,\u201d says Etienne Easley, the Family Practice Specialist at Orchard Knob Elementary School, who organized this field trip for her students. With the smaller transitions from elementary school to middle school and then to high school, students can\u2019t always see the bigger picture of how schoolwork and discipline fit together to support their passions and their goals, she adds. <\/span><\/p>\n

Schools who bring their students to UTC for CK Now! have several options to customize the CK Now! experience with a set of \u201celectives.\u201d Options include \u201cUnderstanding College Athletics\u201d a question and answer session with UTC student-athletes, a dormitory tour, interactive career and college activities, and a technology session about coding and 3-D printing at the UTC Challenger Center.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI can see by looking at the kids\u2019 expressions that they\u2019re learning,\u201d Easley says. In the past students have said, \u201cWell, I don\u2019t think my mom can afford college.\u201d But now, \u00a0they see options, she says. \u201cThey\u2019re more hopeful.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Engaging student athletes<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cHow many of you are interested in being athletes?\u201d Brocco asks. Dozens of hands shot immediately into the air. He then introduced three student athletes\u2014women\u2019s basketball players Moses Johnson and Queen Alford and tennis player Kayla Jones\u2014who shared their experiences. The students peppered them with questions about what college was really like, including food and vacations, and asked them about day-to-day life as a college athlete.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"26782375210_85a65d74c9_z\"<\/a>\u201cYou\u2019re a student first and an athlete second,\u201d says Johnson, a UTC psychology major from Atlanta. She estimates that she spends 65 percent of her time on academics and 35 percent of her time on athletics\u2014including workouts, weight training, practice, and games.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trainers and coaches plan workouts and practice around a student-athlete\u2019s class schedule. \u201cYour agenda or planner becomes your best friend,\u201d Johnson adds. Jones, a 2016 UTC graduate from Memphis, majored in biology and plans to go to dental school. Because of her course schedule and the number of laboratory courses she needed to take, her days often started as early as 5 A.M m. She\u2019d often have practice on her own early in the morning before class, attend classes and laboratory courses, and possibly have other athletic training commitments in between. \u201cI wasn\u2019t done until 9 P.M., and I still had homework,\u201d she says. <\/span><\/p>\n

Grades and attitude are important as coaches are recruiting new student athletes, Johnson emphasized. All teams have academic standards that their players must maintain to keep their scholarships. \u201c[Coaches] don\u2019t want to invest their time and money into someone that they\u2019ll just have to let go,\u201d she says. <\/span><\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to be an athlete to get a scholarship, they added. Jones also received an academic scholarship from UTC. Scholarships are also available in other areas such as music, Johnson adds.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before they left, Alford, Johnson, and Jones took a selfie with the room, snapping the photo as the students chanted, \u201cGo Mocs!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Students Perspective<\/strong><\/h4>\n

After hearing from student-athletes, the Orchard Knob students took a walk through the heart of \u00a0campus past the University Center to Boling Apartments where they learned about campus housing and toured a dorm apartment. They asked UTC Housing\u2019s Assistant Director Carling Wilson questions about food, roommates, housing costs, and even how students receive mail.<\/span><\/p>\n

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CK Now! Students tour a dorm in Boiling Apartments<\/p><\/div>\n

Outside the dorm, Orchard Knob students talked about the highlights of their CK Now! experience. Arianah McGlocton and Zania Hendrix both enjoyed touring the dorms. These two girls and their classmate Demaishawn Earls especially liked the session with the UTC student athletes.<\/span><\/p>\n

What was their biggest lesson from the day? \u201cYou have to study hard and get good grades,\u201d Demaishawn says. Good grades can help you get a scholarship, Zania adds.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the walk back from Boling Apartments, two other boys talked about their career goals and how college could help them. Victor Jackson, age 11, wants to study science and criminal justice with the goal of being a police officer. \u201cI also like wrestling so that I can learn to tackle criminals,\u201d he says. Eleven-year-old Brayden Moore loves science, particularly studying animal and plant cells. \u201cI\u2019m going to get a 4.0 [GPA],\u201d he says. <\/span><\/p>\n

Building community<\/strong><\/h4>\n

One of the initial challenges with this CK Now! program was recruiting schools and figuring out how to make the program financially sustainable, Brocco says. The program charges a nominal fee\u2014 $300 for up to 100 students\u2014for the field trip, funds that go back into supporting a range of college readiness programs, such as PAWS and CK Now!, at the Center for Community Career Education. \u201cThat was our dilemma. We couldn\u2019t get major grants. We\u2019d get some corporate sponsorships here and there.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

But the cornerstone of PAWS and CK Now! is the involvement of UTC students. Among the dozens of volunteers who help with the PAWS program each year, several undergraduate education majors serve as classroom coordinators each semester. They plan the activities and organize the program and receive a small scholarship that covers their textbooks. <\/span><\/p>\n

Working with PAWS and later with CK Now! was an essential step for Brocco, who has long been interested in teaching low-income students. The time in the PAWS program helped with his education training, he says, allowing him to connect with diverse students and help them work through their challenges. A lot of new student teachers struggle when they learn that a student has been arrested or is facing abuse at home, he says. His classes at UTC helped him learn how to teach history, he says, but PAWS and CK Now! prepared him for the counseling part of his role as a teacher. \u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s about connecting to kids and building relationships,\u201d he adds. <\/span><\/p>\n

Brocco will be taking all he\u2019s learned at UTC and bringing it to Nashville this fall. He will be teaching U.S. History to 8<\/span>th<\/span> graders at Nashville Prep, a charter school in West Nashville.<\/span><\/p>\n

PAWS volunteers often help with CK Now! field trips. On this day Brocco\u2019s brother Cameron, also a PAWS volunteer, shared his experiences as a biology major, who plans to attend medical school. Sloane Botts, a PAWS volunteer and senior early childhood education major, recognizes herself in many of the PAWS and CK Now! students. \u201cI came from a community where it was not the norm to want to leave and go to school,\u201d she says. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great experience for the future,\u201d Brocco says. \u201cWhen you see a 5<\/span>th<\/span> grader and a college kid walking down the street together, that\u2019s where the magic happens.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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