 |
 |
 |
|||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
For Immediate Release Contact: 304-327-4096
(Bluefield)—The West Virginia Access Center for Higher Education, Inc. (WVACHE), headquartered at Bluefield State College, has received a $5,000 grant from Appalachian Power, a unit of American Electric Power. The grant will support the WVACHE’s efforts to encourage more West Virginia high-school students to go to college. The WVACHE is currently funding Access Projects in 13 high schools around the Mountain State.
“We are so appreciative of Appalachian Power’s support,” said Sarita A. Gattuso, WVACHE Executive Director. “The goal of the WVACHE is to change the mindset of our students from, ‘I don't know what I’m going to do after high school’ to ‘I know I am going to college!’ When we truly believe in our students we give them hope, especially those who never considered themselves college material. And where there is hope, anything is possible!”
The WVACHE program has expanded a pilot project initiated eight years ago through an ARC grant. Modeled after the highly successful Ohio Appalachian Center for Higher Education, the WVACHE awards grants on a competitive basis to high schools for a proven program of activities designed to increase the college-going rate. West Virginia high schools compete for two-year Access grants focusing upon activities to encourage students to pursue higher education.
Typical activities include field trips to college campuses, business alliances, parent meetings, college/career fairs, utilization of college exploration software, and teacher visits to schools and businesses. “These activities help students and their parents explore college opportunities and career possibilities while, at the same time, demystifying the college experience as well as building students’ confidence and self-esteem,” Gattuso explained.
Based on the college-going rate increases reported by the nine West Virginia high schools funded in the WVACHE’s 2003–05 grant cycle, an estimated 450 additional students enrolled in college in fall 2005 than would have without participating in a WVACHE Access Project.
For more information about the WVACHE, please contact Sarita Gattuso, WVACHE Executive Director, at 304-327-4096 or sgattuso@bluefieldstate.edu, or visit the website at www.oache.org/wvache_home.htm.
October 5, 2006
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|