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Download the Oasis:Community IMPACT College Access Report Here
For the past few years, Community IMPACT, a division of the Oasis Center dedicated to improving their community’s educational and economic opportunities for teens, has been compiling research for a new survey to be released this February regarding college access for East Nashville teens.
In order to accomplish this feat though, they have had to put forth some tremendous effort. They have looked over census data, conducted school surveys and student questionnaires, reviewed national studies, held interviews with counselors and students, formed focus groups, and, most importantly, pulled from their own experiences in order to produce a clear picture of college access as viewed from both inside and out.
Currently 80 percent of students at Stratford and Maplewood are potential first generation college graduates, an opportunity for education that should not be passed over. But in order to help these students get intocollege and get the futures they want and deserve, more effort must be put into educating them on college requirements and scholarships, and helping them find schools and send off applications.
Today, only one in 10 entering freshmen in East Nashville actually make it to college, an unacceptable figure when you consider the changing nature of the workforce, which now centers on education more than labor.
To these ends, Community IMPACT has been drafting its report “College Access: from the Inside Out” with the hope of raising awareness in the system and community, but they have discovered some interesting leads along the way.
“Some teachers don’t care...” says 17-year-old Community IMPACT member Bethany Pascal. “Guidance has too much paperwork from things like the ‘No Child Left Behind Act.’”
But it’s not only that. While most of the teachers do make an effort to put their kids through to the end, when it comes to college access, the upcoming report shows that most of this effort is directed at members of the AVID program (Advancement Via Individual Determination), sometimes leaving their peers by the wayside.
“We’re all very excited, it’s been a long time coming,” stated Pascal. “Sometimes you’d get a little bit frustrated thinking you’re not really making a difference...so it’s very exciting to see it all come together.”
So keep a lookout for this report on teenedge.com spread the word and ensure that their time was not dedicated in vain.