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Features: July 29, 2002
Area Teens GEAR UP for Careers in Math
and Science
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Trish Galvin
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For the third straight summer, students
from local high schools set up camp at Rensselaer to take
classes and experience life on a college campus. The scholars,
10th-grade participants in the Rensselaer Alliance to Increase
Student Excellence (RAISE), a part of the Federal GEAR UP
education initiative, plan to use their newfound knowledge
to one day embark on careers in math, science, engineering,
or healthcare.
At least, that's what RAISE organizers hope.
Created in September 1999 with a $1.7 million
grant from the U.S. Department of Education, RAISE helps
prepare low-income students from six area school districts
for college by offering after-school, weekend, and summer
learning programs at Hudson Valley Community College, Russell
Sage College, and Rensselaer. It also provides financial
planning services for parents expecting hefty tuition bills.
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| Trish Galvin |
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"It's about getting an entire cohort
of young people ready for college, addressing academic and
emotional issues that limit access to higher education,
and creating a learning community of teachers, administrators,
students, and parents," said Mark Smith, dean of students
and author of the RAISE grant.
From July 5 to July 19, participants tackled
a wide variety of subjects ranging from holograms and aerodynamics
to forensics and technical communication in classes taught
by Rensselaer grad students, a professor, and area teachers.
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