The College Crusade of Rhode Island to Speak at Regional Conference for College Access Professionals

Presentation spotlights the organization’s relationship-driven approach to motivating student educational achievement

Providence, R.I., October 17, 2007 – Seven staff members from The College Crusade of Rhode Island will travel to Rockport, Maine, to present at the 2007 New England GEAR UP Conference, to be held October 29-30 at the Samoset Resort.

The theme for this year’s conference is “Raising Aspirations: New England Goes to College.” The annual event gathers education professionals from all over New England for workshops, lectures, and panel discussions on current trends in the college access movement. The College Crusade will speak on the topic of “Using Advisors to Engage Students.” Four College Crusade Advisors are among the conference presenters.

Originally founded in 1989 as the Rhode Island Children’s Crusade for Higher Education, The College Crusade of Rhode Island is based on the premise that the consistent involvement of caring adults helps young people overcome economic and educational disadvantages. The conference presentation will explain how The College Crusade Advisory system helps Rhode Island students to achieve success in school and go on to college. College Crusade Advisors are young professionals who engage with middle school and high school students as counselors and as direct-service providers through adventure education, mentoring programs, study-skills workshops, and other college-readiness activities.

Conference presenters from The College Crusade are:

• Robert Oberg, Director of Development
• Maria Carvalho, High School Manager
• Lauren Schechtman, Middle School Manager
• John Cruz, College Crusade Advisor, Middle School
• Brandon Ramos, College Crusade Advisor, Middle School
• Reuben Tillman III, College Crusade Advisor, High School
• Kalomo Vanterpool, College Crusade Advisor, High School

The conference sponsor, GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs), is a program designed by the U.S. Department of Education to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education. The U.S. Department of Education used The College Crusade as a model in developing the national GEAR UP initiative in the late 1990s. This year, The College Crusade received a $2.7 million grant from GEAR UP to support a broad array of programs and services for Rhode Island middle school and high school students and to fund college scholarships.

About The College Crusade of Rhode Island

The College Crusade of Rhode Island is the state’s most comprehensive college-readiness and scholarship program for middle school and high school students in low-income school districts. It serves over 4,000 students per year and rewards the efforts and achievements of financially eligible students with up to four years of college scholarships. Since 2001, The College Crusade has awarded over $16 million in college scholarships to nearly 2,500 graduates of Rhode Island high schools.

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Contact:

Karen Donovan

Marketing & Communications Officer

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