By Carrie Click.
On a recent summer day, Colorado Mountain College’s campus in Leadville was abuzz with activity, though most of the students at the campus weren’t yet old enough to attend college, at least in a traditional sense.
Alongside regular college fare such as faculty member Bob Gilgulin’s midday ethics class, dozens of pre-college youth were taking part in two of the college’s expanding programs for younger students. First Ascent and Upward Bound inspire high school students to consider attending college, though the programs achieve this in very different ways.
First Ascent builds leadership skills
On the campus’s lawn, 35 high school students were discovering how difficult it can be to communicate clearly – especially when blindfolded and unable to speak.
“It’s about trust and communication,” said George Hunsinger, a lead counselor and former First Ascent participant from Silverthorne who is now attending Colorado School of Mines. Groups of three students were tasked with guiding one of their team members, whose eyes were covered with a bandana. A second student used hand signals to prompt a third, with his back to the blindfolded student, to tell the sightless student where to go.
The game was one of many leadership-skills activities in which First Ascent high schoolers took part. Designed to instill confidence and leadership skills in youth, ultimately leading to higher education, this is a free program thanks to a partnership with the El Pomar Foundation. Now in its 21st year, the experience is offered for one week each summer to high school students living in Colorado Mountain College’s service area. This summer students came from high schools in Garfield, Eagle and Summit counties.
All of the program’s counselors participated in First Ascent during high school. Now these counselors immerse First Ascent students in activities that address problem solving, consensus building, conflict resolution and communication.
Besides participating in interactive outdoor games and attending workshops, the students climb nearby Mount Elbert, Colorado’s highest peak; raft the Arkansas River; and rock climb at Camp Hale north of Leadville.
“Rafting, hiking, climbing,” said Dominique Pino from Rifle High School, who had never attended a camp before First Ascent. “This is real life! It’s important for us to build a strong team.”
Wyatt Barnes, the program’s facilitator, anticipates that students will be inspired to continue their education like he did after participating in the program in 2002.
“This is the kind of stuff that impacts lives,” he said. “These kids all have the potential to go to college. Because of First Ascent, I went to college. We want to give experiences to these students so they’ll want to go to college, too.”
Participating in First Ascent has other residual perks, as well.
“Once the students attend First Ascent, they typically take on more leadership roles in their lives,” said Yesenia Arreola, Colorado Mountain College’s youth outreach coordinator. “We hear from parents that instantly, they see positive changes in their children.”
Upward Bound prepares students for college
As CMC faculty member Gilgulin led a discussion about ethical theories to a group of college students, down the hall 16 high school students from Eagle and Lake counties also attended classes.
Each summer Colorado Mountain College offers, free of charge, six weeks of the Upward Bound Summer Academy, a federally funded college preparatory program. It is designed for students who are at academic risk, who are from low-income households, and/or whose parents didn’t complete a bachelor’s degree. Sometimes, all factors are at play.
Students live in the campus’s residence hall and take four classes each day: language arts, science, engineering and French.
“The purpose of the academy is to expose students to the college environment, expand their knowledge, and build study and time management habits,” said Acacia Fike-Nelson, the Upward Bound coordinator at Colorado Mountain College in Leadville.
German Aguirre is 15 and is going into the 10th grade in Leadville this fall.
“My brother was in Upward Bound and he told me about it,” Aguirre said. “He said he enjoyed taking classes, prepping for college. Now my brother is going to school at CU in Denver. I like the college feeling.”
Ozi Valdez is also 15 and from Leadville. He will be a sophomore this fall, and said he appreciates the time he’s spending at Upward Bound, since it’s helped him realize he’d like to study for a career in healthcare. This is his second year of participating in the program.
“Before Upward Bound, I didn’t think about going to college, but now I know I’m going,” Valdez said. “I think this program helps you know yourself and what you really want to do.”