{"id":516,"date":"2016-05-25T08:40:34","date_gmt":"2016-05-25T08:40:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=516"},"modified":"2016-05-25T13:32:47","modified_gmt":"2016-05-25T13:32:47","slug":"tstc-academic-partners-team-up-to-help-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=516","title":{"rendered":"TSTC, Academic Partners Team Up To Help Students"},"content":{"rendered":"

(WACO) \u2013 The first year of a program aimed at teaching high school students about the college process culminated in a celebration last week at La Vega High School.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prosper Waco\u2019s Project Link is a grant-funded organization working to create a college-going culture by linking Waco students to higher education and the workforce.<\/span><\/p>\n

Texas State Technical College, McLennan Community College, the La Vega Independent School District and the Waco Independent School District brought together staff and parents to commemorate the college choices for the first cohort of more than 130 students from La Vega High School and University High School. Of the group, more than 20 students selected TSTC to attend this fall.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou are part of a unique community project,\u201d TSTC Provost Adam Hutchison told attendees. \u201cYou are the first Project Link students and there will not be another group like you. We need education partners and this is an example of how to serve that mission.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The project\u2019s students learned about academic planning, transitioning from high school to college, mentoring, personal enrichment and financial literacy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Financial aid was another important topic for the students. La Vega\u2019s Project Link students accepted more than $973,000 in grants and scholarships and University High\u2019s Project Link seniors accepted more than $780,000 in grants and scholarships.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every project student accepted to TSTC was recommended for The TSTC Foundation\u2019s Texan Success Scholarship, campus Project Link Coordinator Brandon Chappell said. Each student selected will receive a $1,000 non-need referral based scholarship.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese were students on the bubble with joining the workforce or military or going to college,\u201d Chappell said. \u201cWe just want them prepared for whatever aspect of life they choose.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Chappell said exposure to information was critical for students and parents.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf we contact the students a lot, then they and the parents feel strongly about the college process,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s exciting. A lot of the students had not considered college an option. When the students toured TSTC some of them said it was their first time on a college campus.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

WISD Superintendent Bonny Cain said the high school diploma marked the transition from childhood to adulthood. Having the diploma, and later a college degree, would open up job opportunities and increase financial potential.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to Project Link you know four-year universities, community colleges and technical colleges are at your fingertips,\u201d Cain said. \u201cThe first year of Project Link is a success.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Alexis Vega, 18, a University High senior and future TSTC auto collision technology student, will be the first in his family to attend college. He said he wants to be an example for his five siblings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Vega said he learned a lot during his time in in Project Link.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI liked when we took the field trip to TSTC,\u201d he said. \u201cWe toured the auto collision shop. It\u2019s so hands-on.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Samantha Hernandez, 18, a La Vega senior planning to attend TSTC, wants to be a dental assistant. She credited the program for helping her get college admittance paperwork done on time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents didn\u2019t go to college,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cThey work hard but I know that I can do better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Prosper Waco Executive Director Matthew Polk said it was exciting to be part of the start of the student\u2019s long-term success.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the goal of the entire project: to see students succeed,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Project Link students enrolled to attend TSTC are:<\/span><\/p>\n

La Vega High School: Autumn Bradburry, Apolonia Castillo, Tylor Donahoo, Jacob Eaton, Justice Gamboa, Samantha Hernandez, Stephen Lovorn, Cheyenne Martell, Juan Jose Martinez Jurado, Misael Perez-Torres, Miguel Rodriguez, Erik Rodriguez, Jorge Tapia, Noe Vargas.<\/span><\/p>\n

University High School: Carl Allen, Andre Bernal, Daniel Davalos, Marcos Gomez Mendez, Tyler Law, Esmeralda Ortega, Oscar Paloblanco, Joseph Ramirez, Joseph Ramos, Eliseo Resendez, Gabriella Robles, Joshua Rosado, Edward Salinas, Alexis Vega, Rebekah Vega.<\/span><\/p>\n

For information on Prosper Waco and Project Link, go to prosperwaco.org.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"_DSC0459<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"_DSC0462<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(WACO) \u2013 The first year of a program aimed at teaching high school students about the college process culminated in a celebration last week at La Vega High School. Prosper Waco\u2019s Project Link is a grant-funded organization working to create a college-going culture by linking Waco students to higher education and the workforce. Texas State […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-waco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=516"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":519,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516\/revisions\/519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}