PASADENA, Calif.- Thanks to a $250,000 grant from the State Treasury Department under a California Educational Facilities Authority (CEFA) Bond, students at the California Institute of Technology will offer free tutoring twice a week in math and science to Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) 10th- and 11th-grade students.
The Caltech Y and the Caltech Office of Student Affairs received the grant from CEFA to administer the three-year Reaffirming and Increasing Scholastic Endeavors (RISE) Program to help PUSD students become better college applicants through a series of intense tutoring sessions geared to the PUSD curriculum, admissions seminars, and financial aid workshops. The Caltech Y will work closely with PUSD students and families to explain that college is an attainable goal for hard-working students regardless of socio-economic background.
"This program gives Caltech students the opportunity to share their talents with the PUSD students, while giving back to the community as a whole," said Athena Castro, director of the Caltech Y. "The program is a collaboration between Caltech and PUSD that will benefit students from both campuses in a partnership of knowledge sharing."
The Caltech Y, which celebrates its 90th anniversary this year, provides extracurricular activities planned and implemented by students as an opportunity to learn leadership skills, discover themselves and prepare them to become engaged, responsible citizens of the world. The Y seeks to broaden students' world views, and raise social, ethical, and cultural awareness through teamwork, community engagement, activism, and leadership. The program kicks off in November with tutoring sessions on the Caltech campus. Later in the fall, the students will take campus tours to other local universities and will attend seminars to better understand the college application and financial aid process.
"We appreciate the opportunity for our students to work with Caltech students. It supports our interest in building college-going environments with all of our students and having our neighbor Caltech invest in our students is a good step. We hope these kinds of relationships will continue and grow," said Kathleen Duba, deputy superintendent for the Pasadena Unified School District.
