The West Virginia University Institute of Technology (WVU Tech) campus will be the host site for a special College Summit workshop featuring the Yale Alumni Service Corps. Forty-two Yale alumni will be volunteering as college and writing coaches for College Summit WV on WVU Tech’s campus Thursday, June 27 through Sunday, June 30.
More than 130 students from West Virginia high schools are expected to attend the workshop at WVU Tech, including students from Raleigh, Wyoming, McDowell, Webster, Putnam, Greenbrier and Mingo Counties. “We are very pleased that students from all over West Virginia will have the opportunity to work with volunteers from the Yale Alumni Service Corps,” explained Jon Charles, Executive Director of College Summit West Virginia. “This is an invaluable opportunity for our students to work with writing and college coaches who have come from all across the country, and various parts of the world, to share their expertise and experiences.”
The Yale Alumni Service Corps program officially begins on Wednesday evening with a welcome reception and dinner at the Charleston Marriott. On Thursday, they will be touring Southern West Virginia with a West Virginia-themed luncheon hosted by WVU Tech and College Summit WV in the Tech Ballroom. The luncheon will include keynote speaker West Virginia Delegate Doug Skaff and special guest J. B. Schramm, College Summit Founder and CEO. A native of West Virginia, Skaff represents Kanawha County in the State’s House of Delegates and holds both a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from West Virginia University. Schramm, a graduate of Denver Public Schools, Yale University and Harvard Divinity School, founded College Summit in 1993 while directing a teen center in the basement of a low-income housing project in Washington, D.C.
“We’re excited to once again be partnering with College Summit WV in an effort to increase the number of college-going students in our state,” said WVU Tech CEO Carolyn Long. “It’s an honor to host this College Summit workshop and its participants on our campus. We look forward to sharing a glimpse of our beloved state with our special guests while we work together to show these students a future of infinite possibilities.”
During the weekend’s workshop, participants will have an opportunity to develop an essay for college and scholarship applications, as well as explore possible post-secondary options based on their educational interests. Since 2001, College Summit West Virginia has served more than 37,000 students. These students have attended a variety of two-year and four-year institutions of higher education, as well as post-secondary options such as technical training programs and the military. The organization’s partner schools have raised their school-wide college enrollment rates on average more than 15 percent.
“Our College Summit team is thrilled to be back on the campus of WVU Tech this summer. We are grateful to the wonderful administration and staff for once again opening their doors to accommodate what has become the largest College Summit workshop we have had in the history of our program here in West Virginia,” explained Charles. “Together we are working to strengthen the college-going culture and college enrollment rates all across the state.”
College Summit is a national nonprofit that partners with educators, parents, and community leaders to create a school culture of expectations – a culture in which all students are prepared to succeed in college, career and technical training, military, or whatever best fits their future goals.