BGSU to celebrate success of its TRIO Programs students

BOWLING GREEN, O.—“Believe. Achieve” — the approach of the TRIO Programs at Bowling Green State University — has long helped young people succeed. The University will celebrate students who personify those ideals at the 26th annual TRIO Day ceremony on April 4. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, TRIO works with students from middle school through graduate school, providing support and mentoring to nurture academic achievement and encourage the pursuit of higher education.

The by-invitation ceremony, from 4-6 p.m. in 202B Bowen-Thompson Student Union, honors students who have achieved high grade point levels in three categories and who have actively participated in the programs. TRIO will also announce the recipients of this year’s Coca-Cola Scholarship.

Along with University TRIO students, BGSU is bringing TRIO participants from Toledo public and charter schools: Woodward, Scott and Waite high schools; Jones, Leverette and Robinson elementary schools; Horizon Science Academy, Chase STEM Academy and Martin Luther King Jr. Academy for Boys to campus for the event. Community leaders as well as University members will be there to present awards.

The keynote speaker is Toledo native Philana Boles, a BGSU alumna and former Student Support Services participant who has gone on to become a successful author of young adult and adult fiction. Her work has been published by Random House, HarperCollins and Viking, and her most recent book has been optioned for movie production. Currently completing an executive MBA at BGSU,

She graduated in 1998 with a BFA in creative writing and theater. She moved to New York, where she worked in the development department of Spike Lee’s 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, as a poetry instructor at the Billie Holiday Theater and as a media relations associate at Glamour magazine. Boles has returned to campus to read from her published work and speak about the business aspect of publishing, and as the 2002 commencement speaker. She is the founder and CEO of Ahluve Communications and P. Marie Talent Management.

A silent auction at 4 p.m. of donated goods will raise funds for the TRIO book scholarship. Two scholarship recipients for fall semester will be announced at the ceremony.

TRIO focuses on first-generation, low-income students as well as students with disabilities. It comprises four programs: Upward Bound, which sends mentors and tutors into secondary schools to increase the rate of completion and prepare students to enter and graduate from college; Educational Talent Search, which identifies and aids middle and secondary students with academic, career and financial counseling, including financial support for post-secondary school applications; and Student Support Services, a learning community for undergraduate college students providing holistic advising, tutoring and financial aid. The fourth and newest program is the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Scholars Program. McNair encourages students to pursue graduate studies by providing opportunities to define goals, engage in research with faculty mentors, and develop the skills critical to success at the doctoral level.