The transition from high school to college is often daunting, but ASU is there to help make the process more accessible for 11 Valley high schools.
The Future Sun Devil Families program began in October as a series of free monthly workshops in English and Spanish designed to provide information about college applications and attendance to ninth graders and their families.
Katherine Sisulak, associate director of ASU Educational Outreach and Student Services, explained the overarching goals of the Future Sun Devil Families Program.
“The goal of the program is to engage ninth graders and their families during workshops to prepare them for success,” she said. “We’re just trying to get the students to understand the importance of going to college and how they can prepare for it in high school.”
Although the program was created by ASU and is led by University staff, Sisulak said the workshops’ primary goal is not to increase interest in ASU, but to increase interest in attending college in general and educate families about how to make this possible.
However, Sisulak said she hopes the students participating consider ASU as an option, which could potentially increase serious interest in the University as well.
Many of the partnering high schools serve a high percentage of low income and underrepresented populations. In Arizona, the rate of college participation of low-income students is only 33.5 percent, which is 5 percent below the national average, according to Postsecondary Education.
The workshops are targeting ninth grade students to lead high schoolers to college acceptance, Sisulak said.
“We wanted to see if we could have an impact on the school by talking to their youngest… if we could prepare them for college so they could prepare and take the right classes,” she said. “If you’re a first-generation student, college can be a scary thing.”
The Future Sun Devil Families program is an ongoing process, and those involved with the project have plans to expand the program to schools in Tolleson as early as this spring.
Diana Bejarano, director of marketing and communications for Educational Outreach and Student Services at ASU, said each year the program will include one more grade level of students.
“This year we are focusing on ninth graders, next year we will add tenth graders, the next year we will add eleventh graders, and then twelfth graders,” Bejarano said.
Bejarano said she hopes continued expansion of the program will keep the public knowledgeable about higher education.
Tracy Kaylor, a parent involved at ASU Preparatory High School at the Polytechnic campus, said she plans to attend the workshops to help her daughter succeed and feel comfortable about attending college.
Keylor, who is an ASU alumna, said she hopes this program will help her family stay connected with the high school and ASU community.
“The ultimate goal is to stay connected and really just to become knowledgeable about the opportunities and the path,” she said. “When I grew up, my parents didn’t really push college… and this is such a great opportunity to learn the path that she should take.”
Kaylor said this path includes which classes her daughter should take, how to earn scholarships and how to encourage her to be excited about college.
Samuel Terrance Brennan, a ninth grader at Skyline High School in Mesa, attended the first workshop at his school and said the program is extremely helpful in preparing for the college experience.
“(The program) is really important to me, because I really want to be comfortable going into to college," he said. "It means a lot to be able to have that readiness going into college and knowing what to expect."
Samuel said the Future Sun Devil Families program has contributed to his consideration of ASU as a serious college option, though he has always been an ASU fan and is already involved in the University community.
"I think that (the Future Sun Devil Families) is really helpful in preparing me to go to college, and the more comfortable you can be going into college, the more successful you can be in your freshman year,” he said.
Reach the reporter at elmahone@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @mahoneysthename
