TRIO day embraces student education

Low income and first generation college students will have an opportunity on Saturday to demonstrate their enrichment skills and their academic savvy on TRIO Day.

TRIO Day is a nationally renowned celebration to promote awareness of the program to state legislature. The TRIO program which started in 1969 as three federally-funded programs. Upward Bound, Student Support Services and the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaurate were the original programs, and have since extended to include the Educational Opportunity Centers and the Testing Centers. All of these programs are functioning here at Oberlin College, under the advisement of McNish.

The primary function of the TRIO program is to offer services to students who aspire to enter college and graduate school and to help them participate fully in the society's economic and social structure. The program also helps students to overcome cultural barriers to education.

Clifton McNish, director of Oberlin's Upward Bound program since 1990, said, "I saw a need to provide a service to high school students that normally would not have been privy to such services." McNish is also involved in Student Support Services and the Educational Testing Centers.

McNish primarily works with Upward Bound, which provides tutoring and supplemental instruction in reading, writing, math and science. Upward Bound also works with students to assess academics and career choices. The program encourages the parent-child relationship as key to a student's development as well as promoting leadership, media exposure and community service.

Hundreds of Lorain County Upward Bound High School students have entered and have graduated from post-secondary institutions since 1977, according to the Directory of TRIO programs.

Student Support Services targets students whose families' yearly incomes are under $24,000. The Talent Search program serves children in grades 6 through 12 to begin to seek information about college admissions requirements, scholarships and financial aid information.

The Educational Opportunity Centers serve to place under-employed workers to choose a college and find financial aid.

The Ronald E. McNair post-Baccalaureate Achievement program helps minority undergraduates who are considering careers in college teaching and doctoral study to pinpoint research opportunities and locate faculty mentors.

According to the Directory of TRIO programs, 42 percent of TRIO participants are white, 35 percent are African American, 15 percent are Latino, four percent are Native American and four percent are Asian American. Sixteen thousand TRIO students are disabled.

The celebration of National TRIO day was passed as a result of a resolution passed by Congress in 1986.

On Saturday, TRIO students from all over the country will travel to Washington, D.C to increase knowledge and educate the country on the necessity for higher education opportunities for students, according to McNish.