8/3/2004 - AFS Helps Project GRAD Newark Make College Prep Global

Four Project GRAD Newark (PGN) students left the city this summer to gain a global perspective of the world in which they are working so hard to become leading citizens. Thanks to American Field Service (AFS) scholarships provided by the Prudential Foundation—and support from the Newark Public School’s School Leadership Team II, covering 20% of the costs plus domestic airfare—these outstanding youngsters, all with grade point averages above 2.5, received an opportunity to study abroad this July as part of an “international twist” on GRAD’s Summer Institutes, facilitated by AFS Intercultural Programs USA.

As prospective 2005 GRAD Scholars on track for $6,000 scholarships to the college or university of their choice, the students needed little convincing to accept this new travel adventure. It was simply a matter of trading one great summer learning experience for another. As participants in PGN, all four had available to them the choice of a Summer Institute at one of seven colleges and universities. Now in year six, these institutes give GRAD’s high school students a month to experience college life—the campus, the professors, and a challenging curriculum bringing the future reality much closer to home. The AFS opportunity, new to PGN this year, takes the Summer Institute idea to the global arena where the curriculum is international, students learn a new language and explore the reality of daily life as part of another culture.

Three students, two from Malcolm X Shabazz High School and one from Central High School, spent July in Costa Rica. Their AFS Community Service Program featured living with a host family, a visit to the rainforest, and real work with a local organization serving a rural area. The fourth student, from Central High, went to Hungary, learning a new language while experiencing everyday life with her host family and gaining a deeper understanding of this war-torn yet culturally rich country.

Project GRAD Newark is the 501©(3) non-profit, charitable educational support organization established to oversee the Project GRAD model in the Newark community. Now in its sixth year of implementation, it persists as value added to the Newark Public School’s efforts to achieve greater academic rigor and stronger alignment with district and state standards.

Contact: Lyra Alicea
Project GRAD Newark
http://www.projectgradnwk.org
(1)(973) 645-5709