Media Advisory
What: More than 55 local high school students who completed a month-long SoColo REACH summer learning institute at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs will participate in a closing ceremonies featuring UCCS Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak, Pikes Peak Community College’s Regina Lewis and the U.S. Air Force Academy Band. About 230 people are expected to attend including students, families and staff.
Who: Motivated and academically promising 10th and 11th grade students from Colorado Springs School Districts 2, 3, 11 and 49 and family members will celebrate completion of the program designed to prepare high school students for concurrent enrollment in college courses and expose them to academic and career choices in nursing, education and engineering. Students from La Junta and Lamar participated in portions of the program via CISCO Telepresence, a high-definition, interactive, web-based learning system.
When: 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Friday, June 26
Where: Berger Hall, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, 1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway, Colorado Springs. Media outlets in marked vehicles may park in Lot 224 (see http://map.uccs.edu/) For those driving vehicles without media outlet identification, please contact Tom Hutton, (719) 255-3439, for assistance.
Visual: Students will be presented with completion certificates and hear from education leaders about the value of a college education and their potential to be successful.
Why: Carried over from a U.S. Department of Education grant, the UCCS SoColo REACH Program, is working to improve college participation in the region by demonstrating academic and career options. In the 23 county southeastern Colorado region, about 19 percent of adults have college degrees compared to almost 36 percent in metropolitan Denver. Income levels in southern Colorado are lower than those in northern Colorado.