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TWU volunteers to encourage college and career planning at Dallas middle school

Oct. 5, 2006 - DENTON — A team of nine volunteers from Texas Woman’s University in Denton will stress the importance of education in high school and beyond during a visit Tuesday, Oct. 10, with eighth-graders at John B. Hood Middle School in Dallas.

The visit is in partnership with the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce, the Dallas Independent School District and the Texas Scholars Program, an initiative of the Texas Business and Education Coalition (TBEC).

Dr. Barbara Lerner, coordinator for P-16 Initiatives at TWU, said the Texas Scholars Program is designed to help students become successful in college or career planning.  The team of TWU volunteers will talk with students about the current and future job market; show them that a college education can increase their earning potential; and provide a guideline for success, defining what students need to do in high school to prepare for success in college and the workforce.

“The need to prepare students for college success must begin before they arrive in high school,” Dr. Lerner said.  She pointed to a study that estimates that only 32 percent of students who enter the ninth grade and graduate four years later have completed the coursework necessary to succeed in a four-year college.  In Texas, more than 60 percent of high school graduates who attend college require some type of developmental or remedial coursework, and less than half the students who enter a public university will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in six years.

“TWU is committed to working with our community to develop an integrated P-16 system of education, stretching from preschool through a four-year college degree,” Dr. Lerner said.  “We are pleased to partner again this year with the Greater Dallas Chamber and the Dallas Independent School District in this very important program.”

For more information on TWU’s P-16 Initiatives, visit www.twu.edu/p16.