UNI Classic Upward Bound ICAN Newsletter: January 2015 Update
“The Importance of Relationship Building and Investing in Our Future”
As the holidays have drawn to a close, the intensity and rigor of the school year continues
forward for our students. With students at East, West, and Expo High Schools in Waterloo, the
academic and social expectations for our scholars continues into the coming 2015 spring
semester.
We, the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) Classic Upward Bound (CUB) staff, have found that
one of the most important factors for a scholar’s success in school, pursuing a rigorous course of
secondary education, and retention and graduation rates is relationship building. This year, we
have seen a remarkable increase of participation in CUB activities from the scholars. This has
translated into students taking ownership for their futures, achieving at a higher level
academically, and finding that the learning process is fun and engaging.
Since our last update, the UNI CUB program scholars and parents have been engaged in all
aspects of the educational experience. Part of the relationship building process is the CUB Parent
Organization, established by the Project Director, Wilfred “Mickye” Johnson. Through this
organization parents are educated about the college going process including the various sources
of financial aid available for low-income and first-generation college students. This curtails the
initial shock of the “sticker price” for college which, in turn, allows our parents to understand
that if their scholar completes scholarship applications, performs well in high school throughout
their tenure, and completes the Free Application for Federal Student Aid then college becomes
much more affordable. With more jobs requiring college degrees, it is absolutely critical to
educate the parents of our scholars to the importance of their scholar’s academic achievement in
high school, accountability for their scholars’ performance, and aiding their scholar along the
way. Parents are also informed that they too can attain a college degree if they choose to move in
that direction. Through our partnerships with UNI, the Waterloo Community School District, and
other local businesses and community entities we are able to help guide the Parent Organization
toward its ultimate goal: the education of tomorrow’s leaders.
Attendance has also increased at our classification meetings. These meetings are designed to
continue the relationship building process with our scholars. These meetings help guide our
scholars through the process of high school graduation to post-secondary matriculation. Our
freshmen and sophomore students meet with the Project Director to better understand their world
around them, to enhance critical thinking skills, and to understand how the CUB program can
benefit them. Our juniors, who meet with our Academic Coordinator, Natalie Sugira, focus on
ACT preparation and examination. Getting the students to be excited about their education,
teaching them test taking strategies, and how to overcome test anxiety translate into higher
grades, better self-esteem, and higher ACT scores. Our seniors meet with our Assistant Director,
Matthew Moore, and focus on putting everything they have learned from Upward Bound into
greater practice by focusing on college applications, scholarship essay writing, and FAFSA
completion. The expectations for our seniors are high which include good grades, participation in
program activities, and actively communicating with program staff. The college going process
includes, but is not limited to, seeking out opportunities to complete tasks such as volunteering,
job-shadowing, and college preparation are critical to their success. The program’s intentional
interventions yielded high outcomes for our students including a high school graduation rate for
the CUB class of 2014 of 100% and an 81.1% fall college enrollment rate for the 2014-15
academic year. The program had a different enrollment rate for the spring 2015 due to military
commitments which changed the college enrollment rate to an 87.5% for our graduating seniors.
Program staff met and exceed the graduation and college enrollment objectives for the class of
2015.
Another way our scholars engage in the program is through our after-school and evening tutoring
programs. The CUB program has developed relationships with the target school administration
and teachers which allows us to facilitate this program within the schools themselves. We also
collaborate with our sister program, UNI Educational Talent Search (ETS), who helps in the
hiring of tutoring staff and the supervision of CUB and ETS scholars during the tutorial sessions.
The evening tutoring program takes place at our home base: the University of Northern Iowa
Center for Urban Education, which houses three TRiO programs. During tutoring time students
receive supplemental instruction in the at risk subjects of math, science, English, and foreign
language. Relationships have also been established with UNI faculty and administration both
University wide and within the UNI College of Education which aids us in hiring college
students majoring in these target subjects to help instruct students in these target areas. This
collaborative relationship is twofold, it affords the University and the CUB program an
opportunity for the University to build relationships with possible future attendees of UNI and to
give the CUB program excellent instructors who are masters at their craft. Both the CUB
participants and the college students learn from each other. The college students are exposed to
an intentionally diverse group of students from various backgrounds. This process helps CUB
scholars to see that a college education is a possibility through hard work and dedication to
achieving their goals. Out tutorial sessions will continue to meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays in
the spring and we look forward to the continued success of this program.
The CUB program has been fortunate enough to receive funds to establish a robotics team and
continue the success of previous years. This year, instead of having two qualifying tournaments,
the competitions have been divided into leagues with three qualifying tournaments. This has
allowed for more local volunteers to become involved in this STEM program as well as less
drive time for teams which has reduced costs associated with hotel stays and reserving
transportation. Our team, which includes both CUB and ETS scholars, has been working
diligently since September to build and program a working robot to meet the challenges given
for this year’s competition. We are intentional with the students that engage in this activity,
ensuring diversity of the team and the coaches and mentors. Through hours of dedication and
hard work, they, the CUB and ETS robotics students, have been able to compete in three
competitions. By the end of the qualifying competitions we hope to go on to state and regional
competitions, and, possibly, the World Competition in St. Louis as competitors. We will go to
the World Competition in either a volunteer capacity or competitors. Regardless of the outcome,
it is a fantastic learning opportunity and one of the many ways that STEM activities can take
classroom knowledge and turn them into real-world applications and we are fortunate to take part
in this program.
Exposing our scholars to the various forms of post-secondary education is always a high priority
for our program staff as it allows students to broaden their educational goals and get them
excited about the college going process. We have taken several trips to colleges and universities
thus far including Iowa State University, the University of Iowa, and the University of Northern
Iowa. We have also traveled to Hawkeye Community College and Kirkwood Community
College. We plan to take several more trips in the spring and are always looking for new
opportunities to visit even more colleges and universities both in Iowa and outside of the state.
Volunteering has also been a staple of our program because we believe that when you receive
something it is also important to give back. Our students volunteer at hospitals, churches, and
community groups such as the Boys and Girls Club. One of the events that students volunteered
at was the Cedar Valley STEM festival which showcases STEM programs throughout the Cedar
Valley and beyond. It is an interactive festival where our robotics team showcased their
creations, our students helped usher people into the Five Sullivan Brother’s Events Center
(named after the Sullivan brothers who died in combat together on the USS Juneau during World
War II) and gave the vendors food and refreshments during the festival. It was another great
positive experience that benefits the Waterloo community by showing the positive growth of the
community and brings people together to celebrate the accomplishments of so many companies
and colleges in the community. We are proud to help such an amazing event and look forward to
future opportunities to be involved. Another upcoming event in April that our students volunteer
for is Cutlurefest and this brings together the various cultures that are present in Waterloo and
celebrates the diversity and the interconnectedness of people within our great city of Waterloo.
While all of these events and program activities are great, we look back at the overarching theme
of this article: relationship building. It is because of intentional relationship building that we are
able to facilitate all of these activities for our students, our parents, and our community. Seeking
out new partnerships is always a constant goal for our program staff. If you are interested in
learning more about our program and how we can collaborate please call our program office at 1319-433-1250.
As the political climate changes constantly so must our approach to how we advocate for our
program and other TRiO programs around the country. Efforts must continue to talk with our
state and federal representatives to ensure that we are able to continue the work we do. We are an
agent of change for our students, parents, and the Waterloo community. We give hope to those
scholars who previously possessed no aspirations of attaining a college degree. We change their
lives and the lives of their families by referring their parents and siblings to various TRiO
programs such as ETS and the Educational Opportunity Center which works with potential nontraditional students to help them get to college. At the University level we highly encourage our
scholars continue their TRiO tenure working with Student Support Services (SSS) which aids
TRiO college participants throughout their tenure at the colleges and universities that have an
SSS program.
All of these students have something in common: they started as low-income and/or firstgeneration college students who had TRiO programs invest countless hours of time and energy to
help them realize their potential and achieve greatness. Historically, these students are one of the
most underrepresented student populations at colleges and universities in the United States
regardless of race, sex, and other defining aspects. We, the UNI Classic Upward Bound program
staff, cannot do what we do without the help of other TRiO programs and relationship building
with our constituents throughout our local, state, and federal communities. TRiO students, lowincome and/or first-generation students, are destined for greatness if they have people invest in
them. If we want this great country of ours to continue to be a leader in innovation in STEM
careers and ideas, to continue to improve literacy rates, and to increase the number of students
walking down the aisle to receive their college degrees, then TRiO must be a priority investment
for those seeking the betterment of the nation. TRiO is one of the longest running programs that
levels the playing field for equal access to higher education for this country’s youth and adults.
An investment in TRiO is an investment in a positive future for the United States of America.
Please take a moment to write a letter, make a phone call, or tweet to your elected officials about
the effectiveness and importance of TRiO programs so we can continue to do the life changing
work that we do.
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”-Benjamin Franklin
Authored by
Matthew Moore
Assistant Director
The University of Northern Iowa Classic Upward Bound TRiO Program