{"id":9734,"date":"2013-09-25T13:20:26","date_gmt":"2013-09-25T17:20:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=9734"},"modified":"2015-12-17T12:02:03","modified_gmt":"2015-12-17T17:02:03","slug":"paws-provides-elementary-students-with-the-knowledge-of-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2013\/09\/paws-provides-elementary-students-with-the-knowledge-of-college\/","title":{"rendered":"PAWS provides elementary students with the knowledge of college"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the last six years more than more than 500 student mentors from UTC have volunteered to help fourth and fifth graders at Brown Academy get excited about going to college.<\/p>\n

Postsecondary Awareness With Success (PAWS) is making a difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat it did for my daughter, it really did help her self-esteem. It helped her realize, \u2018This is not all that I can be.\u2019 They took her around and showed her different sites at UTC and different things students could do and that brought her hope,\u201d says Jackie Husband, a PAWS parent.<\/p>\n

PAWS began as an after-school initiative, established with a $40,000 grant from the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth. Cole referenced the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to find a researched, proven model to use with fourth and fifth grade students. The curriculum first used in the program was Positive Action With Success. The name of this curriculum is how the program derived its name.<\/p>\n

UTC mentors delivered the programming by facilitating activities from Positive Action, providing homework assistance, panels, campus tours, and other special events.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey helped me with the things that I didn\u2019t quite understand. Like if I had a math problem or something that I needed help with, they helped me understand instead of just showing me answers,\u201d says Armani Tooks, a former PAWS student.<\/p>\n

As Cole noticed the effect PAWS had on the children at Brown Academy, she evolved the program from focusing on lowering juvenile delinquency to one keen on helping elementary-age students explore their postsecondary options. In 2010, PAWS shifted emphasis from \u201cPositive Action With Success\u201d to \u201cPostsecondary Awareness With Success.\u201d To make sure materials aligned with the goals of increasing postsecondary awareness, a new curriculum was designed to meet the needs of the program. \u00a0In 2011, the Center for Community Career Education published the comprehensive curriculum \u201cAchieving the Dream: College Bound!\u201d for the PAWS program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese kids are really hungry for the knowledge of college,\u201d says Cole. \u201cWe\u2019re not trying to have them pick their colleges or pick their majors or pick their careers, we just want them to understand that there\u2019s a process to figuring all this out and the sooner they start thinking about it, the easier it is. What I see happening is the internal motivation switch being flipped on because of UTC mentors. And that\u2019s more precious than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

What are some of the burning questions Brown Academy students ask their UTC mentors?\u00a0 They\u2019ve got a lot on their minds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re very curious,\u201d Cole reports.\u00a0 They ask questions from \u201cDo you live in a dorm?\u201d to \u201cWho washes your clothes?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes a bit of fear creeps into the conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found a couple of years ago that the thing they fear the most is forgetting the combination to their locker so we bought a bunch of combination locks. So now we have combination lock races to see who can open theirs the fastest,\u201d explains Cole.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just the elementary school students who thrive in the program.\u00a0 For the first time since the program\u2019s inception in 2007, the PAWS program will be organized and run by students. These four veteran mentors, Jessica Koenn, Kerry Lindstrom, Jennifer Beckett, and Bernie Smith, will be serving as Classroom Coordinators, developing the PAWS curriculum and directing the action during activities for the upcoming year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a number of UTC students who didn\u2019t join a fraternity or other clubs\u2014this is where they felt they belonged,\u201d says Cole.<\/p>\n

PAWS is also now in the process of creating a UTC student organization to work hand-in-hand with the existing program. Jonathan Brocco, the Lead Mentor who has been with the program since 2009, is in the process of writing the constitution and the bylaws. Past mentors expressed interest in an organization like this, which led Brocco to begin researching the process with the UTC Student Government Association.<\/p>\n

The PAWS student organization would help provide new leadership opportunities for mentors, as well as help to recruit new mentors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been one of the greatest experiences of my life so far and has been for many other people. It\u2019s really become a part of the community. We\u2019ve gotten calls from all over the county looking for us to expand to more schools,\u201d says Brocco.<\/p>\n

While PAWS continues to benefit participants from Brown Academy, the future of PAWS is to expand to more elementary schools and to create a greater impact of postsecondary awareness. There\u2019s no money, federal or state, allocated to this age group for this kind of program. PAWS is researching options to market the curriculum to others looking to initiate this type of program. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to be a self-sufficient program,\u201d says Cole.<\/p>\n

For more information about PAWS, please see http:\/\/www.utc.edu\/center-community-career-education\/paws\/<\/a>\u00a0 New student mentors are recruited for PAWS every semester.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the last six years more than more than 500 student mentors from UTC have volunteered to help fourth and fifth graders at Brown Academy get excited about going to college. Postsecondary Awareness With Success (PAWS) is making a difference.<\/p>\n

Continue Reading <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":857,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_slider":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_featurette":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8325,661],"tags":[8266,10219,919],"class_list":{"0":"post-9734","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-community","7":"category-service","8":"category-students","9":"tag-paws","10":"tag-postsecondary-awareness-with-success","11":"tag-sandy-cole","12":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nPAWS provides elementary students with the knowledge of college | UTC News Archive: Jul 2007 - Oct 2025<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the last six years more than more than 500 student mentors from UTC have volunteered to help fourth and fifth graders at Brown Academy get excited about going to college. 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