Yuma, Arizona - Arizona Western College received notification from the U.S. Department of Education indicating that the Talent Search Program proposal has been fully funded.
This award will provide approximately $1.4M in discretionary federal funding from September 2017 through August 2022 for Arizona Western College (AWC) to offer academically needy first generation (neither parent has a bachelor’s degree) and/or low income youth student supports to help graduate from high school and continue on to college.
The Arizona Western College program will serve 583 students from five middle schools (Fourth Avenue, Gila Vista, Le Pera, Wallace, and Wellton) and five high schools (Antelope, Cibola, Kofa, Parker, and Yuma).
Individualized services will promote success and persistence to high school graduation and postsecondary enrollment utilizing evidence-based strategies such as college and student coaching, development of non-cognitive skills and behaviors, and high-quality academic and standardized test tutoring.
The program will work with Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) and Target Schools to provide high quality tutoring as well as offer engaging activities such as: Go Green and Engineering/Robotics Camps, mentoring, financial/economic literacy, experiential learning opportunities, job shadowing, college and career workshops and simulations, community service learning, ACT test prep, college application and course selection assistance, and college visits.
The proposal was written by Susan Dempsey-Spurgeon with critical input and support from Sally Rodriguez, Lisa Dresden, Laiza Gomez, and Diana Doucette.