Recognition Breakfast to Honor 200 High School Students

Worcester, MA - Approximately 200 students from five Worcester public high schools will be honored at the 16th annual senior recognition breakfast of the Consortium’s Educational Talent Search (ETS), Careers Plus, and GEAR UP programs. The ceremony will be held from 8:30 to 11 a.m., Wednesday, May 2 at the Worcester Hotel and Conference Center, 500 Lincoln Street.

Roy Lucas Jr., owner, president, and interim head coach of the New England Surge, will be the keynote speaker. The Surge, a professional indoor football team which competes in the Continental Indoor Football League and calls the DCU Center home, recently began its inaugural season in March. Lucas Jr., an established business and community leader in Worcester and central Massachusetts, is a graduate of Burncoat High School. Student speakers will be Maimuna Bah, North High School (GEAR UP) and D’Angelo Fernandez and Camila Ochoteco, Doherty Memorial High School (Educational Talent Search). In addition, background music will be provided by the Burncoat High School String Quartet.

Ninety-five percent of the students involved in the three federally funded programs applied to college this year. Among the colleges and universities that have recently accepted Educational Talent Search, Careers Plus, and GEAR UP students are Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, Boston College, Boston University, and Northeastern University. In addition, all 10 of the Consortium institutions that confer traditional undergraduate degrees have accepted at least one student from the programs.

Educational Talent Search is a federally funded educational support program under Title IV of the Higher Education Act. In addition to federal funding, the Worcester Public Schools and the Massachusetts Office of Student Financial Assistance provide funding for this program. In Worcester, the program serves 600 students, most of them from low-income families. Many of these students will be the first in their family to attend college.

Careers Plus is a project funded by the Massachusetts Office of Student Financial Assistance. The program provides comprehensive postsecondary access services tailored to the specific needs of students at Worcester Technical High School.

GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs), funded through a contract with the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education, provides services to local middle and high school students at Worcester East Middle School and North High School.