Shira Lasoff / Montage Staff

MOVING ON UP: Upward Bound students show their enthusiasm about experiencing college life.

By SHIRA LASOFF
Killian Senior High School

Torsha Walker has an unusual summer job -- she's getting paid to study and have fun.

"It's not all fun because we do have a lot of work, but when you compare it to actually getting a job, I'd rather be here learning about college life," said Walker.

Walker, 17, is one of a handful of students attending the University of Miami's Upward Bound program for high school kids. Along with math, English and science, she's learning how to climb ropes, play chess and plan for her future.

"I want to be prepared for college and this program gives me better training on study habits and being more focused on classwork," said Walker, who has been involved in the program for three years.

Upward Bound, a national program, teaches students the skills they need for college.

During the summer, Walker is paid $15 a week and during the school year -- depending on the number of times she attends study sessions -- she gets $10 to $20 a month.

Students like Walker spend six weeks in the summer in intense academic courses, cultural activities, weekend camping trips, and enrichment workshops. They also learn first-hand what it's like to live away from home in college dormitories. Most of the students come from Southridge High School, while others are from South Miami, Central, Southwest and other Dade high schools.

"My mom is very excited about the program. She loves that it gives me college experience," said Walker, one of the 70 students who began the summer program on June 22.

Walker and her peers start their day with four high school academic classes ranging from English to history. After lunch they attend workshops such as career and college planning, and learning how to use the Internet. An hour-and-a-half study period follows, so students can complete their homework. After dinner comes "quiet time," when the students work on activities such as art, creative writing, and chess. Then the students can play sports outside until curfew at 11 p.m.

At the end of the summer, the students travel by bus to Jacksonville and participate in a statewide summer Olympics with volleyball, basketball and cheerleading games. There is also a spelling bee and a scholars' bowl competition for the students. The winners then go on to a national competition against other Upward Bound students.

William Bobadilla, a 17-year-old participant, enjoys the program.

"Upward Bound is the best summer program out here because we are able to experience college life by living in college dorms and away from home for a couple of weeks," he said.

Upward Bound was founded in 1967 to give underprivileged teenagers and potential first-generation college students the skills and the motivation to get a college education. Students are often recruited for Upward Bound through their high schools, known as target schools. There are approximately 3,300 such schools served by Upward Bound projects throughout the country and there is at least one program in every major city.

The University of Miami started its Upward Bound program in 1968. Federal funds pay for the program, which is run by the School of Education. The program was the only one in Dade until last year, when Florida International University started its own.

"I think it is a great federal program and it's exactly what we need to ease the cycle of poverty and start getting students to college," said Mike Schultz, an Upward Bound counselor with the UM program.

Students can get an application at their high schools in January or by calling the Upward Bound office at UM. During the winter, interested students attend an information session, and they must apply by February. Applicants are screened for income, age (they must be between 13 and 19), and have completed elementary and middle school. Students must also be planning to go to college.

The main two requirements are that applicants be first-generation college students, and that their families' income is less than 150 percent of poverty level.

"If a student comes from a family who has never had college experience, they're likely not to go to college because they don't see it as a way out of their neighborhood," said Lonny Woten, assistant director of Upward Bound at UM.

Encouraging students to pursue a college degree has become the program's primary goal. To keep its federal funding, 90 percent of the program's participants must graduate from high school. Of them, 80 percent must be accepted into a four-year college, and 70 percent of them must graduate from college.

But the real success of Upward Bound is not the numbers, said Schultz. It's the students who have been touched by the program's existence.

"We just give them an education and a shot for college -- it's what they need,'' he said.

'If you want to get into a good college, you need good grades. If you learn while you do it, great, but if you don't . . . oh well.'
Jessica Montesino
St. Brendan student

By ANA-CHRISTINA GONZALEZ
St. Brendan High School

A student at Taravella High School in 1990 in Broward County had worked hard to be No. 1.

The pressure was mounting, and his grade point average was not as high as he wanted it. He was desperate. He only saw one way out. A "C" on a test was not good enough. So he stabbed his physics teacher and then killed himself.

Three years ago the competition was especially intense at North Miami Beach High School. The salutatorian's life was threatened by the person ranking third. And the valedictorian was found tampering with the school computers in order to raise his average.

They had to make the grade.

For many high school students today, it is the driving force behind their education. Some even take it to extremes. Getting an "A," students say, has become the focus of their learning experience.

But St. Brendan High School teacher and counselor Paola Arechebala, of Dade County, hopes that will change.

"This emphasis students put on grades has definitely caused students to learn less," Arechebala said. "They now store information on short-term memory and soon after they forget most of it."

Arechebala says teens are so fixed on passing and earning the "A," they disregard learning in the process.

She says she believes her students worried only about earning a passing grade on their recent psychology final exam. And they quickly forgot what they knew they would not be tested on. Because of this, Arechebala says she questions whether or not her students have true interest in learning or if they just want a good grade.

The Broward County public school system also noticed students were taking GPA's too seriously. They were turning

against one another, and this worried teachers. So Broward considered a measure ending the naming of valedictorians and salutatorians. It was recently voted down by a committee of students, parents and administrators. Some students feel teachers cause the problem.

"Teachers often put pressure on their students, while they could be more compassionate and caring," said Robert Gee, a 17-year-old Homestead Senior High student. Teachers put pressure on their students because they don't want the student to fail, he said. Passing grades show the teacher is doing his or her job.

Students worry about class rank, feeling pleased with themselves, satisfying their parents or getting into a good college.

"If you want to get into a good college, you need good grades. If you learn while you do it great, but if you don't... oh, well," said Jessica Montesino, a 16-year-old St. Brendan student.

"What motivates me to get good grades is the need not only to get into a good college, but also to pass my classes," said Lilliam Bauta, 17, also of St. Brendan.

Psychologist Lucy Torres says the extreme pressure that some students place on themselves to earn grades is harmful.

"A good teacher can make his or her students involved in learning," she said, and then they would not feel the pressure so acutely.

Why are students so caught up in grades they neglect the essential -- learning?

Diane Antone, a freelance writer and former science teacher, says she has found the answer. In her article "The Education Treadmill Kids Hate" in Education Digest, she said the emphasis on grades is due to several factors:

* Students do not feel that learning offered in schools is relevant to life. *They see formal education as no longer necessary for a successful future, but rather their wit, wisdom and communication skills are a more important commodity in the workplace.

* Students also feel that their own personal and family connections are more important than textbook learning.

* Students are aware employers will hire someone who does not necessarily have the best qualifications but instead has the best connections. These causes have resulted in the disillusionment of many students in regards to the educational system.

"Students feel that there is nothing to be gained by joining the educational treadmill," Antone said. "We need to ask ourselves and the students why they no longer feel able to invest their energies in learning the things we want them to learn."

A teacher at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, George Long, stated on his own website:

"I have to wonder why we worry so much about this issue (grades), we all realize that high grades do not necessarily mean success in a career . . . . It is simply the students' performance on a set of prescribed tasks, under unrealistic conditions."

Leslie Kaplan, an assistant high school principal, writes about ways in which education can be reformed. Her article, "You Can't Have Too Many A's" in the NASSP website, focused on educational studies of ways to keep academic standards high, while allowing students to grow personally and academically. Some of these practices are:

* Changing the grade scale to expand the range of passing grades and assign an equal point spread between each grade.

* Averaging students' grades without giving zeros for missed homework or late work.

* Allowing students to drop their lowest grade or retake one test during a marking period.

* Teach new information before testing student mastery.

* Assigning grades only after students have received and used corrective feedback to improve their work.