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The UB Scholar’s Digest WELCOME! • To all of our new students VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1 WINTER 2008 who were accepted into the program! • To friends and Forty Years of Upward Bound parents of our NMH Upward Bound Schol- 1967—2007 ars! • To the gener- ous donors The Upward Bound program at Northfield Mount Hermon School marks its th who help 40 anniversary this year, and in commemorating this milestone we have much to celebrate. The make our program has helped prepare hundreds of high school students – young people who might not program otherwise have had the opportunity – for success in college and beyond. For students from low- successful! income families, Upward Bound’s staff and funds help to navigate the confusing and expensive waters of the college application process; for first-generation college-bound students, attending classes at NMH’s summer academy may be “solutions” to poverty—namely, policing and the first time they feel like a college student. incarceration. In 2003, Massachusetts joined a But while Upward Bound’s history growing number of states whose prison budget and current mission provide inspiring exam- surpasses their budget for higher education. ples of success, we ought not ignore troubling Budgets are a zero-sum game: when our gov- questions that the program’s 40th anniversary ernment funnels money into a giant, back-end INSIDE suggests: Why, after 40 years, do we still need solution to social problems, this money has to THIS ISSUE: this program? Why do enormous gaps in op- come from somewhere else. As opportunities portunity and access to higher education, for quality secondary schooling and affordable UB Students 2 along class and racial lines, still exist? What higher education for our young citizens are in the News! has not changed about our underlying institu- removed or diminished, we are de facto creat- Director’s 3 tional priorities and policies? What needs to ing pathways to other institutions. Eighteen- to Notes change? 24-year-old male high-school dropouts are 31 Upward Bound was created over 40 times more likely to end up in prison than Senior Spot- 4 years ago, along with an array of other simi- males who graduate from a four-year college; light! larly inspired, federally funded programs, as black males in that same category are 60 times part of Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty.” more likely. Applying to 5 Coming on the heels of the Civil Rights move- The choice facing our teens is not an College ment, the legislation creating Upward Bound easy one. Children from low-income commu- Meet your 6 was a response to the growing realization that nities are disadvantaged from the start and new UB staff! poor students, minority students, and students need a host of interventions to help them keep whose parents did not attend college were up with their peers from wealthier school sys- Class Notes 7 attending and completing college at much tems. By the time students get help from Up- lower rates than their peers. Expanding educa- ward Bound in high school—and the few who tional opportunity—through government pro- do are among the lucky ones—they may al- Contact Info 8 grams such as Upward Bound—was envi- ready be years behind. Add to this disparity in sioned as an essential part of the solution to early schooling and preparation a litany of poverty. other obstacles—for example, increased col- However, the gaps we face today lege costs and competition, intricate standard- may be wider than the ones the Johnson ad- ized tests and application processes, and a lack ministration sought to close forty years ago. of support and models at home and in the State spending trends in the last quarter- community—and the necessity of a program century seem to favor other kinds of (Continued on page 3) PAGE 2 UB Students in the News Teddy Dunbar rose to the rank of Eagle Evelina Federyuk and Tatiana (Tanya) Scout on Nov. 12th with the successful com- Olaru were inducted into the Grreenfield pletion of his community service project. High School National Honors Society in Teddy—managing a crew of about 15 volun- November. At Turner Falls High School, teers—installed a sun shelter in Unity Park in three of the nine Honors Society inductees Turners Falls. The shelter provides relief were also UB students: senior Brittany Ma- from the sun for park goers, lowering tem- zor, and juniors Amy Baxter and Theodore peratures by up to 10 degrees and preventing (Teddy) Dunbar. exposure to UV rays. * * * Frank Martinez ‘08 instructs Teddy organized a number of fund-raising fellow student Ebony Simmons efforts to help acquire materials for the pro- Frank Martinez and Jennifer Espinosa, ‘09 in a salsa workshop at Up- ward Bound’s summer academy. ject, and worked, along with the volunteers certified Salsa instructors and current Holy- he recruited, for over 100 combined hours. oke High seniors, will lead a Salsa work- Teddy is the first Boy Scout in the history of shop at Northfield Mount Hermon’s Latino his Montague Elks Lodge sponsored Troop Conference (March 1st-2nd). A number of to make Eagle, the Scouts’ highest honor. other UB seniors are to attend the event, INTERNSHIPS which will feature performing artist and The following students * * * activist Aya de Leon, and speakers Alma have received local in- Martinez and Jorge Zeballos. ternships towards devel- This October, Kibbs Fortilus won an essay opment in a potential contest for the city of Springfield. The con- * * * career field: test, called “The City Thinks: Hotel Rwanda, Nelson Barbosa at Lessons Yet to be Learned,” asked students Despite having been diving for only three Margo Jones Architects to respond to the following questions: months, Cory Rodriguez is quickly making (Greenfield), Evelina “Consider the U.S.’ response to the geno- headlines. Cory travels to Harvard to compete Federyuk at CVS phar- cides in Rwanda and Darfur. What patterns in regionals this February, and is closing in on macy (Greenfield). do you see with the U.S.’s outreach to help Springfield Science & Technology school the “other”? What lessons learned in Rwanda records. should be applied to Darfur? What is our responsibility to help now in Darfur and to In wrestling, Jorge Cruz-Morales and Kibbs prevent further genocides from occurring?” Fortilus are competing in regional finals for their respective weight classes. As a winner of the contest, Kibbs read his essay at The City Thinks kick-off event on * * * October 7. He also attended a private dinner with Presidential Medal of Freedom Winner INTERNSHIPS Paul Rusesabagina—who was responsible for saving thousands of lives during the Rwan- The following students have received local in- dan genocide—on October 18th. Copies of ternships towards development in a potential Cory Rodriguez ‘08 Kibbs’ essay were made available to all audi- career field: enters a successful ence members at Rusesabagina’s October dive. 18th lecture, and he was publicly recognized Nelson Barbosa at Margo Jones Architects at the event and in the press. (Greenfield), Evelina Federyuk at CVS phar- macy (Greenfield). * * * THE UB SCHOLAR’S DIGEST VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1 PAGE 3 Forty years of UB (cont.) like Upward Bound becomes painfully obvi- tinue to do a better job funding their public ous. education systems, we risk compromising our In spite of the clear need to “level the global competitiveness, not to mention other playing field,” lest we face class divisions not correlates of a highly-educated populace, such seen for decades (and ones we are already as good health and higher civic engagement. approaching), the Bush administration has We are in an exciting political time repeatedly attempted to eliminate Upward right now, a time in which there is opportunity Bound and other similar programs. Advocates for great change, and in which we could also in Congress and in communities across the fall back quickly into old patterns of thinking. country have succeeded in reinstating funding, Educational opportunity needs to be a long- but, as always, the future of the program and term investment and national priority; it needs the depth of our commitment to public educa- to be at the center of our discussions about the tion remain uncertain. As other countries con- economy, and especially at the center of our discussions about crime and “public safety.” During its 40 years of operation, Upward Bound has accomplished enormous gains, On March 8th, 2008, Northfield Mount helping open doors for many young people Hermon Upward Bound will celebrate with great potential but limited means. On this forty-plus years of helping low-income anniversary, we look forward to continuing to and first generation youth go to college. help young people access higher education If you are interested in attending the with the hope that our leaders will address the deeper inequities that still make Upward dinner and reception, please email GLi- Bound so necessary. ■ [email protected]! Notes from the Director Greetings from snowy Northfield! We are excited that our seniors have completed hundreds of college applications and are putting the final touches on financial aid applications. Our fall has been busy and wonderful as we welcome three new staff members and our AmeriCorps member. We are in the thick of recruiting new students, helping our students explore college and career options, planning our spring cur- riculum around the theme of immigra- tion, recruiting summer staff, and plan- ning our 40th anniversary celebration on that vision. Please send us your news and let us know if March 8th at Alumni Hall. you’d like to attend our celebration. We hope to bring We hope all our alumni, friends, back lots of folks from the past twenty years and en- and supporters continue to recognize the gage more friends and supporters in our important mis- importance of educational access for all sion.

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