Tuesday, March 23, 2010

REACH is hosting its final “Meet & Greet”

REACH is hosting its final "Meet & Greet" of 2010 at Baruch (24th and Lex) a week from tomorrow from noon-2pm on Sat., March 27th (see the end of this email for photos and details).  Please come if you'd like to see this innovative program (and some of the hardest working students in NYC) in action – just RSVP to Cori Okabayashi at cokabayashi@nycup.orgWe're always looking for board members and mentors to help our students with their college applications, so if you're interested in getting involved, please let me know

 

As long-time readers of my emails know, I co-founded the Rewarding Achievement Scholarship Challenge (REACH) program, an incentive scholarship program that seeks to help high-achieving low-income and minority students succeed academically in high school, go to good colleges, and earn four-year college degrees. Entering its third year of operation in New York City, REACH has supported the work of over 10,000 students and their teachers at 28 participating NYC inner-city high schools.  It's the largest scholarship program of its kind and is really working: last year, the number of AP exams passed at our schools rose 19%, driven by a 26% gain by black and Latino students.

 

REACH Scholar Awards are the core of the program: for each AP exam they pass, students at participating high schools receive $300, $400 or $500 in cash for each passing score of 3, 4 or 5, respectively.  But REACH is more than just financial incentives for students: we provide professional development for over 100 AP teachers and make cash grants to classrooms based on student performance.  We also help students pass AP exams via a program called Learn, Earn, Win!, which is three full days of intensive workshops (all Saturdays in the spring; 21 hours of total instruction), taught by AP experts from around the country, for each of 15 AP exams.  Last year, 70% of eligible students participated and they passed at a 39% rate vs. only 17% among those who didn't.

 

I've posted a slide presentation about REACH at: www.tilsonfunds.com/Personal/REACHslides.pdf

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