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Show U reaches out to minority students j BY CYNTHIA WOOTTON Staff Writer A tailor-made version of the Post-High School Orientation program was recently employed by Outreach in its expanding efforts to introduce to more high school seniors the reality of a college education. The University's Post-High School Orientation which is conducted by Normand Gibbons, director of High School Services, is designed to acquaint all high school seniors in the state with the University's programs, admittance procedures, the ACT requirement, and available financial aids. Representatives of all the institutions of high learning in the state visit each high school as participants in this orientation program. Special Invitation It has long been felt by Mr. Gibbons and Franklin McKean, f i f ' " (J? cm Vv f (WfT P Pa f , .. c , r - f ' J ;-. . ":' i r-J I mi ii. ii iii i iii iiJLiiiiiih ii a nmiiiKa . 1 - - --t -nrmrr iim i'MinnMii " - Vr -T ' - .,, 'l( t she was at ease with the fourteen students who sat around her, and her interest in them created a relaxed atmosphere. As group leader she sought to draw specific questions from them, to pinpoint special problems. In often halting but very gracious English she reminisced about her high school days, now and then making a comment in Spanish to the Spanish-American students. With great intensity she explained the importance of having a good education, the greater choice of jobs, the expanded expand-ed world. She emphasized Talent Search's purpose in helping them attend whatever college they wanted to. situation, his particular needs can not be met by routine regula tions." i Here to Explain Judy Williams joined with Mi McKean in reassuring the student; of the purpose of the. meeting. She1 explained her feelings about the' importance of college, saying "You have to get your foot in the1 door, then the limitless possibilities possibili-ties pop up all over, but if you' never get in, you'll never kno what you might be able to do. We are here to explain to each of you how you can get your foot in the door." University director of admissions and the coordinator for Outreach, that many of the minority students were not benefiting from the regular orientation sessions. They were concerned that these students, who were not especially college-orientated, would not recognize that the invitation to attend the University was being made to them as much as anyone else. In discussing the limitations of the regular Post-High School Orientation, Ori-entation, Mr. Gibbons said, "We've found that they (minority students) need to sit around in small groups to talk about the more personal problems, the more basic problems associated with going go-ing to college." Mel Young, a member of Mr. Gibbons' staff added: "Lots of kids have no idea what is available after high school, but we can't handle them on a mass basis. The kids have to be given an occasion to talk intimately, intimate-ly, candidly, about their feelings toward college. They have to be given the chance to ask questions that wouldn't be asked in front of the whole senior class." Many of the problems these young people are concerned about are associated with financial difficulties, as well as the students' need to consider themselves capable enough to succeed suc-ceed in college when they indeed have such capabilities. Mr. McKean pointed out that admittance to the University is routine, but that Outreach and a special Post-High School Orientation Orienta-tion session would go outside the routine admittance procedures to provide assistance to those with special problems. In recognition of the special needs of high school seniors, a return visit was made to West High School after the regular Post-High School Orientation program had been conducted. Approximately 60 students, whose counselors felt that they might have special problems prob-lems in going to college, were invited to meet again with Mr. Gibbons as well as other representatives represen-tatives of the University. Jim Sanderson, Director of Financial Aids was present, as well as Harrison Whitney, black counselor; Fred LaBlanc, Spanish-American Spanish-American counselor at the University Univer-sity and at Utah Employment Security; Mel Young from Mr. Gibbons' office, and Judy Williams, a black student at the University and a graduate of West High School. Richard Young, who is the state's Talent Search director, and two members of his staff were also there. Talent Search is a federally funded nation-wide program whose purpose, in Mr. Young's words, is "to make people more aware of the various federal financial fin-ancial aids available to students." The availability of financial assistance assist-ance is made known to counselors, social workers, public health nurses and religious leaders as well as students so that the various federal programs are used to their best advantage. Med School Program Dr. Gary Maxwell from the College of Medicine was also present to explain a new experimental experi-mental admission program which the medical school is implementing implement-ing on a limited basis. After his brief introduction by Mr. Gibbons, the students were invited to break up into four groups "which were led by Mel Young, the two members of Richard Young's staff, and Mr. Whitney. Mr. McKeane, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Gibbons, and Dr. Maxwell rotated from one group to another in answering specific questions in their fields. Typical of the informal manner in which the groups were conducted conduct-ed was Martha Nye's approach to her young people. Miss Nye, a member of the Talent Search staff, is an undergraduate under-graduate at the University working towards a degree in Spanish Education. Edu-cation. From the very beginning A - , College is Real "College is a reality if you want to make it so," said Mr. McKeane to one of his groups. "If you have no special needs, fine. But if you do, we are here to help." The session at West High School that morning was not without a few problems, however. After all, nothing like this had ever been tried in Utah before. In planning the program, Mr. Gibbons and Mr. McKean had realized that misunderstandings mis-understandings might arise between the students and the University Uni-versity representatives. It was a learning experience for everyone involved. One black girl openly resented the fact that something special was being done for her. She was visibly insulted by what she thought was a lowering of standards stand-ards for her. "What you are telling us," she interrupted, "is that we have to play dumb now, then when we get to college play smart." She said she didn't have to have anybody's standards lowered for her. To overcome this misunderstanding mis-understanding which could be seen on the faces of other students in the group, Mr. McKean calmly explained, "We are sensitive to differences. We recognize that grades are not the only test of intelligence, of ability. We are attempting to look at high school students as individuals, to assess them as individuals to determine their capabilities and to see that these capabilities have a chance for development. No one should be held back because his particular 1 jpk-t-) As the session came to a close Fred LaBlanc summed up the feel ings of the group leaders, "W( need you kids up there, any and all who want to come, and we want you to know you can come." The general response by the West High students to the more intimate orientation was enthusiastic. enthusi-astic. Many questions had been asked, many responses were given which hopefully contained the answers these students had been looking for. After a more detailed evaluation, similar sessions will be conducted at other high schools in -the valley j |