Donna Wiseman, the education school dean, spoke with Northwestern High School students at Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting.
Northwestern High School lies just a mile up the road from this campus, but for many of its students, one mile might as well be thousands — the path to higher education is a long one that many Northwestern students don’t take.
But their teachers and members of the university community are striving to change that; yesterday, officials from Prince George’s County Public Schools and this university held a ribbon-cutting ceremony cementing the creation of the Northwestern High School Partnership, designed to bring the university’s outreach programs directly to the students who need it most.
Prince George’s County Schools and the University of Maryland signed an official Memorandum of Understanding in March, but with the start of a new school year, the plans can move forward.
This university has had a history of reaching out to its neighbors. Many campus programs list Northwestern as one of their target schools because of its close proximity to the campus and high level of need — U.S. News & World Report reported 60 percent of Northwestern students were categorized as economically disadvantaged in 2010. However, each outreach program was working independently, and the lack of a united front was doing little to improve the low graduation rate.
AmeriCorps VISTA, a program that mirrors the work of the Peace Corps but targets poverty in the United States, awarded the Leadership and Community Service Learning unit in Stamp Student Union with a three-year grant in 2010.
“Many students from NHS have never been to the campus of UMD,” Americorps VISTA Community Partner Liaison Shane Bryan wrote in an email. “It is our duty as a good neighbor to work with each other and ensure others have the opportunity to continue their education.”
Bryan wrote he sees an opportunity to change any negative stereotypes about Northwestern, if only the students and faculty could have the resources they need.
“I think it is most important for people to understand that Northwestern High School isn’t the same school it was 10 or 15 years ago,” Bryan wrote. “While the school tends to have a negative reputation in the community, it is actually a very strong school. Administrators, faculty and staff at NHS are committed to providing a positive learning environment for students.”
Because many Northwestern students have parents who did not attend college, some said it is difficult to persuade students to pursue higher education.
“A lot of the Northwestern students don’t — I don’t want to say don’t want to learn, but they don’t really want to engage in things that will make them more prosperous because it doesn’t seem fun,” senior animal sciences major and 2009 Northwestern graduate Alenna Monet said.
Of those who do make it to college, a large portion are still ill-prepared for the challenges of higher education. Monet was an honors student and took AP classes at Northwestern, but said she was unprepared for college-level classes, especially those in math and science.
“I used to get 4.0s and then I came here and it was a smack in the face,” Monet said.
Last year, 57 Northwestern High School students applied to the university, and only 18 were accepted, Bryan said.
Monet said she thought if Northwestern students could interact more with university students and see more of the school, it might interest them and motivate them to go to college.
One of the many programs now united under the memorandum brings Northwestern students to the campus. The Office of Undergraduate Studies offers three pre-college programs, all of which take in underprivileged students and help supplement the curriculum they get in high school.
Ninth graders stay in the dorms on the campus for six weeks, attending classes and learning how to prepare for a college education. Students can also receive counseling in addition to academic support. After the six-week summer session, students return to the campus every Saturday for additional support during the school year.
“I think it’s so important for them so early in their high school careers to start thinking about these opportunities that are available to them through the university,” said Charis Granger-Mbugua, a ninth-grade teacher at Northwestern said.
Director of Pre-College Programs Georgette Hardy DeJesus said she looks forward to collaborating with other on-campus groups. The pre-college programs are successful as it is, with a 98 percent college placement rate for the flagship Upward Bound Program, and the synergic potential is high.
“It’s going to be a good resource for students, and it just educates them about what college is and gives them a better hope that they can attend college,” Upward Bound counselor Emily Rizzo said.
“I’m excited about the exposure of the students to universities,” Granger-Mbugua said. “I think that this partnership will help them see that there are opportunities after they leave Northwestern and a lot of this is just by exposure.”
