Dodds named Upward Bound director at AIC
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| Tamara Dodds |
SPRINGFIELD--Tamara S. Dodds of Springfield has been named director of the Upward Bound program at American International College.
Dodds, a science teacher at Kiley Middle School in Springfield, received her bachelor's degree at Hampton University in Hampton, Va., and her master's degree from UMass Amherst.
Upward Bound is a pre-college program for students at Springfield's Central High School who have the ability to complete a program of post-secondary education, but who may not achieve this ambition because of constraints imposed by family income levels and the lack of knowledge about the college admissions process.
Dodds, a Central High School graduate, also coached girls freshmen basketball at Central. "I am extremely excited about this new program at AIC. As a product of the Springfield public schools, I am honored to be able to continue serving the students here in Springfield and especially at my alma mater, Central High. This program is great for both Springfield and AIC as it will continue to strengthen the relationship between the two."
AIC received a $1 million grant for the program that will give students at Springfield’s Central High School a better chance of graduating and going on to college. AIC was the only college in Western Massachusetts to receive the award.
Springfield High School Principal Richard W. Stoddard said he is very excited about the new program. "I am very pleased that American International College and Central High School will be partnering in fulfilling the dreams of 50 incoming Central High freshmen to receive a rigorous education from Central and attend and graduate from a college or university. These students will receive academic support from Central staff members while becoming fully involved in AIC's full array of programs and activities. What could be better?"
"I hope the students at Central will take advantage of this program and the many services it has to offer. I am also looking forward to working with students from AIC to serve as mentors to these high school students."
Upward Bound started across the country in 1965, as a way to help local underprivileged youth acquire the resources to graduate from high school and to get accepted to college. The program provides supplemental academic assistance, educational and career guidance and cultural enrichment activities. The goal of the program is to help students acquire the prerequisite skills, motivation and knowledge to enter and complete a college or university.
The program will be conducted for 40 weeks annually, and will include 35 Saturday sessions. Students will receive a $40 stipend for any month in which they have perfect attendance at Upward Bound activities, regular attendance at Central High School, and acceptable academic and citizenship performance as verified by Program Coordinator.
When they enter the program, freshmen and sophomores will focus on remediation and supplementation to ensure academic success in the standard high school curriculum.Curriculum will be delivered by a team of four high school teachers certified in the curriculum areas English Language Arts, Math, Science and Spanish.
In addition, students will receive tickets to AIC cultural, athletic, and Multicultural Committee-sponsored events. Some events will serve as mentoring group activities; others will include families as well as individual students.
The summer program will run Monday-Friday for six weeks and will be devoted to classes, tutorials, field trips, supervised study and social and recreational activities. Students must have passed all subjects at CHS and be approved by Project Coordinator to participate. Participants will live in a residence hall during the week and take classes appropriate to their academic development.
American International College
1000 State Street
Springfield MA 01109
(800) 242-3142
inquiry@aic.edu