See our list of participating colleges and universities.
“At-risk” is a term that is economics- based. Using federal definitions, it means children who are part of the more than 13 million Americans who are below the poverty line and are eligible for the free or reduced lunch program.
No. Although a major goal of the program is to increase the number of African-American and Latino students on college campuses, the program is based on economics, not race.
Most education experts agree that, if one is going to have an impact on young children’s educational development, those children must be “reached” by the third grade. While any attention at any age is better than no attention, children are less likely to fall by the wayside if their exposure can begin by the third grade.
The number of 24 children in each entering class was determined by the maximum number that one teacher can reasonably handle. Although college students will serve as mentors and, in effect, teaching assistants, the actual teaching in the Help Yourself academies will be done by grade or high school teachers or college professors, and it is generally accepted that two dozen children is the appropriate number for one teacher to handle.
Ideally, a new class of children will be added to the program annually; however, the decision of how many students to add and when to add them is the college’s to make.
Each college will determine how students will be selected. For those colleges with a grade school in their backyard, it would be easier for the college to “adopt” that school, rather than to seek students from multiple schools, since transportation would not be an issue.
To handle the numbers of young children on a college campus, the college would be best served by dividing the children into Monday-Wednesday/Tuesday-Thursday sections.
The curriculum that has been developed provides for six years of STEM – science, technology, engineering, and math. It has been written by National Board Certified Teachers, and it is based on what experts across the country believe will best develop students’ skills. In addition, most colleges do not have the capability to develop a grade-school curriculum. However, colleges can use the curriculum as they wish. View sample Fourth Grade Technology lesson.
Given the fact that many colleges have pre-collegiate programs for high school students, the Help Yourself academy would fit easily with those programs. Help Yourself participants would naturally feed into the high school portion of the pre-collegiate programs.
At the College of Saint Rose, 100% of the Help Yourself Academy children passed the New York State 4th grade science examination; at the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 100% of academy children passed the exam and 67% did so at the highest level, compared to a 79% passage rate for the district, with only 35% scoring at the highest level.
The cost for each grade is roughly $15,000 ($625/child), an amount that covers transportation of the students to the campus, snacks and activities for the students, supplies, and stipends for the teachers. Accordingly, the annual cost of the program, once grades three through eight are in attendance, would total $90,000. If a third grade class were “adopted,” the cost to the sponsor would also be $15,000 /year or $90,000 over six years.
To reach more children, Help Yourself welcomes contributions. Donations are tax-deductible, and those made by GE employees or retirees are eligible for the GE Matching Gifts Program. For more information on how to contribute, please see How You Can Help.