THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 31, 1996 TAG: 9607310419
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 106 lines
The teenagers chatter and giggle and wrestle with each other, until they spot their teacher walking down the hall.
They snap to attention, preparing properly to welcome performing arts instructor Renee Williams-Walke.
``We have to clap when she walks in the door, to make her feel special,'' said Jonathan L. Kersey, 13, a rising ninth-grader at Chesapeake's Great Bridge High School. ``She'll walk in and out the door all bell, until she gets what she wants.''
Williams-Walke tells her students that it's all about respect. Respect for her, for each other, for themselves.
It's just one of many lessons Chesapeake students learned this summer in Upward Bound, a nationwide program that helps students get into and eventually graduate from college. Upward Bound targets low-income children whose parents did not attend college.
``When you're coming from a home where neither parent has a college degree, just the motivation is lacking,'' said Kay M. Williams, director of Chesapeake's Upward Bound program. ``We try to give them a feel for what college life is like.''
That includes helping teenagers learn respect and responsibility.
Norfolk, Portsmouth and the Peninsula have had Upward Bound for years. It's run by area colleges - Norfolk State, Old Dominion and Hampton universities - and paid for by grants from the U.S. Department of Education.
This is the first time Upward Bound has been offered in Chesapeake. Tidewater Community College's Chesapeake campus is administering it, with a four-year, $900,000 grant from the federal agency.
Fifty middle and high school students from all over the city were chosen as the first participants, referred by counselors or their parents.
The students had to apply, sit for interviews and sign contracts agreeing to the terms of the program.
Each summer until they graduate from high school, they must attend six-week summer school programs. During the school year, they have to attend 20 Saturday tutoring sessions at TCC's Chesapeake campus. They also must take advantage of academic and career counseling.
``We're trying to help build their academic skills to make them college material,'' Williams said.
That can be a challenge. Some students who participate in Upward Bound struggle to maintain the minimum C average required in all classes during the school year. Others have given little thought to what career they'd like to pursue, or what it would take to get them there.
During Chesapeake Upward Bound's first summer session, which ends this week, the students completed career surveys and talked with a full-time counselor about higher education.
Darryl A. Grant, 15, a rising 10th-grader at Deep Creek High School, had no problem identifying his goal. He wants to be an engineer, and is considering Georgia Tech.
``I want to be able to get what I want when I want it, without having to scramble,'' Grant said, imagining his future. ``I see my mama, without a college degree, having to scramble.''
Grant and his Upward Bound classmates are attending summer school classes at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, the only area college that had dorm space available.
A bus picks them up at TCC's Chesapeake campus every Sunday afternoon and returns them from Newport News on Friday evenings.
During the week, the children live in the dorms and attend classes or structured study halls for most of the day. They take English, math, science and foreign language - lessons that help prepare them for their next year of school. They also take elective classes, such as photography or performing arts. And they play sports every day.
Williams and other Upward Bound workers take the students on a field trip at least once a week. They've visited the Virginia Marine Science Museum, the Virginia Air and Space Center and Busch Gardens.
``We're exposing them to a variety of activities that they may not have been exposed to before,'' Williams said.
It's a quasi-college lifestyle. The students get some freedom, such as deciding whether they want to go to the dining hall for lunch or hang out in the lounge and watch television. They were assigned roommates whom, in most cases, they didn't know before their arrival.
There are some strict rules. No boys are allowed in the girls' section of the dorm. Everyone has a curfew. And all students must attend class, unless they are excused for illness.
But it's enough of a taste of college life to tantalize the teenagers with dreams of the future.
``It's showing me the college life,'' said Great Bridge High's Kersey, who wants to attend James Madison University and study performing arts, music, computers and law.
Kersey knows it will be a tough road getting there. He must bring his grade-point average up from a 2.7 to a 3.5.
``Once I get a 3.5, I'm going to try my best to keep it,'' he said. ``I might not have any friends for a while.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by STEVE EARLEY, The Virginian-Pilot
Four Chesapeake students in the Upward Bound program practice
dancing during a break in the lounge of their dormitory at
Christopher Newport University: from left, Alesha Spellman, 14,
Keisha Bardlavens, 15, Elanda Glover, 14, and Yolanda Lee, 14. As
part of the program, fifty middle and high school students have
agreed to attend six-week summer programs at area colleges.
Jonathan Kersey enjoys the taste of college he's gotten from Upward
Bound. Kersey and Adeishia Houston are among the 50 Chesapeake teens
in the program
Photo by STEVE EARLEY, The Virginian-Pilot
A Chesapeake student walks down the hallway of the women's dormitory
at Christopher Newport University in Newport News. Her stay at the
university is part of Chesapeake's first Upward Bound Program, which
aims to help low-income students get into college. by CNB