Mentoring partnership
UD Admissions joins Boys and Girls Clubs of Delaware in mentoring partnership
12:29 p.m., Dec. 9, 2014--The University of Delaware’s Office of Admissions is partnering with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Delaware in a program designed to guide high school juniors and seniors through the college admissions process.
The kickoff event for the Scholars By Choice Program was held Wednesday evening, Dec. 3, in the University Visitors Center.
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Attendees included representatives from UD admissions, Boys and Girls Clubs of Delaware, and participating UD mentors and their student mentees.
Jose Aviles, director of admissions, said the partnership reflects UD’s mission as a land grant university and the state of Delaware’s flagship public university.
“We certainly understand the importance of participation in higher education and, specifically, to really live our mission as Delaware’s flagship public university and one of the most significant land grant universities in the Mid-Atlantic region,” Aviles said. “Our mission and our purpose is to try to expand our reach and increase access for students who don’t always participate in higher education.”
Aviles noted that students from low income situations or historically underrepresented groups who are members of the first generation of their families to go to a university comprise the fastest growing pool of potential college students in America.
“All of this ties in to what we are doing,” Aviles said. “We know that in every one of these categories we have to do more work in college admissions to reach out and help these individuals realize their dream of going to college.”
‘Power of education’
As a first generation college student in his family, Aviles said he never imagined that he would end up being director of admissions at a major research university like UD, or that he would visit the White House and sit in the same room with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, a UD alumnus.
“It’s all due to the power of education,” Aviles said. “The single fact that you make the decision to go to college to get your degree and be educated provides all kinds of opportunities for you to engage in this world and make a contribution, and perhaps even change the world.”
Aviles recalled that at each critical stage of his educational journey, there was a mentor who helped him to make the right decisions that opened new doors of opportunity.
“My dream and my vision is that in this partnership we can provide that same kind of service and have that type of relationship with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Delaware,” Aviles said. “You are the first, and you are going to set the legacy for others. Our student mentors are going to set the bar in terms of the kind of commitment that will help us to fulfill the promise of education here at UD.”
Value of mentors
Tony Boswell, executive vice president of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Delaware, said that mentors who have been through the admissions process are often better poised to help the next generation of college students do the same.
“It’s really important for our group of Boys and Girls Clubs members to have UD student mentors who will guide them and tell them what is the most expeditious and meaningful thing to do,” Boswell said. “When I was an undergraduate, I had someone who served as my mentor, and he gave me the best advice I ever received. It’s good to have mentors who are a little bit further down the road than you, because they remember what it was like.”
Boswell thanked Aviles and UD student mentors for opening the doors to UD and urged Boys and Girls Clubs participants to fully participate in Scholars by Choice Program.
“Please take advantage of this,” Boswell said. “To the student mentors, thank you for what you are going to do because the mentor-mentee relationship makes all the difference for success, particularly for those who may not have other mentors to turn to for advice.”
Leslie McGowan, director of volunteer services at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Delaware, said the program has the potential to benefit all who participate.
“I think the college and high school students will work great together,” said McGowan, who graduated from UD in 2009 as an English major. “This also is a great way for UD students to give back to the community.”
How the program works
Timothy Danos, admissions counselor and coordinator of the program, explained how the program will work and outlined mentor objectives and student responsibilities.
Admissions staff members involved in the partnership also include admissions counselors and UD alumni Najla Whitehead of the Class of 2014 and Eliana Waite of the Class of 2009; Imani Powell, assistant director of admissions, and Keeley Powell, director of recruitment and diversity in the Office of Graduate and Professional Education, both 2002 UD graduates; and Danny Barrow, assistant director of admissions.
“Students will meet at least twice a month with a peer mentor and at least once a month with an admissions professional,” Danos said. “Discussion topics will include college preparation, college application materials, financial access, access to higher education and defining leadership and scholarship.”
Beginning in the spring of their junior year of high school, students will learn to become college ready while preparing for SAT and ACT tests by enrolling in prep courses and taking practice exams.
“Another important aspect of the program will be advisement from admission officers who are volunteering services similar to independent college counselors,” Danos said. “We want to encourage students to pursue a college education at institutions that may include, but are not limited to UD.”
After searching for colleges, students will apply to at least three colleges or universities during the fall, and also will apply for scholarships and financial aid. Partnership students will then accept an offer of admission by May 1, before their high school graduations take place.
A Junior Scholars by Choice Program for students in grades 8-10 will kickoff in spring 2015.
UD mentors
Student mentor coordinators include Stacy Chacko from New Hyde Park, New York, a junior in the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, and Monica Lindsay, a junior in the College of Arts in Sciences from the Bronx, New York City.
“Monica and I are very much attracted to this work,” Chacko said. “I didn’t have a mentor in high school, so I want to use this opportunity to help students know that they don’t have to carry the weight of the whole world on their shoulders.”
“It took a whole team of people to help me, and I want to do the same thing for others,” Lindsay said. “It’s going to be fun and it’s going to be challenging.”
Mentors also include Markus Kendall, a senior from Frederick, Maryland; Julius Rich, a senior from Dover, Delaware; Jesse Bosco, a junior from Limerick, Pennsylvania; Karly Jones, a junior from Dover, Delaware; and Leslie Grignon, a senior from Saint Charles, Illinois, all in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Student mentors in the College of Arts and Sciences also include Avis Rodriquez, a senior from Cypress, Texas; Allie Robles, a senior from Stamford, Connecticut; Tasneem Wilson, a sophomore from Newark, Delaware; and Camila Sosa, a junior from Newark, Delaware.
Volunteer mentors also include Maya Dwanah, a sophomore from Bear, Delaware, in the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics; Elaine Bennett, a senior from Vienna, Virginia, and Attalie Carnavali, a junior from the Bronx, New York City, both in the College of Education and Human Development; and Megan McCaffrey, a senior from Annapolis, Maryland, in the College of Health Sciences.
University Studies volunteer mentors include Ryan Broussard, a sophomore from New Castle, Delaware; Talisa Baptiste, a freshman from Newark, Delaware; Oliva English, a freshman from Middletown, Delaware; and Dante Marcelle, a freshman from Newark, Delaware.
Article by Jerry Rhodes
Photos by Tyler Jacobson