admin – Com 121 Digital Communication Spring 2012

Inside the Bridges Interview Room

admin / April 2, 2012 / Caitlyn Norling

Bridges to a Brighter Future has officially finished interviewing their applicants. A few weeks ago I got the chance to sit in on some of the interview sessions that were held at Furman University, and even participate by asking the students some questions.

The first thing I noticed when entering the interview room is how open and warm it seemed. The second thing I noticed was how sweet and happy all of the interviewers were. It immediately put me at ease, as I’m sure it did for all of the potential Bridge’s students.

The Bridges interview room before the hours of interviews began

As each eighth grader came, they looked so nervous. The room full of adults introduced themselves, each of them was so kind to each of the kids and took such an interest in each of the students’ lives. When I arrived at the interview Tobi Swartz and Casey Crisp who lead the program were present. There were also teachers who volunteer for Bridges, Furman staff, Bridges Alumni, and Bridges Counselors.

The students were nervous as they waited in the hallway to be called in to their interview. They were shown a video about the Bridges program and given some more information about it while they waited. The questions ranged from ordinary to in depth. Each student got a chance to tell the room about themselves, their likes and dislikes. They also asked the students about strengths, weaknesses, their family, and their friends. All of the questions seemed to reach at getting the students to open up more about themselves.

I witnessed so many students who lit up about their strengths, such as drama club, band, or a sport. I saw a lot of them talk about their families with pride and happiness. Many talked about the struggles in their lives and all of the wonderful things they had heard that Bridges could offer to them.

As each student filtered out of the room a discussion, in which everyone talked about how they would fit in to the program, ensued. Every student that came in had some sort of need for the program and also had his or her own unique personality to offer to it. More often then not, the discussion really tried to focus on how the student would fit in with in a class and the program as a whole. The need that the student had for the program was also extremely important to the team.

The Bridges interview room and volunteers

Overall, the experience was wonderful and I was so impressed by each one of the students that I met. I have no idea how the Bridges team ever narrows it down to twenty-five with so many promising young students.

Check out this audio slideshow!

Bridges Audio Slideshow

A Parent’s Perspective on Interviews

admin / April 2, 2012 / Caitlyn Norling

In the last post, I shared some information about the student interviews that I was lucky enough to sit-in on. After I had watched a couple of hours of student interviews, I stationed myself in the hallway to speak to the parents of the students. They offered a really unique perspective on the interview process and the Bridges to a Brighter Future Program as a whole.

The parents that sat out in the hall looked almost as nervous as the students themselves. I asked them all the same several questions about their students and why they wanted them to be involved in the Bridges program. The most common answer to my questions revolved around the need for structure and planning in their student’s life. The parents frequently saw Bridges as a place to help provide their student with a consistent presence of education in both the present and the future. They also wanted their students in a college oriented environment and around those who had college experiences to share, as many of the Bridges students are the first in their family to go to college.

A potential Bridges student and her mom waiting for the interview to begin

I also asked the parents about what they thought were some of the biggest challenges for their students. Several of the parents told me they wanted their students to work on were their social skills. Bridges provides an excellent opportunity to meet and interact with other students and adults. Also since students are without their cell phones when at the summer program, they are forced to interact face-to-face rather than through the technology crutch.

Bridges Interview Slideshow

The parents impressed me with their unwavering support of their students. Even more so I was inspired by how kind they were to me and their want to know more about my college experience to share with their own children. I really enjoyed getting to know the potential students’ families and gaining their unique perspective on the program.

Check out this video of the Bridges Perspectives on the Interviews

Quack, Quack For Family Fun

admin / March 21, 2012 / Allie Blalock, Uncategorized

Do yourself a favor and mark May 5^th on your calendar as a family outing! Step up your family game nights to a day filled with fun, sun, and an adrenaline-pumping race at Reedy River Duck Derby! Often it is hard to find an activity that the whole family can enjoy, but we at the Greenville Rotary have found an event for all! The Reedy River Duck Derby will keep both parents and children entertained as the ducks race to victory. Watch as your “lucky duck” makes its way through the Reedy River’s course to win the title of first place. By the end of the day, the kids will have a winning duck, while the parents can enjoy the prize of free groceries from Publix for a year!

The fun doesn’t stop when you get to the derby. Add even more excitement to the mix by making signs to cheer on your duck. Quacky, our head duck, will be available for pictures and getting his groove on with the Duck Strut. While you’re at it, why don’t you adopt a duck for each family member to make the race personable and increase your likelihood of winning? The Quack Pack specials make this easier and more affordable! Before April 1^st, you and your family can get 7 ducks for $25 while after April 1^st you can get 6 for $25. That one extra duck could be the difference between a year full of free groceries! So go ahead and get your ducks in a row!

The Reedy River Duck Derby also helps teach children how to put the “fun” in fundraising. The importance of “giving back” is something we as adults can pass onto our children through fundraisers such the Reedy River Duck Derby. The proceeds go to various charities locally and internationally that you can discover more about.

Listen to what some local Moms had to say about the Reedy River Duck Derby!

Edited Reedy River Mom Podcast

So don’t forget to bring your own little ducklings down to the Reedy River on May 5^th for family fun and memories!

The Politics of Banning Bottled Water

admin / March 21, 2012 / Katherine Jenkins

How often do you think about how water impacts your life? I know most of us don’t think about how important water is in our everyday lives. However, water use is not just an environmental issue. It is an interdisciplinary issue. Water issues are addressed in Political Science public policy classes, dissected and analyzed in Business and Economic classes, and depicted in art classes. Water is the source of inspiration for poetry and literature and a source of life in biology. No matter how you look at it, water is a part of everyone’s life at Furman.

Because water is a part of everyone’s lives at Furman, we need to find away to address growing concerns about the world’s water supply. One aspect many colleges are addressing is the bottle water industry. Currently, the United States is the largest consumer of bottled water and we pay 240 to over 10,000 times more per gallon for bottled water than tap water. A blog that I follow, Ban the Bottle, discusses issues with the bottled water industry along with how bottled water effects the environment now and in the long run. Diagrams depict the making and tapping of water, how bottles are recycled, and where they end up if they are not recycled.

Some colleges are in the process of taking bottled water to a whole new level! Currently 90 colleges including Harvard and Dartmouth have banned bottled water on campus. This project was introduced by Ban the Bottle in an effort to reduce the environmental footprint and impact that bottled water creates. Can Furman live without bottled water?

Clare Grover, a senior accounting major said: “I never buy bottled water and always carry a reusable water bottle with me. I would like to see more refilling stations around campus because they make it easier and more accessible for everyone.” Most students I have discussed this with don’t see any harm in banning bottled water. Colleen Roberts, a junior neuroscience major stated: “Most people who drink water on a regular basis already carry a water bottle around with them. The only people that this is effecting are those who don’t have their habits already formed.” Will this new ban draw those students to soda or other high calorie drinks?

The University of California Berkeley decided to not ban bottled water because it thought the ban would encourage other drinks to be consumed because most people who buy bottled water do it for convenience. Read this article posted in the Harvard Crimson, which explains why schools should not ban bottled water. However, how do we know what is right or wrong without trying? After all, Greenville was awarded best tasting tap water in the country. Why pay extra for water that is not even bottled here?

Here are steps Furman could implement to make a bottled water ban work:

– Add more refilling stations around campus inside buildings and outside

– Provide all incoming students with a water bottle

– Place water cups in dining locations and workout areas that are free of charge

– Inform students about the life cycle of bottled water and how it effects our local environment

Check out my video for more information about what Furman University is doing to use water more effectively on campus! Here are more photos about water use on campus:Slideshow on Campus Water

Video on Water Use on Furman’s Campus

Eat Locally: We Can Make A Difference too!

admin / March 21, 2012 / Katherine Jenkins

When we walk into the grocery store we buy what we think looks goods, sounds good, or fits into our recipes. At Furman, we walk into the dining hall and pick from a variety of pre-made choices. We don’t question how many miles it traveled to get there or how the product was treated along the process. Did you know that typical carrot has to travel 1,838 miles to reach your table? Our grocery stores are stocked with any product we need, however according to the Food and Agriculture Organizationworldwide food available per capita is declining continuously over the past 23 years. Even more startling, 56% of the world’s population or 3.7 billion people are malnourished (WHO).

Not everyone is as lucky as we are so we need to figure out a way to make food production more sustainable. Our world population of 7 billion is growing to around 9 billion by 2050 and our land isn’t growing any larger. Agriculture uses almost 60% of our total water to grow and produce crops. By making all of our agriculture systems more efficient we should be able to support our growing number!s.

Ways to Make Food Production More Sustainable:

– Eat local and seasonally: For example, if Iowa grew 10% more produce locally in we could save 280,000 to 346,000 gallons of fuel, and have an annual reduction in CO2 emissions from 6.7 to 7.9 million pounds.

– Have Farmers use Center Pivot Agricultureto save water: A sprinkler system that moves in a circular motion around a crop circle with is about ¼ mile long. This allows for effective drainage and all areas of the circle to be reached with water without creating unnecessary runoff or soil erosion.

Allow developing countries to create their own markets and not exploit them. By teaching them how to set up a farm, reduce soil erosion, and use less toxic fertilizers developing nations can produce their own food.

At Furman we need to make a conscious effort to do our part. While we might not be setting up agricultural crop systems we can be aware of the food that we buy. We have our own garden located outside the Shi Center; you can’t get more local than that! Check out Sara Mangold’s blog post about the Furman garden. Since so much water goes toward agriculture we need to learn about water systems and how to make them more sustainable. Listen to my podcast to learn more about water use in developing nations! Thanks to the Shi Center and Furman students we are creating a water plant in Guatemala. Listen to my Water Podcast for more information!

Crossing the Bridge: Moving Forward

admin / March 21, 2012 / Lindsey Appleby

How has Crossing the Bridge successful in its first year?

Check out this slideshow of pictures from the Crossing the Bridge program

There is no data to show the impact Crossing the Bridge has had on students’ graduation rates. This is the first year the program has been in place, so the students who went through the summer program are still in their freshman year of college. Numbers are not available yet, but it is easy to see the importance of the program has had on students’ lives.

College access is a two-part problem for many low-income and first-generation students, a study by the U.S Department of Education says college access is a two part problem:

Students “are at a disadvantage in gaining access to postsecondary education.”
“Even those who overcome the barriers and do enroll have difficulty remaining enrolled and attaining a degree.”

Bridges to a Brighter Future’s goal is to fix the first problem by giving students the help they need to graduate from high school and enroll in college. They have achieved this goal and are one of the premier college access programs in the area, receiving a number of honors awards.

They have recently expanded their mission with the Crossing the Bridge program. Through the intensive summer program, and the constant contact and support, Crossing the Bridge hopes to enable Bridges to a Brighter Future students to achieve their goals of college graduation.

According to Tobi Swartz, Director of Bridges to a Brighter Future, “It is too early to tell what the ultimate rewards and outcomes are going to be from Crossing the Bridge, but we are definitely seeing that we are able to infuse ourselves at times where they really need support”

Students recognize the impacts of the program and are definitely noticing a difference. Christian Barrientos, a freshman at Furman University and a participant in the Crossing the Bridge program says:

“I came in to college with an upper hand in many of my classes because for the last 4 summers I have participated in the Bridges program. Crossing the Bridge’s summer session helped me better understand and prepare for college life, this made the transition from high school to college much easier for me. I’m so grateful for this opportunity, wouldn’t change it for the world”

Assistant Director Casey Crisp, has learned a lot in the last 9 months. She organized the Summer Program and she is in constant contact with students by phone or visits. Through her experience in this inaugural year Crisp has developed new goals for the program.

“I hope that in the coming years we can grow in the areas of financial assistance and alumni relations. We would love to be able to provide more scholarships for students and secure funding for computers and books, etc. We also believe that building alumni connections, will be strengthen our program in the long run.”

This last year has also learned Crisp a lot about what specific programs, and resources are available to students at their schools. Learning more about the schools her current students are at, will help her to direct students to them in the future and form important relationships with the resources and counselors at schools.

For more information about Crossing the Bridge Check out my video!

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Thanks for reading!

Lindsey A.

Crossing the Bridge: Student Visits

admin / March 21, 2012 / Lindsey Appleby

Students attend the Summer Program and are off to college! Then what?

Crossing the Bridge does not stop at the Summer Program. After one week of intensive college preparation, students are off to college. Once students have started school, Assistant Director, Casey Crisp keeps in contact with them constantly through Facebook, email, and phone. Crisp Explains, “This contact definitely helps keep the students accountable, but the main goal is to keep an open line of communication and be here to support them with any troubles they may be facing in their first year of college.”

The most important part of this contact is student visits. Many Bridges students stay close by at colleges such as South Carolina, Winthrop, and Morehouse, so Crisp visits students once a semester, usually around midterm to check in with them and see how their transition is going. She talks to students about all facets of their college experience to get a good understanding of how they are doing socially as well as academically.

On her visits, Casey emphasizes to students the magnitude of on campus resources. No matter what a student is going through the chance is that other students are having the same problems and there are ways to get help on campus. Whether the issues are social, academic, or financial.

“I always want them to know that I am not coming from a place of judgment, I am not a parent figure who is going to come down on them if they make a mistake I want them to always fell they can be honest with me… there is a really fine line between them viewing me as someone who is watching them and monitoring them versus someone who is really there just to support them.”- Casey Crisp, Assistant Director Bridges to a Brighter Future

For more info about Crossing the Bridge’s student visits listen to my podcast!

Thanks for reading, check back for more posts soon!

Lindsey A.

Student Visits Podcast

Saturday College Helps Bridges Seniors With Standardized Testing

admin / March 21, 2012 / Elizabeth Carpenter

Students in the Bridges to a Brighter Future program have leadership capabilities, high grades, and extracurricular involvement. However, despite these qualifications, some Bridges seniors face serious obstacles to college admission because of their SAT or ACT scores.

Bridges to a Brighter Future students Nathan Coy and Kayla Wright. Credit: Bridges to a Brighter Future.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in the 2009-2010 school year, students in the top economic quartile scored almost 400 points higher than students in the lowest economic quartile on the SAT. This achievement gap can be attributed to a number of factors.

SAT Preparation- The Princeton Review’s “Ultimate Course,” a 30 hour course that guarantees a 150 point minimum increase, starts at $999. While there are less expensive options, low-income students face a major disadvantage in the test preparation industry.
Underperforming schools– Low-income students often attend poorly funded schools that do not have adequate resources or highly-qualified teachers. Even without additional test preparation courses such as the Princeton Review, wealthier students who attend schools with rigorous curricula and well-trained teachers have an innate advantage.
Testing Expenses- The current fee to take the SAT is $49. While the SAT offers two fee-waivers for low-income students, well-off students are able to take the test as many times as necessary. Also, if the testing site is not nearby, it can be difficult for low-income students to obtain transportation.

Because of the weight given to standardized test scores in college admission decisions, Bridges works hard to make sure students are prepared to take these crucial tests through their Saturday College program. At Saturday College, Bridges holds workshops to educate students in effective testing preparation. Also, the program provides transportation to testing sites, as well as financial support for testing fees.

Bill Dingledine, an independent college counselor in Greenville, SC, has led several of these test preparation workshops for Bridges and he has also served as a private test tutor for Bridges seniors. I recently had the wonderful opportunity of speaking with Mr. Dingledine at his office, Educational Directions, Inc. Mr. Dingledine is president of the Southern Association for College Admission Counseling and has thirty-five years of experience in education, as a teacher, coach, headmaster, and test preparation tutor.

Check out this podcast to hear Mr. Dingledine’s insight about low income students and standardized testing, as well as the shift to testing optional admission policies.

Dingledine Podcast

Bridges Helps Seniors Overcome Financial Barriers

admin / March 21, 2012 / Elizabeth Carpenter

Greer High School senior Stephanie Torres has high grades, loves math, and hopes to major in finance at the University of South Carolina Upstate. She dreams of someday working in the stock market, yet finance is also a a major obstacle for Stephanie in attending college.

Bridges to a Brighter Future Senior Stephanie Torres (left) with Norsaahad Dillard Credit: Bridges to a Brighter Future — Bridges to a Brighter Future senior Stephanie Torres (left) with Norsaahad Dillard. Credit: Bridges to a Brighter Future

Stephanie’s parents both work in the manufacturing industry. Due to her family’s financial situation, before Stephanie became a part of the Bridges to a Brighter Future program, she did not think that she would ever be able to afford college.

This is a growing concern for low-income students nationwide. According to Education Week, in 2010, average tuition and fees reached $7,605 per year at four year public institutions and $27,293 at private colleges. With these figures, sending even one child to college can seem impossible for low-income families. According to a report by Education Trust, every year, typical low-income students’ families are required to pay or borrow an amount equivalent to three-fourths of their household income to cover college costs.

While federal aid is available to offset educational costs, many low-income students face challenges in simply applying for funding. To be eligible for federal aid, every student must fill out The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Filling out the FAFSA can be a long, tedious process, as it requires gathering tax returns, income records, and bank statements. While the federal government has been making changes to the FAFSA over the last five years, it is still a challenging form, particularly for low-income students whose parents did not attend college. Parents who are not familiar with the process may be resistant to providing financial information.

For this reason, Bridges hosts a FAFSA workshop in February for seniors. Financial officers come to the workshop to walk students and parents through the process step-by-step, telling them what documents they need and explaining terminology. Check out this Flickr slideshow to see more of the ways Bridges helps students make smart financial decisions about college.

“My biggest obstacle in going to college is money,” Stephanie said. “But Bridges helps you fill out your FAFSA application and if you don’t know something, there’s always someone right by your side.”

However, filling out the FAFSA is just the first step. Once students receive their federal financial aid packages, even with additional scholarships, the amount may fall short. Watch this interview with Dr. Allison L. Hurst, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Furman University to learn more about the financial challenges that federal policies create for low-income students. Dr. Hurst specializes in class and higher education and I had a great time talking to her about these important issues!

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Straight Up Struttin’-Greenville Rotary Duck Struts

admin / March 20, 2012 / Allie Blalock, Uncategorized

Amidst the quaint streets of downtown Greenville, SC on a Monday night, a crowd has formed around High Cotton Restaurant. The Duck Strutters lead a group of Rotarians in various dance moves that make up the “Duck Strut”. Pedestrians watch as the dancers throw caution to the wind and get down. Once a month the Greenville Rotary Club joins together for “Heart, Health, and Happiness” at a local restaurant to network and simply enjoy the community of the Greenville Evening Rotary.

Tonight is the perfect opportunity for the entire Club to learn the Duck Strut, a dance promoting the Reedy River Duck Derby. Channeling the head duck Quacky, participants swim, waddle, strut, quack, and shake their tail feather! The dance embodies simple motions that can be achieved at all ages and repeated for maximum effect! Choreographer Barbara Steele looked to a duck’s natural habits when formulating the dance saying, “Duck and human dancing aren’t that different!” It even starts to look like a flash mob as pedestrians join in for the fun, and phones get pulled out to record the funny scene! Quacky even sits across the street and poses for pictures. Watch it all go down and get a few laughs along the way as the Greenville Rotary struts their stuff!

After learning each of the dance moves, check out the Duck Strut swag! No Duck Strut is complete without the a duck t-shirt, hat, buttons, stickers and even a note pad to keep track of your duck’s progress. These items will be available at the event for purchase and proceeds will continue to benefit the charities supported through the Duck Derby.

Sheets Swag — Jim Sheets sports his Quacky Visor, T-Shirt, and duck call!