Upward Bound programs back in business

For the first time since 2017, first-generation, low-income secondary students in the Lubbock Independent School District will be able to engage with Red Raiders to help them prepare for college – an opportunity made possible through the Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math and Science programs. The Department of Education renewed Texas Tech’s grant to fund the programs in December and every year for the next five years, it will serve a total of 120 students.

Sixty students from Monterey High School and Lubbock High School will be selected for the Upward Bound program. The other half of the participants will be members of the Upward Bound Math and Science programs selected from Estacado Early College High School and Coronado High School.

Both programs are part of the four “TRIO” programs hosted by Tech’s Division of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. However, Upward Bound Math and Science is specifically geared towards students with a desire to excel in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, said Jade Silva Tovar, assistant vice president of DEI at Tech, who led the writing for both grants.

“Not a whole lot of students really understand all of the sciences that go into agricultural science, soil science, food science, or may not even know that that is a possibility as a career for the future,” Silva Tovar said. “That was something that we highlighted in that grant – having a school nearby, but also being surrounded by rural communities.”

The big launch will happen in June with the six-week summer bridge program. Some students will be living in the dorms to get a fuller experience, with upperclassmen receiving priority.

Monday through Thursday students will be in a classroom setting, and on Fridays will be taken across the community for cultural events and career exploration activities at places like the Buddy Holly Center, said Diane Sanchez, Upward Bound program director. It is the best way for students to explore or discover their passions, Silva Tovar added. The end goal is not only to equip students with the academic confidence to graduate high school but to also enroll and graduate in post-secondary education.

“This allows the opportunity for students to explore careers and to see, this person is… the lead dancer or the lead stage technician in this company, and they actually got a degree in dance [or] they got a degree in theater production,” Silva Tovar said. “That allows them to see [that they] don’t just have to major in business [or] engineering.”

September through May students will experience the academic component that includes tutoring, test preparation, counseling, financial literacy, workshops and other needed services. Dana Parker, director of TRIO Student Support Services, said that before finding her niche in SSS, she volunteered with the Upward Bound Program while studying for her Ph.D.

“Some of the activities and some of the field trips, that was their [high school students] first time going to places outside of their neighborhoods, you know, working with a tutor was like a privilege for them because they had never had access to tutoring, and especially tutoring at the higher education level,” Parker said. “Having that level of interaction with tutoring and the impact that it had on students kind of resonated with me.”

Her research for her Ph.D. was about how colored students persist in TRIO programs. Key components to success were the relationships students built with faculty members and having a sense of belonging, said Parker.

As the director of SSS, Parker helps provide a support system for undergraduate students. All of the TRIO programs work in tandem but Upward Bound serves as a feeder into SSS.

“I’m just excited. I do a lot of community service and so I’m kind of hearing what’s going on in the school districts, and so just being that support and that resource to my colleagues, the directors and in assisting them in their families who they’ll be serving is what I’m most excited about,” Parker said.

Sanchez said the position was ideal since she has been working with secondary students and their families for a while now, and was also a first-generation student from Lubbock.

“There were a lot of things that I didn’t understand, I felt lost,” Sanchez said. “That is the motivation of why I want to promote this program and you know, advocate for them, and actually walk them through the process, every step that I can.”

To ensure students are comfortable, Sanchez plans on nurturing relationships with her students. She has a passion for helping others and wants students to know they are capable of growing.

“The students are what makes the program,” Sanchez said. “Working with them and instilling the possibilities of post-secondary education — ‘Yes, we’re still in high school, but we’re going to get through high school, what is your next step,’— and helping build those pathways and helping them be more successful and feel confident in their abilities to move forward into whatever occupation that they want to do.”

The element of comfortability is not only important for the students, but their families as well, Sanchez added. The goal is to piece out information as much as possible and be transparent with families who are trusting them with their children. Silva Tovar said it is instrumental to incorporate families in the process, no matter who the family may be to that student — aunts, uncles, grandparents, mentors or community members. Typically, whatever decision a first-generation student makes is also the family’s decision, especially considering graduating from college changes a generation of a family’s trajectory toward economic ability.

“People believe that first-generation families don’t want their students to go to college, or that they don’t care, they don’t know how to get them to college and I think that’s further from the truth,” Silva Tovar said. “What we see is that our first-generation college students and their families know the importance of going to college, and it’s just [about] helping them navigate the ton of information that it takes with going to college.”

The program is not only beneficial for LISD students as Tech students can also get involved via a paid position as a summer bridge counselor or tutor. Listings will be posted via TechAnnounce, social media platforms and word of mouth.

Alumni of the program have doctorate degrees, are faculty members at Tech or in Lubbock-leading community organizations, said Silva Tovar. She said the alumni emphasized how critical the lessons taught by Upward Bound were to their success in navigating college, and how excited they are to engage with and inspire the next generation of Upward Bound alumni this summer.

“We’re really excited to have both programs back at Texas Tech and to serve the 120 students between the two programs so if people know of current high school students that may meet the eligibility requirements,” Silva Torvar said. “Even if they’re not sure, send them our way.”