OCR Text |
Show 214 Gabrielle Femat BACKGROUND Due to a lack of awareness and exposure to higher education, first generation and minority stu-dents at Mountain View Elementary School often believe that higher education is not an option for them. These students come from a low socioeconomic background and live in low income neighborhoods. Their parents work long hour days in order to support their family and most have not attended college themselves making them unsuitable role models to encourage them to pursue a higher education. In addition, the school system often fails minority students by not providing support, programs, or encouragement to prepare them for college. Furthermore, research has indicated that minority students who make it to college struggle during their educa-tion career due to limited resources. METHODS The 3rd grade students were presented with four different career options: lawyer, doctor, archi-tect, and chemist. The goal was to increase students' awareness of higher education, the possibil-ities from attaining it and to motivate them to pursue an education. Pre-survey and post survey were implemented to measure effectiveness of the presentations. RESULTS Based on our pre-survey implemented on the students, 76% of the students showed basic knowl-edge of what college is. The post-survey proved that an improvement occurred of 95% of them posses a more general knowledge of what college is. The presentation and activities we present-ed to the students improved their understanding about different careers and higher education. Our involvement and mentorship helped them be aware about available resources and the op-portunities for them to go to college. As well we motivated, empowered and encouraged them to pursue a higher education. CONCLUSION Based on our observations, though most of these students have the capability to pursue a higher education, they lack both the motivational and financial resources needed to do so. There are many possible reasons why some of these students may not attend college, including: their low economic background, lack of parent support and encouragement, and limited resources in the school system. In order for them to succeed in their quest for a higher education, they will need more support from their family, community and school system. ON AN EDUCATION QUEST TO THE LAND OF SUCCESS Gabrielle Femat, Pansa Lerslerphant, Deqa Osman (Carolyn Bliss) Health Sciences LEAP University of Utah Health sciences leap program spring 2012 Pansa Lerslerphant Deqa Osman Carolyn Bliss |