New College of Florida Receives YMCA Achievers Community Partnership Award

New College of Florida received the YMCA Achievers Community Partnership Award at the Achievers Annual Banquet this month.This is the 4th year in a row that New College has been honored for their participation with the Y Achievers, a program where NCF staff provide Sarasota teen students with educational enrichment so they develop the skills necessary to access educational excellence in school programs, decrease absenteeism and drop-out rates, and prevent gang involvement and delinquent behavior.

The Preparing for College program, a semester-long program developed by the YMCA and New College staff, helps to guide the Achievers into higher education by partnering New College of Florida mentors with middle- and high-school students in the Black and Hispanic Achievers Program.

At monthly YMCA Family Nights, sessions for Achievers and their parents were conducted on such topics as community-college and state-university opportunities, life skills, résumé writing and financial aid. High-school seniors received guidance from student writing assistants in New College’s Writing Resource Center on composing personal essays and completing college and aid applications. Beth Bowen, New College Assistant to the Dean, was the College’s liaison for the program this year.

“The program was very successful this past year, for both New College and the YMCA, as over 100 students and their families participated in this outstanding program,” said Bowen.

For more information contact Aimee Chouinard, Media Relations Coordinator, (941) 487-4152 or [email protected].