Our Upward Bound and College Bound Math Science (CBMS) students have kept up a busy pace this summer, trading classrooms for campuses, nature preserves, airport hangars, and manufacturing floors.
Here’s a look at what our underclassmen and upperclassmen have been up to over the past few weeks.
Upward Bound East: Wrapping Up Pathways to Purpose
Our underclassmen closed out their Pathways to Purpose summer session with a two-day trip to the Eau Claire area. The group started with a tour of Northcentral Technical College (NTC) in Wausau, getting a firsthand look at the programs and facilities available there. After lunch, students made their way to UW-Eau Claire for a walk around campus, including the university’s famous “hill,” made a little more bearable by a beautiful day.
The evening brought a stop at the Metropolis Resort, where students hit the go-carts before scattering to the waterpark, mini-golf, and arcade. The next morning offered a rare behind-the-scenes look at the Chippewa Valley Airport, courtesy of the airport director, who walked students through career paths in the control tower, terminal, emergency services, and hangars. Students even got to step inside the tower itself! It was an experience to remember.
With that trip behind them, the UB East group shifted gears to train summer counselor staff before launching into another three weeks of upperclassmen programming.
Upward Bound East: Upperclassmen Move to Campus
Upperclassmen kicked off the residential portion of their summer program, moving into the dorms at St. Norbert College. The first week was packed: students met their new summer counselors, took part in events on and off campus, worked through Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and designed 3-D printing projects.
They also spent time with a documentarian after screening his latest film, took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Neville Museum, and learned stress-management techniques from NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) and a local yoga instructor. A bit of bedazzling rounded out the week. With one week down, students are heading into week two of their residential experience. Be sure to tune in to catch another update on this group!
Upward Bound West and CBMS: A Week of Service at Hunt Hill
Upward Bound West and CBMS students spent a week “Exploring New Horizons” at Hunt Hill Nature Center in Sarona, trading campus life for hands-on community service across the center’s roughly 600 acres. Students moved firewood, washed and hung dorm curtains, weeded pollinator gardens, helped in the kitchen, prepped landscaping projects, scraped paint, and cleared rock from a water feature in need of an upgrade.
Between projects, students still found time to explore the preserve — hiking through the woods, learning to use a dichotomous key to identify trees, and bird-watching in the prairie and bog. A representative from a local credit union led a session on financial literacy, helping students identify their own “financial personality.” And no summer camp week would be complete without crafts, games, swimming, kayaking and canoeing, singing, a bonfire, and s’mores. The week wrapped up with campus visits to Northwood Tech and UW-Eau Claire.
CBMS and Upward Bound West: Back to UW-River Falls
The following week, CBMS and UB West students returned to UW-River Falls for another round of “Exploring New Horizons.” Despite the heat, the pace didn’t let up. Students tackled a UWRF-themed scavenger hunt, learned about TRIO Student Support Services, sampled ice cream from Freddy’s Dairy Bar, and turned into movie detectives by dreaming up their own film plots.
The week also included Bingo, a look at how numbers tell stories, a round of “Alien Math,” and a dive into new cultures — complete with homemade tamales. Students connected with scientists and engineers during a 3M Tech Talk, sharpened their coding skills, and learned about career opportunities with Infinity Retail Services during a tour of their manufacturing facility.
What Is Upward Bound?
Upward Bound is a federally funded college-readiness program designed to help high school students — particularly first-generation college students and those from low-income families — prepare for and succeed in higher education. Through academic support, campus visits, career exploration, hands-on learning experiences, and mentorship, Upward Bound gives students the tools and confidence they need to pursue a college degree. The College Bound Math Science program builds on this same foundation with a focus on math and science pathways.
As these summer sessions show, the program is about far more than test prep. It’s about giving students real exposure to college campuses, careers, and communities, while building the kind of resilience and confidence that will carry them into successful futures.
Get Involved
Want to learn more about Upward Bound, see if a student in your life qualifies, or find out how you can support the program? Visit www.fsc-corp.org/UpwardBound to learn more and get involved.
