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On a muggy Tuesday afternoon in a basement classroom of Dedham High School, the newly founded Rise program launched.
By mid-morning, 14 incoming ninth-graders were outside playing bocce, which was the recreational portion of the new program sponsored by the Dedham Youth Commission.
The free four-week program is open to all incoming high school freshman from Dedham as a way to help in the high school transition, both academically and socially.
Dedham Youth Commission Director Robert Blaney said he knows first hand the difficulties in this move.
“It’s such a crucial age,” he said on a recent Tuesday. “Something like this helps them get off on the right foot.”
Before coming to Dedham earlier this year, Blaney served as the director of UMass-Boston’s Upward Bound, a year round college preparatory program for Boston public school students. He’s also been a middle school English teacher and is a certified principal.
Following the bocce tournament, Blaney and his co-leader Greg Cabral introduced the next phase of the day: college and career preparation.
Blaney spoke to the students with the same energy and enthusiasm a coach would give to his players before a big game.
“Four years from now, you guys will apply to college, right?” he said.
Unsatisfied with the students’ rather quiet yes. He asked for a “yes” with energy. The future ninth-graders belted out a resounding “yes!”
The students divided into groups of three for a mock college admission activity.
Each group was given the name of a university they would represent as admissions officers and a packet of five students they would have to evaluate based on grades, SAT scores and a portion of an essay.
It was up to the students to decide, based on the requirements of that school, who would be accepted into the university.
The students dove into reading the applications, and after about 25 minutes of deliberation, made decisions.
Joanne Devine, 14, who will head to Norfolk County Agricultural High School in the fall to study veterinary science said she found the exercise useful.
“I learned how to compare the different scores to other people,” she said. “I realized you have to stay focused to get into the college of your choice.”
The group representing New York University was more compassionate to a particular student who didn’t have great grades, but had good SAT scores and a personal story they liked and respected.
On a muggy Tuesday afternoon in a basement classroom of Dedham High School, the newly founded Rise program launched.
By mid-morning, 14 incoming ninth-graders were outside playing bocce, which was the recreational portion of the new program sponsored by the Dedham Youth Commission.
The free four-week program is open to all incoming high school freshman from Dedham as a way to help in the high school transition, both academically and socially.
Dedham Youth Commission Director Robert Blaney said he knows first hand the difficulties in this move.
“It’s such a crucial age,” he said on a recent Tuesday. “Something like this helps them get off on the right foot.”
Before coming to Dedham earlier this year, Blaney served as the director of UMass-Boston’s Upward Bound, a year round college preparatory program for Boston public school students. He’s also been a middle school English teacher and is a certified principal.
Following the bocce tournament, Blaney and his co-leader Greg Cabral introduced the next phase of the day: college and career preparation.
Blaney spoke to the students with the same energy and enthusiasm a coach would give to his players before a big game.
“Four years from now, you guys will apply to college, right?” he said.
Unsatisfied with the students’ rather quiet yes. He asked for a “yes” with energy. The future ninth-graders belted out a resounding “yes!”
The students divided into groups of three for a mock college admission activity.
Each group was given the name of a university they would represent as admissions officers and a packet of five students they would have to evaluate based on grades, SAT scores and a portion of an essay.
It was up to the students to decide, based on the requirements of that school, who would be accepted into the university.
The students dove into reading the applications, and after about 25 minutes of deliberation, made decisions.
Joanne Devine, 14, who will head to Norfolk County Agricultural High School in the fall to study veterinary science said she found the exercise useful.
“I learned how to compare the different scores to other people,” she said. “I realized you have to stay focused to get into the college of your choice.”
The group representing New York University was more compassionate to a particular student who didn’t have great grades, but had good SAT scores and a personal story they liked and respected.
Caitlin Dwyer, 14, who will attend Dedham High School in the fall said she felt good about the decision.
“Even if you don’t have good grades, you can still get into college based on who you are as a person,” she said.
In addition to the recreation and college and career preparation aspects, the Rise program also offers an hour of reading and writing as well as social workshops with topics like cyber bullying and self respect.
The program runs through July with a celebration on Aug. 1. Students will also take weekly field trips to area colleges.
Blaney said he has big plans for the future of Rise. He is pursuing grants and hopes eventually to hire teachers to help run the different aspects of the program, much like the middle school TREK program works.
TREK, which stands for Technology, Recreation, Enrichment and Knowledge, is a three-week program that runs daily from 8 a.m. to noon and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursdays, is designed for incoming sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. The Dedham Middle School program, is in its sixth summer. The cost is $340 for the three-week program.
The weeks ahead are going to be exciting for the students, Blaney said. The program, he said will not only help them succeed in high school but also in life.
Blaney’s expectations for the students are simple but important not only for the week but for life, “Be on time, respect, take risks, have fun and smile.”
