Welcome

Upward Bound is an educational opportunity program of the U.S. Department of Education. The program provides many activities and services to eligible high school students who want to go to college. The Ohio State ATI Upward Bound serves students at:

Orrville Senior High School, Orrville
McKinley Senior High School, Canton
Timken Early College, Canton
Wooster High School, Wooster

Ohio State Wooster Upward Bound

Since 2008, 82% of the students who participated in our program enrolled in college.
(The national average for enrolling in college right after high school for low-income students is 55%.)

Of those students who entered college, 54% have graduated or are still working towards a college degree.
(The national graduation rate (within six years of enrolling right after high school) for low-income, first-generation 

2020-2021 Announcements

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion has banned all face-to-face interactions, including the UB presence in your schools. To make the most of this circumstance, we have sent surveys to get your thoughts on programming. Based on your feedback, we have made our In-School Meetings take place every Thursday from 4:00pm-6:00pm starting September 17, 2020.

In-School Meeting Details

Our meetings will be on Zoom, and tutorials for the application are found online; please let a staff member know if you are worried about being able to work Zoom. These meetings will be structured much different than last academic year. First, our academic advisor will give a 25-minute presentation to the whole group. Then, after a 5-minute break, our academic advisor, program assistant, and program director will ALL give 25-minute presentations, and students will be rotated into each small group. You won’t have to do anything to see all presentations, all you have to do is show up!

UB now has an edpuzzle that you will be invited to via email. If you’d like to join the class before you get the email invite by creating an account or joining a class with an existing account at edpuzzle.com and using the code jeivrej

Stipend Changes

This year, we are working with the Department of Education to increase the stipend total to the maximum $40 per month allowed for academic year stipends! To earn the full stipend pending approval from the federal government, students must attend at least one meeting with the academic advisor and attend the weekly in-school meeting. We are recording these meetings and posting them on EdPuzzle with a short quiz. If you are not able to attend on Thursdays at 4:00pm, you will be able to earn the same amount of stipend if you watch the full video and complete the quiz correctly.

If you only attend part of the meeting, watch part of the recording, or get quiz questions incorrect, partial attendance and stipend will be given. You must electronically “sign-in” for your attendance to count at the live meetings, and we will provide instructions for how to do it. If you do not attend the individual meeting or Thursday ISM meetings/watch the recording, you will not earn any stipend, even if your absence from the meeting is excused.

Staff Changes

As some of you may already know, Brooke has taken a position with the Salem school district, teaching English as a second language, and will be stepping back from her role as our academic advisor. Her full statement is below, but we don’t want you to be sad! This is a great opportunity for Brooke, and we are all incredibly proud of her work supporting you for nearly two years. And this is also an opportunity for all of you! You will get to meet someone new, get a new perspective on something you’re having trouble with, and hopefully be able to gain another mentor during your high school experience!

We are already interviewing candidates, and because the academic advisor is such an important figure in your lives, we want your help! As part of the hiring process, we will ask our finalists to create a short, 15-minute or less lesson from a list of UB topics that we will share with you. We will include a short anonymous survey for you to complete after watching, and we encourage you to do so. Because we want to hire them quickly, we ask that you keep a close eye on your email and text messages so that we can get your responses quickly.

 Brooke’s Statement:

Hi everyone! While I know that another big change is probably not what you want to hear during this unusual year, I am sad to announce that I will be stepping down from the academic advisor position in the next few months. Working with Upward Bound has easily been the best experience I’ve had, and I owe that to how much I’ve loved getting to know and spend time with all of you. The school district in my hometown was in need of someone to teach English as a Second Language to high school students from Guatemala, and that person hired needed to also be able to teach middle school English or they were going to cut the ESL position. I’ve always loved working with that group of students when I first taught in Salem, and the school definitely needs more teachers to help others with online learning right now, so I felt it would be the right move for me to return to teaching.

Stepping down from this position does not mean I intend to abandon the program entirely. Over the next few months, I will continue to do one-on-one meetings and weekly whole-group meetings as normal during afterschool hours. Since Upward Bound must stay virtual until January, I have the unique opportunity to be able to do both positions while we find the perfect academic advisor for you. It is also very important to me to continue to work with all the seniors through your last year, since you all mean so much to me! In our meetings, I will talk to each of you to get an idea of what you’re looking for in the next academic advisor so we can hire someone who is a good fit for the group we have. You will also be able to watch videos of each candidate teaching a lesson and give input so that you have a say in the hiring process. Once they’re hired, I will continue to work with them for a couple weeks until they’re comfortable in the position, and I’ll still be available for all of you.

After the new academic advisor begins taking over, my role will also change. I will continue to stay involved however I can – as a tutor, ACT instructor, field trip chaperone, etc. – and I will also stay available to anyone who needs me, particularly seniors who may be hesitant to turn completely to someone new. Before the new person starts, I will ensure that each of you have the correct contact information for me, and I will encourage you to keep in touch!

For more details about all events, see the Upward Bound calendar.