2017 College Exploration Trip
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The goal of The College Exploration trip is to motivate youth from low-wealth communities to pursue their goals and dreams of higher education. The reality is that the youth are our future so what better investment can you make today that will change lives and positively impact our future.
The purpose of this trip is to give youth who would not otherwise have the opportunity to explore institutions of higher education access to all of the potential that these institutions hold and the historical reference and recreational benefits of the surrounding cities and towns.
Due to socioeconomic conditions for youth of color with 83% of them living within low-wealth communities throughout Asheville and Buncombe County higher education seems impossible.
In our area/community there are several colleges and universities but when you visit the campuses there are not many people of color (POC) attending and not to say that they aren’t great schools but to further show that our youth aren’t applying for college locally or nationally.
The College Exploration Trip will take youth and their parents from low-wealth communities on a 6 day 5 night college road trip all the way up to NYC, where we will visit the northeastern colleges and universities.
In 2016…
We were able to take 35 youth and their parents on a 5day 4night college exploration trip. We visited 15 colleges and universities all the way to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD back down to Allen University in Columbia, SC.
The Successes:
· All 16 Seniors that participated in the 2016 College Exploration trip will be graduating next month (June 2017)
· 9 out of 16 seniors (12th graders) who participated in the trip, applied and were accepted to colleges and universities that we visited.
The Residual effects:
· Out of 10 parents who participated in the trip 3 are currently attending college and the 4th parent starts in August.
This trip introduces high school students to college options that they may not have considered or thought was possible. This experience for a lot of the parents and first generation HS graduates and/or college attendees, helps to establish a mindset of “It is possible” and creates a college-going culture outside of school.
The key to the success of the College Exploration Trip is the “Each one Teach one” initiative, with the recognition that peer-to-peer mentoring/training is one of the best tools used when working with youth. This trip may only include 30-40 HS students and their parents but each one of them will tell their friends and family about the experience and have an impact of them and their future.
The College Exploration Trip’s objective is to change the mindset by broadening horizons through exposure to opportunities that fosters new possibilities. All of this is part of the strategy to improve the HS graduation and College enrollment rates by showing youth living in the marginalized communities of Asheville and Buncombe County that a college degree and upward mobility is possible.
The purpose of this trip is to give youth who would not otherwise have the opportunity to explore institutions of higher education access to all of the potential that these institutions hold and the historical reference and recreational benefits of the surrounding cities and towns.
Due to socioeconomic conditions for youth of color with 83% of them living within low-wealth communities throughout Asheville and Buncombe County higher education seems impossible.
In our area/community there are several colleges and universities but when you visit the campuses there are not many people of color (POC) attending and not to say that they aren’t great schools but to further show that our youth aren’t applying for college locally or nationally.
The College Exploration Trip will take youth and their parents from low-wealth communities on a 6 day 5 night college road trip all the way up to NYC, where we will visit the northeastern colleges and universities.
In 2016…
We were able to take 35 youth and their parents on a 5day 4night college exploration trip. We visited 15 colleges and universities all the way to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD back down to Allen University in Columbia, SC.
The Successes:
· All 16 Seniors that participated in the 2016 College Exploration trip will be graduating next month (June 2017)
· 9 out of 16 seniors (12th graders) who participated in the trip, applied and were accepted to colleges and universities that we visited.
The Residual effects:
· Out of 10 parents who participated in the trip 3 are currently attending college and the 4th parent starts in August.
This trip introduces high school students to college options that they may not have considered or thought was possible. This experience for a lot of the parents and first generation HS graduates and/or college attendees, helps to establish a mindset of “It is possible” and creates a college-going culture outside of school.
The key to the success of the College Exploration Trip is the “Each one Teach one” initiative, with the recognition that peer-to-peer mentoring/training is one of the best tools used when working with youth. This trip may only include 30-40 HS students and their parents but each one of them will tell their friends and family about the experience and have an impact of them and their future.
The College Exploration Trip’s objective is to change the mindset by broadening horizons through exposure to opportunities that fosters new possibilities. All of this is part of the strategy to improve the HS graduation and College enrollment rates by showing youth living in the marginalized communities of Asheville and Buncombe County that a college degree and upward mobility is possible.
Organizer
Dewana Little
Organizer
Asheville, NC
