“Going On” with Fresno City College
Upward Bound

   Fresno City College's 2003 Upward Bound Summer Job Shadow advanced four-fold from the preceding summer's launch of this relatively new program component.   The summer 2002 effort showed solid substantiation for motivating our UB students to get their four-year college degree by "shadowing" a professional whose position required a BA as minimum job qualifications.   However, the number of students participating was minimal.   We had one student at an eye clinic in a Veteran's Hospital, another at a pharmacy, and a third and final one at a college Learning Resource Center.

            During the summer of 2003, FCC's Upward Bound Job Shadow had ten program participants placed throughout the Fresno and Clovis communities, with a waiting list of several students who were hoping to get placed.   Unfortunately, the logistics would not resolve to have this happen.   But with preliminary contacts that were made for these students, and several months rather than a few weeks lead time to work on their placement, it seems very likely our 2004 Summer Job Shadow numbers will be increasing!

              Fresno City College's 2003 UB students shadowed Veterinarians (a unique new interest in a high school student's desire for a profession: we had three!), along with dentists, college counselors and career specialists, physical conditioning and training experts, parole agents, extended health care for the elderly, and elementary school teachers, and college program administrators.   Each student performed exceptionally well, as documented by weekly visits from the UB program Learning Coordinator for observation and evaluation, and made a lasting impression on the professionals they were shadowing.   (And here I find shadowing somewhat of a misnomer.   The program participants did not just follow around [read shadow ] their assigned, as one example, doctors of veterinary medicine, but they actually assisted the doctor, in hands-on fashion, in the many facets of tending to and treating ill or injured animals.)

            At the end of their three-month job shadowing experience, each student met with the UB Learning Coordinator and the professional they were shadowing to discuss the value of the experience, the work of the student, and other areas that produced the content for a formal evaluation of each student's work over the summer.  

            A power point presentation was put together, using pictures of the UB job shadow participants (please see file attachments) in action at their work sites. Included in the picture slides was text in bullet form listing the education, credentials, degrees, etc. required for that specific profession.   This was presented at our first Saturday Session kick-off, with voice-over narration highlighting the nature of each student's work.   Also, job shadow students gave a brief talk to their fellow Upward Bound students relating to their peers some of the peaks and mountains of such a unique experience in their lifetime as a high school student.   Or, should I say of an UPWARD BOUNDER on their way up in the world!

SUMMER EMPOWERMENT

The Fresno City College Upward Bound Program invited to their nonresidential six-week summer program 25 participants: 15 incoming high school freshmen and 10 continuing Upward Bound participants.   The incoming freshmen were recruited from 11 middle schools and the continuing students were from Upward Bound's participating high schools: McLane, Hoover, Fresno, Roosevelt, and Edison.

      This year the Upward Bound students went through classes in Math, Personal Health and Nutrition, English, and Computers.   Weekly out of town trips were also taken to expose students to a variety of educational/social events and attractions.   The summer trips took students to Boyden Cavern in the Sequoia National Forest, Regional Learning Center in Sonora, UCLA and Hammer Museum of Tolerance, Six Flags Magic Mountain, and Summer Jamboree at WestHills Community College.   Each trip was a success.  

      The summer session concluded with an awards banquet on July 11, 2003, to honor the students' achievements.   The students were awarded certificates from government offices and Upward Bound plaques for individual achievement.   Among family and friends were honorary guests FCC President, Dr. Ned Doffoney , Associate Dean of TRIO and EOP&S, Dr. Lee Farley , Governor's Office, Adriana Epetia , Senator Boxer's Office, Margaret Arechiga , and Congressmen Radanovich's Office , Brian Wise .   The students also presented a power point that encapsulated their summer experience with pictures taken in academic classes and their travel experiences.   The summer program was a success, and next year a new group of students will get the opportunity to experience an educational and fun filled summer.