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Show 6 Summer Signpost -Thursday, June 28, 1984 On Their Way Up By Photograph by Matthew Brown For J.C. school has always been a struggle.-He's just finished the 10th grade barely. And he doesn't see much use in continuing. Might as well just drop out now. Find a job. School's a waste of time anyway. Fortunately for J.C. there's still hope. Thanks to the Upward Bound program, he and scores like him are given another chance to finish school. Begun in 1966 during the Johnson Administration, the Upward Bound program provides basic skills tutoring, personal counseling as well as career and academic advisement to youth who otherwise might not make it through high school. "Our goal is to get them to college," said Irma Bravo, acting director of the Ogden area program which has been located at WSC since its inception. Each year approximately sixty area youth are selected to participate in this federally funded project. Preliminary selection criteria mandates that the student be either low income or lacking in basic academic skills. Additionally, he must be in grades nine through eleven. "We don't take seniors," said Bravo. At that point, she explained, it is frequently too late to make any significant academic changes. "We do, however, work with high-school dropouts," she added. "X, Kenny Atwood, sophomore Union High School The student is put through a rigorous application and screening process. "There are a lot of papers to fill out," said Bravo. Potential candidates are individually interviewed. Not only are they given an overview of the program, but they are warned of the strict rules which must be followed if they are chosen to participate in the progpam. "Every student is here by choice," explained Bravo. This freedom helps ensure the success of the program. Most of us here at Weber are at least slightly aware of this younger band of students on campus. For six weeks every summer we walk beside them, encounter them in the cafeteria and pass them in the halls. Yet the on-campus summer program is just one phase of the Upward Bound program. The project as a whole encompasses the entire year. During the regular school session, Upward Bound tutors make after-school visits to their students, providing extra help in difficult academic areas. They also provide counseling when a problem is present. "Many times a tutor will just stop by to see how a particular student is doing," said Bravo. Tutors also work at changing unproductive study habits of their students. Peer advisors keep regular check on students' home lives and classroom progress. Workshops are held weekly during the regular school year. Guest speakers from the surrounding community provide students with valuable insights regarding career selection, motivation, interaction and effective communication. The program also provides for educational and cultural field trips. "You'd be surprised how many of these kids enjoy watching a play," said Bravo. The six week summer program at WSC is thus really the culmination of a year's worth of. work and activities. Participating students are housed in Promontory Towers while enrolled in this intense tutorial program. Basic skills review as well as personal development are stressed. Twelve tutors work with the students on English and math each morning from nine to twelve a 2-1 studenttutor ratio. After a quick lunch, Upward Boun'd students spend an additional three hours in classes on career education (where they video tape mock interviews), motivation, study skills and effective interpersonal communications. Following dinner, students are treated to an evening of recreational activities coordinated by RA's (resident assistants) at their dorm. Swimming, basketball or a trip to the waterslide are just a few of the ways they wind down an evening. This strict schedule is followed for five weeks at which time "surviving" students are rewarded for their good work with a trip. Past years have found them at such places as Park City and Yellowstone. When a group of kids get together away from Mom and Dad for six weeks of independence, don't they sometimes get a little wild? This sort of thing appears inevitable, Bravo agreed, but when it happens, "we take care of it then and there." If a student refuses to follow the strict rules outlined in the program, he is given a "timeout." He is sent home for three days which is really very punishing for "the dorms are where all the fun is." The student still has to attend class. He just can't participate in the activities. Inevitably, there are one or two students who withdraw from the program, but this is by choice. Choice is really the name of the game. Each year sixty or so area youth choose to turn their academic lives around. Upward Bound helps them do just that. Ad Lib For those who like to flaunt rich coppertone tans year round, now there's an alternative to ultraviolet parlors or expensive trips to the tropics. It's called Sunpod. A $400 novelty item, the Sunpod is a casket-size plastic bubble made of a new acrylic known as Perspex. The material lets in 90 percent of the ultraviolet rays from the sun, permitting sun bathers to loll outdoors in below-freezing term-peratures. The capsule converts sunshine into heat to create a greenhouse effect. Omni Knowledge cannot defile, nor consequently the books, if the will and conscience be not defiled. John Milton Editor: Stephanie Chamberlain |