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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 15, 2003)
Page 6 ASPIRE ... (Continued from page 1) Dinkins is currently seeking a variety of volun- teers from the valley. Once he has a small core of vol- unteers he can move them toward training and then pair them with students. Volunteers do not need previous counseling ex- perience, nor do they need to have attended college themselves. They simply must want to assist stu- dents with all aspects of their post-high school plans and have a few hours each week to give. They do however, need to be at least 20 years old. “We want volunteers with some life experi- ence,” he said, noting he particularly hopes to re- cruit men advisers. “I would love to see male involvement in this pro- gram,” he said. The goal is to train six to 10 volunteers by the first of the year, Dinkins said. However, he noted that he would schedule a training if at least three persons were interested. Volunteers are re- quired to go through a short training session and agree to a background check before they begin working with students. All student-adviser meetings will take place at the high school. Dinkins, who had con- stant interaction with stu- dents last year as IVHS schoolwide assistant, is hopeful that role, and his familiarity with the com- munity, will benefit his ASPIRE efforts. “I don’t want to just establish programs for the sake of establishing pro- grams,” he said, noting sustainability is key. As the program grows and more volunteers are trained, more students from other grades will be served, he added. While ASPIRE advis- ers play a significant role in helping students re- search schools, fill out ap- plications, look for schol- arships and more, Dinkins stressed they will supple- ment the guidance of Don Farmer, IVHS counselor. “ASPIRE advisers do not replace staff,” he said. ASPIRE funding is through a grant from the Oregon Student Assistance Commission, a state agency that administers various student financial aid programs. Dinkins is also an AmeriCorps member and receives an education award and living allow- ance for serving one year at IVHS. Also designated as an Oregon GEAR UP Net- work school -- the GEAR UP program strives to en- sure that Oregon’s low- income middle and high school students are pre- pared for and pursue post- secondary education -- IVHS is able to access spe- cific grants to draw in pro- grams like ASPIRE. Dinkins was also GEAR UP coordinator for IVHS last year, which is how he learned about AS- PIRE. There will be an Intro- duction to ASPIRE presen- tation at IVHS in Room 6 at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 23. Community members and parents interested in becoming involved with ASPIRE can attend. For more information about ASPIRE phone Dinkins at 592-2116. Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, October 15, 2003