CLU Upward Bound prepares for summer residential programs

(THOUSAND OAKS, CA –May 2006) For the 14th consecutive summer, California Lutheran University’s Upward Bound will provide summer residential programs for students from throughout the continental United States and the Pacific Islands.

Through a new partnership with California State University–Channel Islands and Johns Hopkins University’s Whiting School of Engineering, 14 students from the CLU Upward Bound Math/Science program will participate in a series of college–level engineering courses on the CSUCI campus in Camarillo. The course begins on Saturday, June 24, and continues for six weeks.

The program offers low–income high school students an opportunity to live on a college campus and take academically challenging courses to prepare for college. This year students will come from Los Angeles and Ventura counties, Northern California, Guam, the Marshall Islands, Hawaii, Arizona, New Mexico and Tennessee.

The Math/Science Upward Bound Program is designed to prepare students for college admission with a strong focus on the fields of new technology, engineering and the sciences. Other classes offered through the Math/Science program include genetics, medical assessments and robotics.

The traditional Upward Bound program offers classes in science, math, history and English on the CLU campus. Students also have opportunities to take enrichment courses such as SAT/ACT preparation, study skills seminars, video production, Chinese, sign language and life skills. Community leaders and former Upward Bound students serve as guest speakers and mentors. CLU’s programs consistently have 100 percent of the participants graduate from high school, with many of the students accepted to a minimum of three post secondary institutions.

More than 85 percent of the students who participate in the Math/Science program go on to graduate from a four–year college or university. Both programs are funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

For more information about the Traditional Upward Bound Program at CLU, please call Diva Ward, Director of CLU’s Upward Bound Program, at (805) 493–3352. For more information about the Summer Residential Program, please call Christine Opzeeland, Academic Skills Coordinator for the Math/Science Upward Bound Program, at (805) 493–3317.