Atlanta-Area High School Students Perform Public Service and Tour Savannah Colleges
by Taneisha Lee
June 9, 2009
On April 25th, over 60 mentors and mentees from The New Schools at Carver, South Atlanta High School, and Therrell High School participated in service projects in celebration of Global Youth Service Day. Twelve seniors from the New Schools at Carver devoted the spring semester to planning the activities for the day. Students planned the projects, recruited participants and solicited donations for the morning of service. Participants signed up to participate in one of three projects: painting a mural at the School of Health Science and Research, painting the home of an area senior citizen, or beautifying a park close to the New Schools at Carver.
From May 16th to the 18th, 32 sophomores and juniors from the New Schools at Carver, South Atlanta High School, and Therrell High School took part in a college tour to Savannah, Georgia. Students participating in the Pathways into STEM Program were eligible to attend and were selected based on essays they submitted about their program experiences and what they hoped to gain from the college tour. While in Savannah, students visited Savannah College of Art and Design and Armstrong Atlantic State University. Students also conducted a research project at Tybee Island and visited the UGA Marine Education Center & Aquarium on Skidaway Island. At the Marine Educated Center, students learned about coastal marine life. One activity, the invertebrate lab, allowed students the opportunity to collect organisms from the docks on the Skidaway River, observe, and identify the organisms. The college tour was funded by a grant from The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation.
The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation is the largest funder of the Pathways into STEM Program. It is a mentoring and tutoring program that sends college students (from Georgia Tech and other area colleges) into three high schools in the Atlanta Public School System (The New Schools at Carver, South Atlanta High School, and Therrell High School). The mentors and tutors work one-on-one or with a small group of students weekly, primarily on math and science but also to prepare them to apply and gain admission to college. Visit our web pages on prospective programs and Pathways for more information.