ISU’s TRiO program to celebrate 40th b-day on Feb. 29, March 1

The TRiO programs at Idaho State University are planning events Feb. 29 and March 1 to celebrate National TRiO Day and ISU TRiO’s 40th birthday. This year marks the 40th year that TRiO programs, designed to assist low-income, first generation students, have been active on the ISU campus.

On Friday, Feb. 29, a birthday celebration will be held in the TRiO offices on the ISU campus in Room 312 of the Museum Building.  Cake and punch will be served from 11 to 1 p.m.

On Saturday, March 1, the TRiO programs will participate in the annual TRiO Day, a national day of service celebrated around the country. TRiO invites all current and former participants, as well as members of the community, to meet at the Idaho Food Bank at 9 a.m. to volunteer their time and assist local community agencies. The Eastern Idaho Food Bank, Aid for Friends, Family Services Alliance, Pocatello Zoo, Bannock Youth Foundation and other area agencies will be the sites where program participants and their families can participate in community service projects. The projects will run from 9 a.m. to noon. Following the service projects, a potluck lunch will be held at 12:15 pm at the ISU College of Technology, Roy F. Christensen Building.

The TRiO programs will kick off the “Change for Good” project at the potluck luncheon. This project will run from March 1 to April 1. Area high schools participating in “Change for Good” will compete with one another to see which school can collect the most change to donate to the Southeast Idaho Food Bank.

“TRiO programs are doing some exciting things in the spring semester, not only for our target students, which are from low-income families and are first generation college students, but also for the community we live and work in,” said James “Byrd” Yizar, ISU interim associate dean of students and TRiO Director.

The TRiO programs include Upward Bound (UB), Educational Talent Search (ETS) and Student Support Services (SSS). Upward Bound and Educational Talent Search are precollege outreach programs serving junior high, middle school and high school students by helping them stay on track to graduate, and then to successfully apply and be admitted to postsecondary schools. Student Support Services works with postsecondary students to help them earn a degree and enroll in graduate programs.

During the last 40 years of service at ISU, TRiO programs have served approximately 56,850 low-income, first generation students, and students with disabilities in the ten southeastern counties of Idaho. Without the program’s services many program participants would not achieve their educational goals of high school graduation and entering a post-secondary program. Approximately 1,375 students are currently working with ISU TRiO programs, which receive federal grant money to assist participants. These include 1,050 students in Educational Talent Search, 250 in Student Support Services, and 70 in Upward Bound.  Approximately 150 participants from the 2006-2007 Educational Talent Search and Upward Bound programs are now enrolled at ISU.