Worcester, MA - More than 600 high school students from across the region will converge on the city for the New England Educational Opportunity Association's (NEOA) recognition of National TRIO Day 2008 on Thursday, February 21 and Friday, February 22 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
Students and staff from more than 40 TRIO and other educational opportunity programs across New England will participate in the two-day regional event. The NEOA rotates the annual observance of National TRIO Day between the six New England states with Worcester and Boston alternating hosting duties for Massachusetts every sixth year. According to the 1986 Congressional resolution, National TRIO Day is meant to focus the nation's "attention on the needs of disadvantaged young people and adults aspiring to improve their lives, to the necessary investment if they are to become contributing citizens of the country, and to the talent which will be wasted if that investment is not made."
Funded by the U.S. Department of Education under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, TRIO programs were established by Congress to provide educational opportunity for all Americans regardless of race, ethnic background or economic circumstance which may hinder access to higher education. More than 2,700 TRIO Programs across the U.S. serve nearly 866,000 disadvantaged students (typically in grades 6-12).
On Thursday, February 21, TRIO students will receive group tours of 12 Consortium institutions as well as 10 colleges and universities in Boston. Ronn Critchlow, director of educational opportunity programs at MIT, will be the evening speaker at the Crowne Plaza at 6:30 p.m. TRIO students will participate in a college fair on Friday, February 21 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., which will feature more than 70 institutions of higher learning. The students will also attend workshops on financial aid and other college preparatory programs. Both the college fair and the workshops will be held at the Crowne Plaza.
This year TRIO programs across New England are participating in a community service project to recycle as many aluminum cans as possible through the Cans for Habitat program, a partnership between the Aluminum Association and Habitat for Humanity. All of the proceeds from the regional can drive will be presented to Habitat for Humanity on February 21 where the TRIO program that has raised the most money will be awarded and formally recognized by a representative of Greater Worcester Habitat for Humanity.
The Colleges of Worcester Consortium, Inc. operates two TRIO programs, the Educational Opportunity Centers (EOC) for Massachusetts and Educational Talent Search (ETS). EOC provides education access services primarily to disadvantaged adults (age 19 and above) who are interested in returning to school. The Consortium's Educational Opportunity Centers project is one of the original 13 EOC projects, first funded in 1973, and is the second-largest EOC project in the country. It serves over 6,500 individuals each year, and operates in six cities across the state, including Boston, Lynn, New Bedford, Springfield, Pittsfield and Worcester. The EOC in Worcester annually serves 1,500 adults.
ETS is designed to serve youth who have the potential to succeed in college but who are educationally and economically disadvantaged. The Consortium operates ETS in three cities, including Worcester, New Bedford and Springfield. More than 800 students in grades 7 through 12 are served every year, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that they graduate from high school and successfully enroll in a post-secondary program appropriate to their interests and abilities. In Worcester, ETS operates within the Worcester Public Schools at Burncoat Middle School, Burncoat High School and South High Community School.
The Consortium also operates the GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) program in Worcester, New Bedford and Springfield. GEAR UP, with similar goals to ETS, is a project that the Consortium operates in partnership with the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education. Over 4,000 students are annually served through GEAR UP.