SOUTHEAST GETS $242,513 GRANT FOR TALENT SEARCH

Southeast Missouri State University has received a $242,513 federal grant for the 1994-95 year, the first year in a four-year continuation of the federal Talent Search program in the Missouri Bootheel.

The project is administered by the university's Educational Opportunity Program.

The Talent Search program seeks to encourage at-risk youth to finish high school and go on to college or a trade school. It also urges individuals to go back to high school or post-secondary school.

Talent Search is one of the federally funded Trio programs for under-represented students. All three programs are offered by Southeast.

In 1991, Southeast was awarded a three-year grant to establish the Talent Search program. The first year's funding totaled $202,460 and has steadily increased since then, said Harry Schuler, director of the Educational Opportunity Program at Southeast.

Talent Search is designed to serve 1,100 students in 10 high schools and 10 junior high schools, as well as 100 out-of-school adults in Dunklin, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Scott and Stoddard counties. The program operates out of the Harry L. Crisp Bootheel Education Center at Malden.

"The program has gone really well," Schuler said. "Now that we have had the funding for the past three years, we are beginning to see its affect on students in the Bootheel. I believe the grant renewal is going to put us in a position to monitor how these students are doing and then follow them through their high school years."

Schuler said competition for renewal of the grant was fierce, adding that of 649 grant proposals submitted for Talent Search programs, only 314 were funded. Thirty Talent Search programs that previously had received funding were not renewed, he said.

The Talent Search program provides students with information on post-secondary education and financial aid. Workshops are conducted on study and survival skills, career exploration and personal development. The program also provides junior and senior high school students with specific information on post-secondary education and financial aid, and assists seniors in identifying and applying for financial aid.

Talent Search also provides for workshops on the ACT and SAT college admission tests. High school seniors are counseled and tracked, and follow-up programs are conducted for students who continue with post-secondary education.

"We try to make sure students are taking the core curriculum," Schuler said. "We also try to make sure students are getting the types of classes they need to be successful."

The Talent Search program also meets an early intervention initiative for seventh and eighth grade students by providing workshops and tutoring services. Last summer, 40 seventh graders and 40 eighth graders attended four-week camps at the Bootheel Education Center.

The students studied math, computer science, English and science, Schuler said. The students also participated in field trips.

This year's summer camp program began June 6. Like last year, 40 seventh graders and 40 eighth graders are participating. This summer, students are participating in field trips to Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee, a museum in New Madrid, and Memphis, Tenn.

In addition, the Talent Search program also identifies and assists out-of-school adults in completing their high school education and in applying for admission to a post-secondary education program. The primary focus is on adults under age 27, including minorities, female heads of households, and veterans.

A tutorial component of the Bootheel Educational Talent Search program was launched this spring.

From July 1, 1992 to June 30, 1993, the Talent Search program served 1,315 students, of whom 1,271 were ages 12 to 18, 30 were ages 19 to 27, and 14 were age 28 or older. Of the 1,315 students served by the grant, 265 received financial aid counseling and assistance, 538 received computer-assisted instruction, 31 received tutorial assistance, 94 participated in cultural activities, 681 participated in career awareness and orientation, and 132 participated in campus orientation and visitation programs.

Schuler said that 74 students who have participated in Talent Search have enrolled in post-secondary education. Of those, 42 have enrolled in public four-year institutions, 21 in public two-year institutions, 10 in the armed forces, and one has enrolled in a private, four-year institution.

New regulations governing the Talent Search program allow for overnight lodging of students and the extension of the program to the sixth-grade level, Schuler said.