Rural youth get ‘fired-up’ about their future
Rural Student Success Initiative holds first College and Career Expo
“Your life isn’t what happens to you, but how you play your hand.” These words were used to encourage youth from five rural East Texas schools at the recent 2023 Rural Student Success Initiative College and Career Expo.
The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s Rural Student Success Initiative, RSSI, works to “increase the number of rural students enrolling in and completing a higher education certificate or degree program,” according to their website.
The inaugural event
The first RSSI College and Career Expo was held in Lufkin recently at the Pitser Garrison Convention Center.
More than 500 seventh- and eighth-grade students, teachers and support staff from Apple Springs, Huntington, Jasper, San Augustine and Spurger independent school districts were invited to “get fired up” about their future at the event.
Participants engaged with a keynote speaker and participated in team building, critical thinking and professionalism workshops. They were also given the opportunity to speak with representatives from more than 50 college and career organizations.
Evaluation results showed that students walked away inspired and motivated to seek a college or career credential following their high school graduation. Mirroring the comments made in many of the student evaluations, one participant enjoyed the event so much that she said, “It was fun, and I know now what I want to do with my life.”
About the expo
Keynote speaker Aric Bostik presented the participants with the message that they can shape their own life’s trajectory. Bostik encouraged those in attendance to start dreaming about their future now and create a plan for how they needed to achieve their goals.
Deep East Texas Workforce Solutions also led workshops requiring the youth to unite through a series of “sticky” teambuilding and critical thinking exercises.
“We are just thrilled to see so many of our rural students walk away more confident and knowledgeable about the multiple pathways, whether it be a community college, trade school or four-year college,” said Maria Luna-Torres, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension project director. “This inaugural event was at least a year in the making. It was an intentional and collaborative effort to raise students’ aspirations early on, while they still have time to prepare academically.”
Support for the expo
RSSI’s College and Career Expo was made possible by support from four of Texas’ premier education philanthropies. In addition to multi-year funding from the T.L.L. Temple Foundation to support RSSI’s East Texas school district partners, the Greater Texas Foundation, Meadows Foundation and Trellis Foundation provided major funding that has enabled RSSI to impact rural students in other regions of the state.
“With RSSI, rural students in Texas have the unique opportunity to learn firsthand about the multiple choices of postsecondary institutions that can prepare them for the labor market and enable them to reap the benefits of an improved quality of life and economic well-being,” said Wynn Rosser, Ph.D., president and CEO, T.L.L. Temple Foundation.
Visit https://rssi.tamu.edu for more information about the program.
