Education

Walk This Way!

• Inspirational
• Relevant
• Courageous

Walk This Way!

“William loves drawing. He discovered in his high school Biology class that his drawing comes in handy, and that he has a passion for science as well. Unfortunately, thoughts of going to college to study Biology seem implausible. His options appear limited, and his guidance counselors have so many students to counsel that they cannot give him individual attention. He doesn’t have the resources to find out how to attend a good school. He either does not attend college, or attends a college that is not a good fit and drops out after a semester or a year.”

Plausible? It happens all the time. Now the end of the school year is here and high school students are preparing for their summers. Throughout the summer they will attend camps, vacation with their families and, for those entering the 12^th grade, prepare their applications to send to the colleges of their choice that will make their dreams come true.

If they have the money, that is. For many talented high school students in the US, attending a college that will truly help them gain the skills to achieve their life goals does not appear to be an option. For one group of underprivileged students, I wish to change that.

THE PROJECT

I propose to select seven highly deserving students in need in the Phoenixville, PA area for whom I will hold a series of classes throughout the summer. During these classes I will guide the students in selecting and preparing their applications for the colleges of their choice, and in seeking scholarships.

The students will be hand-picked according to the following criteria:

• They have demonstrated a deep interest in one or more areas of study.
• They have demonstrated an ability to follow through with commitments.
• They will commit to attending the class meetings during June and July, with two or three meetings per week and assignments in between class meetings.
• They can reasonably well articulate why they wish to attend college.
• They indicate that they are willing to work to raise the funds to complete their college applications and to successfully attend college.
• They will commit to writing as many thank you cards for people who give in the $100-$4999 range. (See the rewards.)

The class will be advertised through a variety of channels (word of mouth, churches, email lists, blogs, facebook, twitter, possible newspaper articles) and the students will be selected by June 15, 2011.

TOPICS

The topics we will explore will include, but not be limited to, the following:

• An overview of the college application and acceptance process
• Researching the range of schools available in their chosen area of study
• Application essay writing
• Assembling recommendation letters
• Understanding the real costs of attending college
• Identifying strengths the students can highlight on applications
• Projects students can do that the students will enjoy and will enhance their applications
• Realistic expectations of campus life
• Crash course in campus technology

OTHER DETAILS

If this project is funded over 100%, I will organize field trips to various colleges for the students.

If this project is successfully funded, I will consider offering another such project in a region of my choice, perhaps Pottstown or Norristown, PA.

If this project is funded at less than 100%, I will run a correspondingly smaller version of this full-blown project.

ABOUT RICHARD LISTON

Richard Liston earned his Bachelor of Music in Trombone Performance at the North Carolina School of the Arts, Master of Music at the Eastman School of Music, Master of Science in Computer Science at Wake Forest University, and Ph.D. in Computer Science at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). He is a former faculty member of Ursinus College, during which he had many conversations about the college scene with the former President of Ursinus, John Strassburger, Vice President for Enrollment, Rick DeFeliciantonio and Win Guilmette, Vice President for Finance and Administration. Richard firmly believes that learning can and should be fun. He is the Founder and President of Sphere College, an experimental institution of higher education of his design. Richard is committed to providing an environment for people to learn in the way they actually process information, and to making high-quality higher education financially accessible to anyone who has a desire to learn.