INA, Ill. (July 20, 2023) — Upward Bound and STARS (Student Transfer and Retention Support) celebrated their end-of-summer 2023 program with a pizza party for their students Thursday on the Ina Campus.
Rend Lake College STARS and Upward Bound staff pose for a photo. FROM LEFT are; Upward Bound Student Advisor Seth McFarland, Upward Bound Student Advisor Beth Hoffman, STARS / TRIO Advisor Taylor Wilburn, TRIO Program Director Mallory Moddelmog, and Upward Bound / STARS Tutor Tera Neikes.
TRIO — the umbrella program for UB and STARS — recently welcomed new Program Director Mallory Moddelmog who was out serving students that Thursday. RLC has been a part of the TRIO family since 1997.
Upward Bound is a program designed to assist qualified high school students transition to successful college students. Seth McFarland said, “In Upward Bound, we pride ourselves on teaching the kids not only academically, but teaching them how to be better people each and every day! The character of our kids are second to none!”
They work with students from high schools in Ziegler-Royalton, Benton, Mt. Vernon, and McLeansboro. There are currently 63 students enrolled in Upward Bound with 34 of those students enrolled in the 2023 Summer Program. Students have the option to take Upward Bound classes and full college credit course that are fully transferable. Upward Bound pays for full tuition, books and fees for those in college courses, and supplies books and materials to all other students in the summer.
“Every year it amazes us how many of our students are willing to forgo a carefree summer and take classes with us,” said Beth Hoffman. “Whether its five weeks of Monday through Thursday classes, and/or 2 months of a full college credit RLC course, these students choose to devote their summer break to learning and we couldn’t be more proud of them! We do also make sure we have fun as well, though!”
Many of the students enrolled in Upward Bound move on to STARS.
The STARS program is designed to help RLC students make the most of their college years through advisement and academic support. There are currently 160 students taking advantage of the program at RLC. It’s an on-campus service that RLC provides to qualified students who are either first-generation, income-eligible, or disabled. The staff and advisors at STARS assist their students with academic and career advisement, credit transfer, financial aid assistance, cultural enrichment activities, and more.
At the end of summer party last week, two graduated STARS students were recognized for their recent acceptance to Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. They had nothing but positive things to say about UB and STARS at RLC. One student expressed that Upward Bound helped ease them into college by getting some credits out of the way while they were still in high school. While attending RLC, STARS helped them transfer their credits to the university, which they said they wouldn’t have known how to do without the help. Another student said how much they benefited from the private computer lab that STARS students have access to so they could focus on their work and studies in a quiet environment.
Any RLC student interested in the STARS program can stop by their office in South Oasis 113 and fill out an application or visit www.rlc.edu/stars. If a student is eligible and wants to take advantage of services provided, they will be asked to attend classes and tutoring sessions, visit with a STARS Advisor, participate in select STARS activities, and apply for financial aid.
To learn more about Upward Bound and the services they offer, click the link below.
