Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Trio Helps Students Attend College

For low-income students, the opportunity to go to college does exist.

Stan Escalante, with Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, told the Gurdon Rotary Club of the school's TRIO program during its regular weekly meeting Thursday, March 13.

TRIO is a series of federally funded programs specifically designed to help the underprivileged. It was originally established by the U.S. Congress in 1965 under the old Title IV program.

Escalante said TRIO helps students overcome financial problems, along with trouble they may have with social situations, academics and cultural barriers. The idea, he said, is to give those participating an introduction to other ways of life, not alternative lifestyles, though.

The programs under the TRIO umbrella include: Upward Bound, Student Support Services, Talent Search, Educational Opportunity Centers and the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement, along with the newest addition for Math and Science.

According to Escalante, 44 students are chosen from 16 different schools in Southwest Arkansas. The students interested must fill out an application and have a recommendation from a teacher or counselor.

He said 80 percent of those selected come from low income families, with neither parent completing college. In fact, it is a requirement that neither parent have completed college to get into the program.

Most of the students, he explained, come from single-parent households and are culturally deprived.

The Rotarians were informed students from households earning $22,000 or less have a 4 percent chance of earning a Bachelor's degree by the age of 24.

The more money a family earns, he said, the better the chances of a student completing college.

Escalante works with the Math/Science TRIO program. He said students in this program are expected to give up six weeks of their summer vacation and live in a dorm on the OBU campus.

While there, they are tutored for their next grade level in high school, as the program is for high school sophomores and juniors.

There is one Saturday session per month, with different skills and programs introduced. Not only do students in the Math/Science program study these subjects, they are also introduced to English and foreign languages.

At one session, Escalante said, the students were given some fundamental Chinese to learn. So, he said, the program is not a piece of cake.

But, those interested need not worry, the students in the programs aren't graded on their subjects. However, they are tested at the beginning to see what they know, and again at the end to see what they've learned.

The TRIO program, Escalante said, helps students get used to the college setting, which is much more relaxed than a high school campus. The programs, he added, are individually focussed so each students learns at their own pace and capability.

But, he said, OBU has to renew its funding on a regular basis, which means asking members of Congress not to gut the program. Many congressmen, Escalante told the Rotary Club, will cut a program they've never heard of unless someone fights for it.

TRIO, he said, is important, not because it gives financial support to students in need, but works to break the cycle of poverty and give young people the chance for independence and a better way of life than they have known.

"A lot of these students come from adverse conditions," he said. "Most of them are good students."

But, these students need a hand up, which is offered under the TRIO program.

Along with filling out an application and getting recommended, students' homes are visited by TRIO representatives, who interact with the parents.

Camelia Cooper, a Gurdon High School student, and member of TRIO, also spoke to the club. She said it's an excellent program, where student's don't have to worry about their grades, just learn the material given to them.

Andrea Morrison, also a GHS student and TRIO participant, said the program is mainly for the disadvantaged who want careers and a chance to go to college

At the end of the summer sessions, Escalante said, the students are taken on trips to expose them to different cultural things, new ideas, concepts and ways of life.

Once the program is completed, it's not over for the students involved. He said once they graduate high school, TRIO pays for their first semester of college and tracks the students who participated.

According to Escalante, those who are in the program are given information for financial assistance, and help filling out the forms.

He added the students don't have to attend OBU after graduating high school, and are free to go to the college of their choice.