Join our Mailing List!
Please click the link below to sign up for your community paper mailing list. Stay up to date with all the events going on in your community as well as the latest news.Sign Up Today!
Duke TIP program prepares students for college
By: Kelli Bamforth, Staff Writer
Future Shawnee Mission West ninth-grader Xivianne Matos, Lenexa, said she has a “life-changing opportunity” with her selection as a Next Generation Venture Fund Scholar in the Duke University Talent Identification Program.
Students in the class of 15 scholars will receive academic and other support during their high school years. The selection process included participation in the 2007 Duke TIP Seventh-Grade Talent Search and achieving high scores on the ACT or SAT – scores exceeding or matching the average scores of college-bound high school students. Other requirements include financial need.
Students are selected as eighth-graders.
Xivianne will kick off her participation by attending a Duke TIP summer studies program. Topics range from marine biology to engineering and programs are hosted at colleges and universities across the nation.
“I’m taking ‘From Wonderland to Hogwarts,’ which is a literature program,” Xivianne said. “I hear it’s pretty writing-intensive. It will be held at Appalachian State University in North Carolina from July 13 to Aug. 2. I’m not going to miss Kansas at all,” she said with a laugh.
Westridge Middle School teacher Vonda Morris said Duke TIP officials contacted her about Xivianne’s qualifications for the program.
“People from Duke TIP were identifying students who had participated in the seventh-grade search who were of minority background,” Morris said. “Hispanics, Native-Americans and African-Americans were the main racial groups they were targeting with grant money. She also had to meet criteria of being in a lower socioeconomic group and then I had to try to help her and her mother understand what a significant opportunity this could be for them … that this wasn’t a hoax, but a legitimate opportunity.”
Xivianne also had to meet academic qualifications. Morris said Xivianne works hard to maintain straight A’s and stands out in orchestra as a gifted musician.
“She loves to do fashion design, too, and she also has a lot of responsibilities at home in looking after her younger sister,” Morris said. “She was on the journalism staff and she was one to question and challenge further than other students.”
The ultimate goal of TIP is to make students competitive applicants for colleges and universities, said Dalia Gary, educational adviser. TIP officials will stay in touch with Xivianne’s counselors and academic advisers about what courses she takes and what extracurricular activities she participates in.
Other TIP benefits include free Kaplan test prep to help students prepare for the SAT and ACT.
Xivianne’s participation in the program is funded by a grant from the Kauffman Foundation.
“When we provide educational opportunities to academically gifted students who might not otherwise have the finances to pursue a college education, we are investing in the future of our workforce and, therefore, our economy,” Dennis Cheek, vice president of education at Kauffman, said. “These students will be well-prepared to succeed at some of our nation’s most esteemed colleges and universities as a result of participation in this program.”
Gary said TIP prides itself on generous financial aid packages offered to families with limited incomes.
“These are very academically gifted kids, but for whatever reason they may not have the resources for these opportunities to be looked at in a stellar light by admissions offices at Ivy League colleges,” Gary said. “We work with them to be accepted and to excel in the college setting.”
Xivianne said she is excited for the glimpse at college life.
“They have all kinds of different classes and opportunities to see what it’s like in college life,” she said. “I’m thinking about studying fashion design (in college).”
Xivianne said she thinks participation as an NGVF scholar will help her earn college scholarships. “When they asked me to join the program and offered me a scholarship … I was out of my mind. I thought it was the best thing ever,” she said. “I took the ACT and just barely made the requirements for going to summer camp and didn’t think I would get anything out of it, but then they asked me to go.”
Morris said the opportunities available in the Duke TIP program are significant.
“By taking the right classes and preparing for assessment, seeing this much bigger world and interacting with kids across the nation really raises the standard and expectations for success,” Morris said. “It lets them know how successful they can be and that significantly impacts how hard they try.”
Morris said she would encourage new seventh-graders to participate in the Duke talent search.
“Those who score well would have those opportunities afforded to them, too,” she said.
Fast Facts
Current participants in the Next Generation Venture Fund program have demonstrated that the program promotes gains in school achievement; increased GPA; enrollment in more honors and AP courses; an increased enthusiasm for academic pursuits; and an elevated commitment to educational goals and aspirations.
For more information about Duke TIP, visit www.tip.duke.edu.
For more information about the Next Generation Venture Fund, visit www.ngvf.org.
Contact Kelli Bamforth at 385-6024 or kellibamforth@sunpublications.com.
printable version
e-mail this story
Students in the class of 15 scholars will receive academic and other support during their high school years. The selection process included participation in the 2007 Duke TIP Seventh-Grade Talent Search and achieving high scores on the ACT or SAT – scores exceeding or matching the average scores of college-bound high school students. Other requirements include financial need.
Students are selected as eighth-graders.
Xivianne will kick off her participation by attending a Duke TIP summer studies program. Topics range from marine biology to engineering and programs are hosted at colleges and universities across the nation.
“I’m taking ‘From Wonderland to Hogwarts,’ which is a literature program,” Xivianne said. “I hear it’s pretty writing-intensive. It will be held at Appalachian State University in North Carolina from July 13 to Aug. 2. I’m not going to miss Kansas at all,” she said with a laugh.
Westridge Middle School teacher Vonda Morris said Duke TIP officials contacted her about Xivianne’s qualifications for the program.
“People from Duke TIP were identifying students who had participated in the seventh-grade search who were of minority background,” Morris said. “Hispanics, Native-Americans and African-Americans were the main racial groups they were targeting with grant money. She also had to meet criteria of being in a lower socioeconomic group and then I had to try to help her and her mother understand what a significant opportunity this could be for them … that this wasn’t a hoax, but a legitimate opportunity.”
Xivianne also had to meet academic qualifications. Morris said Xivianne works hard to maintain straight A’s and stands out in orchestra as a gifted musician.
“She loves to do fashion design, too, and she also has a lot of responsibilities at home in looking after her younger sister,” Morris said. “She was on the journalism staff and she was one to question and challenge further than other students.”
The ultimate goal of TIP is to make students competitive applicants for colleges and universities, said Dalia Gary, educational adviser. TIP officials will stay in touch with Xivianne’s counselors and academic advisers about what courses she takes and what extracurricular activities she participates in.
Other TIP benefits include free Kaplan test prep to help students prepare for the SAT and ACT.
Xivianne’s participation in the program is funded by a grant from the Kauffman Foundation.
“When we provide educational opportunities to academically gifted students who might not otherwise have the finances to pursue a college education, we are investing in the future of our workforce and, therefore, our economy,” Dennis Cheek, vice president of education at Kauffman, said. “These students will be well-prepared to succeed at some of our nation’s most esteemed colleges and universities as a result of participation in this program.”
Gary said TIP prides itself on generous financial aid packages offered to families with limited incomes.
“These are very academically gifted kids, but for whatever reason they may not have the resources for these opportunities to be looked at in a stellar light by admissions offices at Ivy League colleges,” Gary said. “We work with them to be accepted and to excel in the college setting.”
Xivianne said she is excited for the glimpse at college life.
“They have all kinds of different classes and opportunities to see what it’s like in college life,” she said. “I’m thinking about studying fashion design (in college).”
Xivianne said she thinks participation as an NGVF scholar will help her earn college scholarships. “When they asked me to join the program and offered me a scholarship … I was out of my mind. I thought it was the best thing ever,” she said. “I took the ACT and just barely made the requirements for going to summer camp and didn’t think I would get anything out of it, but then they asked me to go.”
Morris said the opportunities available in the Duke TIP program are significant.
“By taking the right classes and preparing for assessment, seeing this much bigger world and interacting with kids across the nation really raises the standard and expectations for success,” Morris said. “It lets them know how successful they can be and that significantly impacts how hard they try.”
Morris said she would encourage new seventh-graders to participate in the Duke talent search.
“Those who score well would have those opportunities afforded to them, too,” she said.
Fast Facts
Current participants in the Next Generation Venture Fund program have demonstrated that the program promotes gains in school achievement; increased GPA; enrollment in more honors and AP courses; an increased enthusiasm for academic pursuits; and an elevated commitment to educational goals and aspirations.
For more information about Duke TIP, visit www.tip.duke.edu.
For more information about the Next Generation Venture Fund, visit www.ngvf.org.
Contact Kelli Bamforth at 385-6024 or kellibamforth@sunpublications.com.