CHICAGO HEIGHTS—(ENEWSPF)—February 14, 2013. Prairie State College (PSC) is the site for the 2013 National TRiO Day North, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 23, on the PSC main campus, located at 202 S. Halsted St. in Chicago Heights.
The annual event is held on the last Saturday of February, and celebrates the history of TRiO programs. TRiO days are organized through the Illinois Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel (ILAEOPP). The theme for ILAEOPP this year is “Uniting for Common Goals: Building Alliances, Leadership, and Advocacy.”
PSC has planned a community service project for the event, having participants create 400 toiletry bags for individuals receiving services and shelter from the local Crisis Center for South Suburbia.
PSC has been offering TRiO programs at the college for the last three years. The PSC TRiO-Student Support Services program serves 160 low-income, first-generation, and disabled students a year. The PSC TRiO-Talent Search program serves 500 local low-income and first-generation participants from area middle schools and high schools. Additionally, the program provides services to high school drop-outs in an effort to aid them in entering the post-secondary educational funnel.
For more than 40 years, the federally funded TRiO programs have been helping low-income, first-generation, and disabled students complete elementary school, high school, and even college at the associate, baccalaureate, and master’s degree level. For many participants, their participation in the program is their first introduction to post-secondary education, and without the assistance of the TRiO program, college entrance as well as college completion would be impossible. There are more than 2,900 TRiO projects serving nearly 850,000 students. TRiO programs are hosted at more than 1,200 colleges, universities, and agencies throughout the U.S., the Caribbean, and Pacific Islands.
Source: prairiestate.edu
