College Forward

College Forward

By Tiffany Young Wednesday, 25 November 2009

AUSTIN — What once began as a three-person organization meeting out of College Forward Executive Director Lisa Fielder’s kitchen in Tarrytown has grown to a nonprofit with 12 employees and 49 AmeriCorps members assisting more than 1,400 high school and college students. AmeriCorps is a national volunteer program supporting a range of local service programs to meet community needs.

College Forward members work with school districts in Austin, Pflugerville, Round Rock and elsewhere, to reach high school students. Their mission is to provide college access and persistence services to economically disadvantaged students.

The program started at Hays Consolidated Independent School District.

“We knew what we wanted to do, but we couldn’t show that we had done it before,” Fielder said. “Hays School District was willing to take a risk, so they were easier to convince we were worth a try.”

In 2003, its first year, the program had 30 students sign up. Fielder said at that point the curriculum was mostly trial and error. They would come up with a curriculum, test it with the students and if it worked, they would repeat it. If students did not learn, they would tweak it until the students succeeded. All 30 students from their first year applied and got accepted into a college.

This year, Connally, Reagan, Lyndon B. Johnson and Manor high schools were added to those being served. Stony Point, Crockett and Travis are the high schools that already have College Forward programs in AISD and RRISD.

In the beginning, College Forward gave presentations to juniors and seniors who were in the top 60 percent of their class and qualified for the national free lunch program. The organization has since opened it up to youth who would be first-generation college students or to students who have parents with an annual income that would qualify them for the national lunch program if they applied.

Students enrolled in the program generally put in 420 hours during their junior and senior years with two after-school classes per week, occasional weekend test diagnostic courses and volunteer hours that the organization requires of the students to “pay” for the program.

Fielder said that not only is the volunteer service good for their resumes, but it is also good for the community and helps students have a greater responsibility for their success.

Once they go off to college, there is a staff of AmeriCorps members devoted to the students attending college. Called persistence services, these workers contact students regularly to see how they are doing, send care packages and make sure the students are succeeding.

Though Fielder no longer coaches at the local high schools, she still loves hearing from students.

One memory that sticks out to her came from a phone call she received last year from a Del Valle student who graduated in 2008. The student, who had grown up with very few books in the family household, was calling to ask Fielder which books to keep for his personal library of college textbooks.

“To think some kid from Del Valle can now discuss Plato and is studying aerospace engineering and all because of an afterschool class—that’s the best part—seeing our kids become successful,” she said.

Connally High School College Forward program

At Connally High School, more than 81 juniors meet in classrooms after school after their peers pack up to go home. They are not there for detention or practicing for a school play—they are preparing, two years in advance, for college. Many of the participants will be the first in their family to attend college.

In their second month of College Forward, the students are learning about the college application process—everything from how colleges evaluate applications to determining scores for college preparatory tests. College Forward has a near-perfect record for getting dedicated students admitted into college, and while the program is only in its sixth year, it is showing results in keeping students in college as well.

After familiarizing the students with key words to know during the college application process, the students are given four mock applications and are asked to put themselves in the shoes of an admissions committee to determine which students should be accepted, wait listed and denied to New York University. This exercise gives them an idea of what colleges will look for when they submit their applications and how to improve their chances of getting an acceptance letter.

One student, Abdullah Suleman, said he is participating in College Forward because he wants to attend college and needs help with applications. He hopes his participation will land him at the University of Texas to study accounting or business management.

Another student and drill team member Marie Portillo said it is what the program offers that has her coming in after school twice a week.

“I’m looking for a better understanding of college,” Portillo said.

She hopes to be accepted to Texas State University and get a degree in psychology or education. She said the time spent after school is worth it.

“So far I’ve learned a lot,” Portillo said.