More than four dozen Battle Creek Central High School students are continuing their academic studies through the summer as participants in Kellogg Community College’s TRIO Upward Bound Summer Academy program, which began June 13 on campus in Battle Creek.
The Upward Bound program is a federally funded pre-college initiative designed to prepare first-generation and/or low-income high school students for success beyond high school. The program’s Summer Academy, which this year includes 50 students entering ninth through 12th grades in the fall, is based on KCC’s North Avenue campus in Battle Creek through July 21.
The Summer Academy features classroom instruction Mondays through Thursdays, with Fridays reserved for “Friday Excursions” to culturally significant sites in the region. As part of the program, each participant is equipped with school supplies free of charge throughout the summer, as well as breakfast and lunch daily onsite.
Applicants begin their participation in the program during their freshman year of high school and must maintain a 2.5 or higher GPA to continue.
“Our main goal for every Upward Bound student is to give them the skills and tools necessary to graduate high school and go into post-secondary education,” said Grindl Williams, director of the Upward Bound program at KCC.
Each of the seniors who graduates the program moves on to a two- or four-year college or university, Williams said, which is a testament to the value of giving them the opportunity to study subjects through the summer that they will be learning in the fall in high school.
“They all have a jump start,” Williams said. “They’re all ahead of their peers when they start high school classes in the fall, and that’s a major bonus.”
The Upward Bound program has been at KCC since 1982.
Learn more at kellogg.edu/upward or contact Director Grindl Williams at 269-565-7988 or williamsg@kellogg.edu.
This article first appeared in the June 2022 edition of BruIN magazine. For more information visit kellogg.edu/bruinmagazine.