Upward Bound Hosts Career/College Fair

By Alyssa Kelly

Mugz Rider helps his team create a design for the Fashion show that will display all of the participants’ fashion designs (Alyssa Kelly photo).

MISSOULA - "Being in Upward Bound has opened my eyes more and made me want to complete high school and go on to the College of Technology here in Missoula for radiology or computers. I'll more than likely go on to help people in Browning with my education," says Mugz Rider, a senior of Browning High School.

Four college hosts of the Upward Bound program including the Salish and Kootenai College, University of Montana, Montana Tech, and Montana State University, were included in a college and career fair that took place on the U of M campus June 23. "We want to acquaint the students with career opportunities they may not be familiar with, as well as expose them to college going skills that are important for success," says Jon Stannard, director of the U of M Upward Bound program.

The fair included fifteen presenters who were representatives of both careers and colleges. The presenters included Ian Marquand, who is the Special Projects Coordinator for the Montana Television Network. His news reports: "Under the Big Sky," are seen throughout Montana on the Montana CBS stations. During his thirty-year journalism career he has received several honors as well as great respect in the journalism community.

Another notable presenter was Angelica Lawson who is a Native/Hispanic woman who grew up in extreme poverty. She joined the Upward Bound program when she was a freshman and she went on to graduate college with doctorate degree. Currently, she is an assistant professor of Native American Studies. She noted that if it weren't for Upward Bound, she wouldn't be where is today. "We chose the presenters to inform the kids on exactly what it takes to peruse the careers they choose, the reality aspect of it so to speak," says Stannard.

To demonstrate a variety of careers, the Upward Bound participants were asked to design a fashion made of newspaper for several occasions: sleepwear, business attire, and college student clothing (Alyssa Kelly photo).

The Upward Bound program is funded through the US Department of Education. There are currently 755 programs throughout the US, funded to provide support in education and communication skills to low-income students in order to further their education. Every four years all Upward Bound programs must re-certify for funding for the following four years. In the US this past year, there were ninety programs that were not funded. However, there was money taken from the D-fund, and in turn, used to create new programs.

Through Upward Bound, staff in selected high schools work with Upward Bound members year round and offer services including counseling to encourage students to further their education. "A student of mine, this past year, received a $50,00 scholarship for any college in the US of their choice, " says Stannard.

One of the requirements for the program states that a student meet federal low-income standards or be in a family where neither parent graduated with a four-year college degree. "Statistically speaking, these students aren't meant for college because of their financial standings and Upward Bound shows the students other ways to find funding and support to further their education. Upward Bound intervenes in their life and buries the seed that college is possible. Our kids drop-out rates are lower, the graduating rates of high-school are higher, and the rate of our students going on to college is also higher," says Stannard.

A beneficial opportunity that Upward Bound provides as far as communication is exposure to a variety of people. "The best part of the program for the students is meeting people from other cultures and backgrounds. In the beginning of the (summer) program when the students arrive, they tend to stick with people of their own race or culture only. That only lasts for maybe two hours before they find similarities with the other students outside of culture, like skateboarding, music, and other interests. By the end of the program they all meet new friends and they're dating each other, it's really great to see," says Stannard.

For other students considering the Upward Bound Program Mugz Rider offers this advice "Try it out, and open your eyes. You will meet new people. There's help out there if you want it."