This fall, Serenity Roberson will enter the fifth grade at Brown Academy with college on her mind. Mentors in the Positive Action With Success (P.A.W.S.) program spent three days a week with Roberson and 40 additional fourth and fifth graders, providing interpersonal skill development, an introduction to collegiate life and monthly visits to the UTC campus. The Center for Community Career Education at UTC received a grant from the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth to make P.A.W.S. a reality.<\/p>\n
\u201cP.A.W.S. is great and is fun. You learn about college. When I get to college I\u2019ll already know a lot about it. My grades improved this year. I had a B in Math and it is now an A. P.A.W.S. and college teaches you how to do your best. I know I\u2019m going to college,\u201d Roberson said.<\/p>\n
Roberson\u2019s mother, Jackie Husband, notices the positive influence P.A.W.S. mentors have had on her daughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen improvements. Wendy Yates (Project Coordinator) did due diligence with this project as did the mentors. Her heart is with these young people. Serenity always was a follower of the larger crowd. By seeing young adults who look like them and observing the mentor\u2019s positive behavior she began to make decisions this school year that were in her best interest,\u201d Husband said.<\/p>\n
Her daughter is achieving in the classroom, Husband observed.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe never was on the Honor Roll until this year. She always had the potential. She stepped up her game and I think P.A.W.S. had a lot to do with that. She also has some comparisons now that she didn\u2019t have before. When she sees other 18-22 year olds in our neighborhood, she is able to compare them to the UTC mentors and sees a difference. She\u2019s been given a vision of a different world,\u201d Husband said.<\/p>\n
Summertime brings a new way for students in the P.A.W.S. program to learn, said Sandy Cole, Director of the Center for Community Career Education.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga provided funding to send these students to Youth University at UTC this summer,\u201d Cole said. \u201cThe P.A.W.S students will be attending two weeks and will have a greater opportunity to have a collegiate experience as a result of the Foundation\u2019s support. Our vision is to increase opportunities for elementary youth to envision college as an option.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"PAWS](\"http:\/\/www.utc.edu\/Administration\/UniversityRelations\/news\/images\/PositiveAction.jpg\")
\nFront Row, left to right: Jackie Husband and Serenity Roberson
\nBack Row, left to right: UTC Student Mentors: Michelle Owens, Christine Milone,
\nDeidra Bell, Kelly Thrasher, Cassie Martin, Demarco Reynolds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This fall, Serenity Roberson will enter the fifth grade at Brown Academy with college on her mind. Mentors in the Positive Action With Success (P.A.W.S.) program spent three days a week with Roberson and 40 additional fourth and fifth graders, providing interpersonal skill development, an introduction to collegiate life and monthly visits to the UTC… <\/p>\n