Glenwood High School senior Keyla Contreras and Summit County High School students Lizbeth Serrano and Nancy Higuera in an advanced chemistry lab at CU Boulder last summer. (Photo by Patrick Campbell)
October 1, 2016 • By Sue Postema Scheeres
Eric Robinson hopes to teach American history someday and, thanks to the Summit County Pre-collegiate program, the senior at Summit High School is on track to reach his goal.
This college access and prep program helps first-generation students in Summit County graduate from high school, enroll in college and graduate from college. With the school year now underway, Eric is already making plans for next fall.
“My mom introduced me to this program, because she wanted the best for me,” said Eric, whose parents went to technical school but didn’t graduate. “This program has given me opportunities and has taught me to finish and get things done. I know what I want to do with my future and my life.”
The program, which was modeled after the Roaring Fork PreCollegiate program, was started in 2009 as a partnership between CU Boulder’s Office for Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement, Summit School District, the Summit Foundation, Vail Resorts Epic Promise and Colorado Mountain College. The aim is to increase the high school graduation rate for first-generation students from the county and to provide them with the tools and opportunity to attend college.
The program’s track record is impressive. According to program director Molly Griffith, 100 percent of seniors in the program graduate from high school and are accepted to college, and the program has an 87 percent college graduation rate.
Currently, there are 160 students in sixth through 12th grades from Summit Middle and High School involved with the program, who receive academic tutoring, career and financial education, college prep classes and more. A special feature of the program includes high school students mentoring middle schoolers; it also offers workshops so that parents can learn about the school district, high school systems, and connect with resources that will help their children succeed in school, Griffith said.
The goal of the program is to provide students with the resources and skills they need to pursue a post-secondary education, and also build character and a sense of community, Griffith said.
“Every student who is willing to work for his or her dreams deserves access to the education required to make those dreams a reality,” she said. “The process of deciding where you want to go in life can be overwhelming and confusing, and we are here to help students and parents navigate that process and connect with opportunities for success.”
The program also includes college visits during the summer. Students entering seventh through 10th grades commute to Colorado Mountain College for four days. Rising juniors and seniors spend two weeks at CU Boulder during the summer for what many refer to as “academic boot camp.” Students take four academic classes taught by college professors and high school teachers, live in dorms and enroll in seminars that focus on college readiness and applying for college. All students who participate in the program are expected to apply to college.
“I love seeing the students get out of Summit County and be on campus,” Griffith said. “They are presented with challenges they have to solve on their own. At the end, they have tools that they bring with them back to school in the fall.”
Peer counselors – all of whom were in the program in high school and are now in college, many at CU Boulder – provided tutoring and moral support to the high school students while on campus.
“I received so much help from the program. No one in my family had gone to a four-year college,” said Carlos Lopez, a sophomore business student at CU Boulder who was part of the program when he was at Summit High School.
“I wanted to give back to the program, to help students reach their goals. I love being an example of how they can do it,” he added.
For Eric, the senior at Summit High School, being on campus was overwhelming at first, but gave him the motivation to take the next step.
“I learned how to study last summer, to make flash cards, reread material and that I need repetition to learn,” he said. “I loved seeing students on campus, their determination to finish. I know there is more to life than high school.”