ASPIRA of Delaware begins its 4th year of service.

ASPIRA of Delaware brings the national ASPIRA youth development and youth leadership initiatives to Delaware. ASPIRA’s successful, highly regarded programs develop self-esteem and leadership skills, enhance academic achievement, and foster cultural awareness and a commitment to community service.

For the last three years ASPIRA of Delaware has been working with Hispanic students from the greater New Castle County. In 2005 we initiated a pilot program, ASPIRA Saturday Academies, ASPIRA worked with 22 Hispanic New Castle County high school students who were interested in attending college, but had little to no chance of getting into college. ASPIRA volunteers worked with the students every Saturday through the fall, involving colleges and universities. Eighteen students completed the program and are attending college, many with scholarships and tuition assistance. Given the success of that pilot we have now formalized the ASPIRA Saturday Academy Program, which has helped approximately 80 students, gain access to colleges and universities and our college placement rate is almost 85%. During the last three years we held our sessions at Del Tech Community College in downtown Wilmington.

So what is new is that we are now being hosted at the University of Delaware, Newark Campus and have 40 students registered to benefit from the ASPIRA Saturday Academy Program.

Our academy program focuses on providing high school senior and graduates with a firm understanding of the overall admissions process and the requirements necessary to gain admission. We work with each student individually to gain an understanding of his or her strengths and abilities. This enables us to coach and advise them and to determine what colleges and universities are best suited for them given their academic capability and interest. We provide a series of workshops, career presentations, college visits along with a writing laboratory to assist the students in the completion of essays both for college admission and scholarship consideration. We also have been most successful in engaging parents to become involved and provide them with periodic updates on their students’ progress, coping skills and general information that will guide them to become more savvy with the overall college and financial aid process.

All of ASPIRA of Delaware’s work is done by volunteers. ASPIRA of Delaware has no paid staff. Our volunteer coaches (advisors) include Hispanics with a passion for education and a commitment to the educational and leadership needs of Hispanic students and parents. We are physicians, educators, attorneys, government officials, businesspersons, parents, and community volunteers with a strong history of leadership and community involvement. We have increased the number of coaches each year through personal recruitment, paying particular attention to individuals’ expertise, talent, availability and commitment.

To learn more about the ASPIRA Academy Sessions please contact Margie Rivera at 302-377-8657 or e-mail her on margaret.rivea75 AT yahoo.com

The ASPIRA web site is http://www.aspira.org/

The Academy sessions take place on selected Saturdays at 9:00am at Pearson Hall, Room 114 on the University of Delaware Newark Campus.