Talent Search An On-Ramp To College Program Provides Tutoring, Tours, Advice To At-Risk High Schoolers
Only half of Idaho high school graduates go on to college. In North Idaho, the number dips as low as one in four kids.
But eight out of 10 Educational Talent Search participants enroll in college, despite the fact that participating students would normally be among the least likely to continue their education. They have parents who didn’t graduate from college, have low incomes or both.
Talent Search is a federal program that provides tutoring, financial advice, college tours and plain old encouragement to kids in sixth through 12th grades.
“Even though I know what I want to do, I need help doing it,” said participant Andrea Deaver.
The Post Falls High School junior has a clear view of the future.
“I want to be a marine scientist. I want to go to school far, far away. I’m thinking about the University of Fairbanks. And there’s a school in Maine, and one in Scotland. …”
Talent search counselor Eric Edmonds convinced Deaver that she should study chemistry this year to help meet her goal. She wasn’t thrilled, but she did it.
When he was hired in 1995, Edmonds was skeptical that dispensing advice would accomplish a lot. He figured government bureaucracy would get in the way of the program’s noble goal of helping disadvantaged youth.
He changed his mind at the end of the school year, when 18 of his 22 seniors enrolled in college.
“This isn’t giving kids money, giving kids jobs,” he said. “This is giving kids the skills to get their own money and jobs.”
Edmonds, Sarah Van Ness and Desiree Newsom are the Talent Search counselors in Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls. They offer tutoring, teach study skills, organize field trips to colleges and career fairs, help students choose a college or vocational program, fill out admissions forms, find scholarships, and prepare for college entrance exams.
Talent Search has its roots in President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society.
It’s one of several 30-year-old programs, collectively known as TRIO, that promote higher education. The others provide summer programs for kids, or help them stay in college once they’ve enrolled.
TRIO programs have enjoyed bipartisan support, said Lexy Boudreau, who lobbies for the National Council of Educational Opportunity Associations.
“The Democrats like it because it’s for poor kids and it’s helping them get to college,” she said. “The Republicans see it as congruent with their values - a hand up, not a handout.”
Two years ago, however, some Republicans targeted TRIO for elimination. Supporters prevailed after a “huge fight,” Boudreau said. This year, TRIO even got an 8 percent increase for a budget of $500 million.
There’s no Educational Talent Search program in Eastern Washington. But for the past six years, the University of Idaho has sponsored the program in Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Lewiston and Clarkston.
Five counselors help 600 students. Cost to the taxpayer: $212,000, or $353 per student.
Two-thirds of participants must meet both program criteria: Their parents didn’t graduate from a fouryear college, and their families earn less than 150 percent of the federal poverty level. That’s $23,400 for a family of four.
The remaining third of students must meet just one requirement.
Counselors are pleased that there doesn’t seem to be a stigma attached to participating. Students often tell one another about the neat program that gets them personal attention and frees them from classes for field trips.
Besides, with so many blue-collar workers in the region, it’s hardly a rare thing to have parents without college degrees.
Shereen Miller, a Post Falls junior, says it helps to know a Talent Search counselor is watching her progress.
“In a way, I need it. Because I can slack off a lot.”
Many parents are like Miller’s, wanting their children to have the advanced education they didn’t get.
“The No. 1 thing I hear parents say is ‘We want something better for our kids,”’ said program coordinator Dee Dee Brown. “But they’re not acting on it, because they don’t know how.”
Other parents get defensive, Brown said. They figure they “made it” without a college degree, and their kids can, too.
Still other parents are nowhere to be found.
“To a lot of our students, the (Talent Search) counselor is the only stable thing in their lives,” Brown said.
Parents of seniors are invited in January to fill out financial aid forms with the help of Talent Search staff.
One of the program’s most important steps is helping students apply to college.
“We actually sit down with them and fill out the forms,” said Edmonds. “Once the forms are sent in, the colleges will hassle them until they come.”
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MEMO: Cut in Spokane edition
This sidebar appeared with the story: EXPERT OFFERS TIPS FOR TEENS TRYING TO GET INTO COLLEGE Want to go to college for free? Eric Edmonds did, and he gladly shares his formula for success in getting scholarships and other financial aid. Here’s what Edmonds and other Educational Talent Search counselors advise: Grades. Starting in ninth grade, get the best grades you can. Eighty percent of high school students should be able to get all A’s and B’s, says Edmonds. Take challenging classes. From a college admissions viewpoint, it’s better to get a B, or even a C, in trigonometry than an A in algebra. Honors courses also teach students the learning skills they’ll need in college. Community activities. Church, civic organizations, charities … volunteer work always catches the eye of admissions counselors. Work counts, too, especially if it’s an unusual job or one in the field you want to study. “There’s some really interesting things for kids to do, if they’ll look for them,” says Edmonds. Do well on your ACTs and SATs. There’s a lot of material that helps students prepare for college entrance exams. Vocabulary is the most important thing you can study. Look close to home and far afield. Nearby public schools are the least expensive, and offer a fine education. But private schools have more scholarship money available. Schools in the East are especially eager to get students from the West. Edmonds had a perfect grade point average in high school, but says the fact that he was from Spokane was the big reason he got a scholarship from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. Other private scholarships helped pay his tuition and living expenses for four years. - Julie Titone
This sidebar appeared with the story: EXPERT OFFERS TIPS FOR TEENS TRYING TO GET INTO COLLEGE Want to go to college for free? Eric Edmonds did, and he gladly shares his formula for success in getting scholarships and other financial aid. Here’s what Edmonds and other Educational Talent Search counselors advise: Grades. Starting in ninth grade, get the best grades you can. Eighty percent of high school students should be able to get all A’s and B’s, says Edmonds. Take challenging classes. From a college admissions viewpoint, it’s better to get a B, or even a C, in trigonometry than an A in algebra. Honors courses also teach students the learning skills they’ll need in college. Community activities. Church, civic organizations, charities … volunteer work always catches the eye of admissions counselors. Work counts, too, especially if it’s an unusual job or one in the field you want to study. “There’s some really interesting things for kids to do, if they’ll look for them,” says Edmonds. Do well on your ACTs and SATs. There’s a lot of material that helps students prepare for college entrance exams. Vocabulary is the most important thing you can study. Look close to home and far afield. Nearby public schools are the least expensive, and offer a fine education. But private schools have more scholarship money available. Schools in the East are especially eager to get students from the West. Edmonds had a perfect grade point average in high school, but says the fact that he was from Spokane was the big reason he got a scholarship from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. Other private scholarships helped pay his tuition and living expenses for four years. - Julie Titone