Menu

Programs for Youth

Upward Bound

UPWARD BOUND

An intensive program serving highly motivated students in grades 9-12 to transition to post-secondary institutions

KCP/GEAR UP

KCP/GEAR UP

Early intervention for students starting in 7th grade to first year of college creating early awareness and readiness for college

The Saturday Workshop component was designed to provide students with opportunities to become more involved with the MI GEAR UP (M.I.G.U.) Program.  Through the Saturday Workshops we are able to help our students develop and fine tune skills that will be an integral part of their educational success.  This goal is achieved through a series of informative workshops combined with an atmosphere that is conducive to positive reinforcement and networking while on a college campus – at Michigan State University.

Saturday Workshops are usually held once or twice a month during the academic year and are designed to be attended by students and their parent(s)/guardian(s).  The parent/guardian participation is very important in these workshops because we often expose students to a great deal of information.  By having a parent/guardian present, students can refer back to information they may have missed or did not understand, by discussing the workshop topics with their families.  We also look to parents/guardians to help us in our selection of programming for the Saturday Workshop component.

Topics are usually placed in two categories: academic and social.  The academic workshops cover topics such as test taking strategies, study skills, and time management; just to name a few.  The social workshops focus on things like:

  • Preparing for College
  • College Applications
  • Financial Aid Workshops
  • SAT Preparation
  • Test-Taking Skills
  • Peer Pressure
  • Self Esteem
  • Teen violence

Workshops typically start at 9:30 AM and end at 3:00 PM (please pay close attention to the monthly M.I.G.U. newsletter for individual workshop times).  For participants who would like to stay for lunch, we provide it for FREE!!  We also provide bus transportation to and from each of the Saturday Workshops (more details on bus transportation information can also be found in the monthly M.I.G.U. newsletter, which is mailed to students a couple weeks before each workshop and will be posted on the web page when available).  Each student is expected to attend a minimum number of Saturday Workshops to be considered eligible for our Summer Residency program (the number of workshops is determined every year and announced when the Summer Applications are made available).