College Possiblerecently received an Investing in Innovation i3 Grant from the US Department of Education.
Arvin Frazier, Executive Director for College Possible Omaha, says there were more than 400 applicants for the grant and College Possible was one of only 26 awardees.
Frazier says the intent of the grant is to provide an evaluation of students’ non-cognitive skills as it relates to persistence and resilience while College Possible helps students to get into and through college.
"Our focus during our junior year is college knowledge, helping students to understand their college options, research as well as campus visits. Students take a baseline ACT where they demonstrate their knowledge of testing procedures and content before any major help from us. And then we focus on providing ACT support and ACT preparation.”
Frazier says last year College Possible helped students increase their ACT scores here by more than 16%.
Nancy Bond, Omaha Public Schools’ Supervisor of School Counseling, says OPS works with several organizations who are all concerned about looking at ways to support students’ academic success and ensure their college and career readiness.
"College Possible is one of many organizations and partnerships that OPS is fortunate to have. There are so many people who are concerned and interested in prioritizing the work that school counselors have done for many years in terms of really promoting college access and college planning.”
Last year, College Possible Omaha served 192 students. He says 99% of these applied to college and 92% earned admission.
The i3 grant will allow College Possible Omaha to provide supportive coaching to more than 500 students at three high schools: Benson High School Magnet, Omaha North High Magnet and Omaha South High Magnet.