PRESQUE ISLE — Twenty Aroostook County high school students from the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s TRiO College Access Services — Upward Bound program recently were selected to travel to Nashua, N.H. to attend TRiO Day events this spring. National TRiO Day is an opportunity for celebration, reflection and action around increased access to higher education for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Federal TRiO programs help disadvantaged students successfully pursue higher education, complete a college degree and initiate a successful career.
Nearly 650 TRiO and GEAR-UP participants from all six New England states banded together to participate in TRiO Day 2013 in Nashua. N.H. This regional event is sponsored by the New England Educational Opportunity Association (NEOA). TRiO Day 2013 was intended to celebrate the positive impact of federal TRiO programs in local communities throughout the nation, reflect on the importance of educational opportunity programs in creating a fairer society for all and act to protect and advance access to higher education for disadvantaged students.
TRiO Day has also been proclaimed a National Day of Service. Participants are expected to perform community service as a way for TRiO to give back to their community and say thank you for its support. The community service focus in 2013 was enhanced literacy for children.
Workshops and speakers provided TRiO students with information about academic preparation for higher education, the processes of college admission, cultivating leadership skills, financial aid and financial literacy, student engagement, social and cultural capital skill building, building a personal and professional network, and career development. Students also attended college visits and participated in a large college fair.
UMPI Upward Bound participants included students from the following communities/schools: Ashland — Kali Pelletier; Caribou — Daniel LaCasse and Sophia Maile; Central Aroostook High School in Mars Hill — Briana Dyer; Fort Fairfield — Matthew Theriault and Erin Williams; Fort Kent — Krista Albert and Justin Hodgkin; Hodgdon — Brian Gilpatrick and Meghan Hebert; Houlton — Kierra Carmichael; Katahdin — MacKenzie Roy; Madawaska — Tonya Bell and Ryan Boucher; MSSM in Limestone — Patricia Walsh; Presque Isle — Carolynn Brundage, Kaleb Dampf and Bianca McGirt; Southern Aroostook High School — Cassidy LeFay; and Washburn — Virginia Farley.
