Upward Bound Spotlight
By Julie Snyder
Photo Credit: http://www.waeopp.org/waeopp_programs/upward_bound
This year the Superior Chapter of Upward Bound received an I-CAN grant worth $48,000.
The grant is a one-year grant that was awarded to the Upward Bound juniors and seniors to help them develop their goals of becoming first generation college students.
The grant will support an online tutoring program called Comfit. Through this program, students will get 20 hours of practice to strengthen their English and math skills.
Junior Angie Olson joined Upward Bound the summer before her freshman year.
Although the extra work of having to get the 20 hours can seem overwhelming, Olson said she feels that it will be valuable to them in the future.
“I think [Comfit] is good for us,” Olson said.
Upward Bound director Angie Hugdahl has seen success with the I-CAN program. They have hired more tutors and speakers with the money to benefit the students. There are even specific tutors to work alongside the juniors and seniors while they do their Comfit hours.
Superior was selected for the grant over hundreds of other schools.
“I felt that Superior won the grant because there is an undeniable link with the students’ goals, and Upward Bound is to get kids prepared for college,” Hugdahl said.
I-CAN will do testing on the students and ask for ACT results in order to know the progress of the extra tutoring and especially Comfit. This is mainly for their own records and to know if it is successful for years to come.
“Higher education is so important for the future, and now we’ve taken getting prepared to the next step,” Hugdahl said.
