October 2009: Recruitment for 2009-2010 began at Upward Bound at USM's target schools. Please visit our Apply to UB tab for more information..
July 31, 2009: Summer Program ended. The summer program was a successful one and we are looking forward to the academic year.
July 23, 2009: Portland Press Herald - Offering students 'a little slice of college'.
July 21, 2009: USM Public Affairs - USM President Botman to Visit with Upward Bound Students.
June 21, 2009: Summer Program began and students moved in. We are looking forward to a great summer program.
February 26, 2009: Summer 2009 Job Descriptions are now available. Please visit Upward Bound at USM's summer program page for more information.
January 21, 2009: Portland Press Herald - Bonny Eagle student journalists tour D.C.
*Shannon Jacobson, an Upward Bound at USM student, senior at Bonney Eagle High School, and editor of the Bonney Eagle Times (student newspaper), has recently been in the news as she was a member of the group of Bonney Eagle students who traveled to Washington, DC to cover the Presidential Inauguration.
January 14, 2009: Portland Press Herald - Tuning up for role in history
*A few of our students will be participating in this event.
December 31, 2008: U.S. News - The 30 Best Careers for 2009
October 15, 2008: UMaine Announces Maryann Hartman Award Winners
College Board - Resume Writing 101: Get Your Resume in Shape for Jobs and Internships
August 15, 2008: Congratulations Class of 2008!!
One hundred percent (100%) of our students who successfully completed our program enrolled in their first year of college!! We are very proud of you.
August 1, 2008: Summer Program Ends
Upward Bound at USM's summer program was a success. All 71 students who entered the summer program were there till the end. Thank you to our summer staff for your great work.
June 22, 2008: Summer Program Begins
Summer Program begins and students moved in. We had a 100% student attendance on opening day. Students from all target high schools moved in to begin Upward Bound's six-week summer program.
May 15, 2008: Local Upward Bound at USM Scholar Named One of 254 Nationally to Receive $20,000 in Scholarships from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation
May 9, 2008: Workstudy Receive Award for Their Hard Work
Tony Molina awarded his workstudy students Justin Adams, Gina Cardamone Carin Jollotta and Ryan Nichols for their hard work throughout the spring semester. A potluck was held at 99 School Street to celebrate their completion of another great year.
May 1, 2008: Dollars for Scholars' Awards Announced
The winners have been announced.
Congratulations Tony Clark, April Wood, Kat Records, Codi Booher and Ashley Wakefield!
If you want to learn more about Dollars for Scholars please visit their website by clicking here.
March 30, 2008: Summer Jobs are now filled
Thank you for everyone's interest. Upward Bound's summer jobs have now been filled.
February 22, 2008: Summer Jobs are now posted
Upward Bound at USM posted job descriptions for Summer Program 2008. Job descriptions can be viewed by visiting Upward Bound at USM's job opportunities page.
January 15, 2008: Upward Bound’s New Faces (2nd Edition)
Gina Cardamone is Upward Bound’s new work study student. Gina was hired to be Upward Bound’s Alumni Coordinator. She contacts alumni through different sources to find out what they have been up to. Gina is an alumnus of USM’s Upward Bound program and graduated from Bonny Eagle High School. She is currently a sophomore and plans to major in Psychology.
January 15, 2008: Work study's New Job Titles
Tony Molina has worked with work study students for the past year and a half. This year Mr. Molina put together job titles for Upward Bound’s work study students.
Gina Cardamone is Upward Bound’s new Alumni Coordinator. She will be working on contacting alumni of Upward Bound. Carin Jollotta and Franklin Kendrick are Upward Bound’s new Summer Employment Coordinator Assistants. Both will work on the planning and implementing of Upward Bound’s summer program internships. Justin Adams and Ryan Nichols are Upward Bound’s Admin Assistant’s Assistants. Both will work with Mr. Molina on various tasks around the office such as large mailings and database entry.
All of Upward Bound at USM’s work study students have been working very hard in their new job titles. We are very thankful for having each of our work study students.
December 28, 2007: Upward Bound at USM Accept Letters Have Been Sent
Thank you to all who took the time to apply to participate in Upward Bound at USM. There were over 100 applicants this year. The decisions on who to accept was a difficult one. Congratulations to the students who were accepted. New student orientation will be held on Saturday, January 26, 2008.
November 16, 17, 2007: Upward Bound Rally
Upward Bound’s rally is an annual event. Students had a chance to meet Governor Baldacci and ask questions. Speaker of the House, Glen Cummings held a mock debate on a proposal to lower the voting age to 16 and students got to actually vote in the House Chambers. In addition students met with other Upward Bound programs in the state of Maine.
September 30, 2007: Upward Bound's New Faces
Laurie Davis grew up in Augusta, Maine. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and after graduating, was a residential director at both Macalester College in Minnesota and Hartwick College in New York. After working in the Midwest and studying in Philadelphia, she finally made it back to Maine. Here in Maine, she worked as Assistant to the Dean of the Faculty at Bates College, a youth employment counselor and for the City of Portland as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) coordinator for Portland Pulic Schools. From 1995 to 2006, she attended USM part time to attain her Master’s degree in Education. She is now working for Upward bound as the Director. She is very passionate about working with people, especially high school students who are college bound like UB students. She also is the parent of two sons, who currently attend college, one in Montana and the other in Denmark on a junior year abroad program. She is very much looking forward to meeting the parents of UB Students. “This is my dream job,” she said. We all look forward to working with Laurie for many years to come.
Ryan Nichols is one of the three new work study students and is enjoying working for Upward Bound on their newsletter. He is an alumnus of USM’s Upward Bound program and graduated from Sacopee Valley High School. He is currently a freshman at USM and is Undeclared but is planning on declaring a Philosophy or English major next semester.
Carin Jollotta is having fun entering student data on Upward Bound’s new database. She is an alumnus of USM’s Upward Bound program and graduated from Sanford High School. She is a freshman at USM and is majoring in Social Work.
Justin Adams is having fun stapling applications for Upward Bound. He is an alumnus of USM’s Upward Bound program and graduated from Bonny Eagle High School. He is a freshman at USM and soon will be majoring in Music Education.
September 15, 2007: Fall Semester Begins/Recruitment
Greetings Upward Bounders! The school year has been off to a busy start and we’ve enjoyed meeting with all of you at your schools. Recently, Upward Bound has traveled to various open house visits at colleges University of Maine at Farmington, University of Maine at Orono, and Thomas College. Students visiting these colleges have often found a good match and have intentions of applying for admission.
We want to extend a big thanks to the students that helped recruit wonderful 9th and 10th graders for Upward Bound. All of you have done a fabulous job of spreading the word.
Please try to take advantage of the different activities offered by Upward Bound such as college visits, college fairs, UB rally, reunions, etc. Not only are these opportunities to learn more, but it’s also a chance to see others from UB. Please make note of the upcoming important dates that are included in this newsletter. Keep up the good work and stay focused on your goals. Please let us know how we can assist you, as either a current student or alum.
May 28, 2007: New Academic Counselors Selected
Cam Theriault: Sanford/Biddeford Academic Counselor:
Cam grew up speaking french in the potato fields of northern Maine and was an alum of the Upward Bound program at Bowdoin College. He graduated the University of Maine at Farmington with a Bachelor's of General Studies, and after discovering his love for complex carbohydrates, moved out to the cornfields of Illinois to attend Western Illinois University and get a Master's degree in College Student Personnel.
After graduating from with his Master's, Cam moved out to Bellingham, Washington and worked as a Resident Director at Western Washington University. He then returned to UMaine Farmington and worked as the Assistant Director for Residence Life. Cam spent many summers working for the Bowdoin Upward Bound program in a variety of different capacities. Most recently Cam was living in Boston and working for a giant insurance company, but realized he missed Maine, and more importantly, the work he did with Upward Bound and is eager to be working with you all!
Gail Minichiello: Classic Academic Counselor:
Gail grew up in Pembroke, Massachusetts and is a first-generation-to-college alumna of Allegheny College located in Pennsylvania. She worked for two summers as a Resident Director for Upward Bound at USM.
After graduating from Allegheny, she worked as an AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) member for two years and later at Wilkes University in the Offices of Residential Life and Community Service. She has been the Resident Director (RD) of USM's Anderson and Woodward Halls for three years. She is just one credit away from completing a masters degree in Adult Education at USM. She continues to live conveniently right on the lovely Gorham campus of USM. Some of her favorite things include chocolate, reading, Thai food, badmitton, the TV show Lost, baking, and traveling. She's looking forward to a fabulous summer getting to know the wonderful UB students and staff!
May 21, 2007: Alyssa Anderson Selected As New Sanford/Biddeford Project Coordinator
Alyssa Anderson was selected as the new Sanford/Biddeford Project Coordinator:
Alyssa brings years of TRiO experience to our program. She has worked for USM's Upward Bound program in various capacities throughout the past eight years, both as a summer and year round staff. In addition, she is an alumna of UMaine-Farmington's Upward Bound program. She recently completed a graduate assistant position with the Classic project, during which she worked with our students, assisted with trip planning, and supported seniors and their parents with college and financial aid application process.
May 20, 2007: Christopher Turner makes the move from Sanford/Biddeford to Classic
After working for a year and a half for the Upward Bound at USM, the Sanford Biddeford Project, Chris Turner makes the move over to the Classic Project. Mr. Turner has enjoyed the opportunity to get to know the students, parents and faculty members that help make their communities great. Having the opportunity to work with many of the classic students over the six week summer program Chris hopes to continue to build on the enthusiasm and successes from these students. Chris is eager to get to know more about the teachers and faculty of the schools, and the families, who have all given a commitment to achieve.
May 18, 2007: William "Bill" Briggs Retires
William Briggs retired on May 18th after a heartfelt goodbye. "I'm going to miss this guy, because I know he made a difference in each student he worked with", said Tony Molina. "Mr. Briggs always challenged each student and staff member to do their best", said Christopher Turner.
William Briggs has a long history of experience. He was the owner and senior attorney of three attorney general practice firms in Kittery, Maine. He also worked as a ninth grade high school teacher for Sacopee Valley High School. Last but not least he worked as Upward Bound's Sanford/Biddeford Academic Counselor. We will miss you Bill.
May 14, 2007: Upward Bound at USM is RE-FUNDED!!!
We are thrilled to formally announce that Upward Bound at USM has been refunded for another 4 years. Upward Bound's staff submitted the grant proposal in November and has been waiting for an official notice of renewal for several months. "We look forward to working with our students and target schools for another 4 years", said Christopher Turner. Upward Bound at USM thanks everyone who helped in preparing and supporting the grant.
April 28, 2007: Senior Graduation/Bill Briggs named Employee of the Month
Upward Bound had a wonderful Senior Graduation Day. The day was filled with laughs and memories of our class of 2007. Awards and trophies were given to each senior to mark their completion of the Upward Bound at USM program. But it doesn't just end there! As our student venture out to college, we will certainly keep in touch and share all of our student accomplishments. Also during our event, William "Bill" Briggs was given Upward Bound at USM's "Employee of the Month" award for his services to our program. The night closed with our fabulous graduation slideshow. Franklin Kendrick and Tony Molina put the slideshow together showcasing the class of 2007. For seniors who were unable to attend Upward Bound at USM's Senior Graduation Day, we will be sending your certificate and trophy to you soon. Thanks to everyone for making this yet another wonderful event.
April 12, 2007: Senior Graduation Day/Spring Newsletter
Upward Bound at USM will be hosting the annual Senior Graduation Day party on April 26, 2007 in room 301 Bailey Hall on the Gorham campus between 7:30pm - 9:00pm. UB seniors and families are invited. Light refreshments will be served. Also, the Spring Newsletter is now available on UB's website. Click HERE to download a copy. Once again thanks to everyone who has made this year one memorable one.
March 28, 2007: Career Exploration
Upward Bound at USM's annual Career Exploration Day is planned for July 27, 2007 between 8:30am to 11:30am; Location: TBD in the Portland area. If you or someone you know is interested in talking to bright young people about college, careers, and their futures, please call 207-780-5203 for more detail. Thanks to all of our community professionals who have donated their time to attend our event in the past.
February 25, 2007: TRiO Conference
Upward Bound at USM visited the University of New Hampshire for the annual TRiO Days conference. Upward Bound programs united as students had a chance to meet with other Upward Bound students in the region. Students participated in fun activities and college visits. A few students actually discovered their college they plan on attending.
Summer internships are now being planned for our Summer 2007 program. If you know a business that would like to sponsor an Upward Bound student during our summer program please call for additional details at 207-780-5203.
February 18, 2007: New Student Orientation/Testing and Alumni Reunion
The New Student Orientation/Testing and Alumni Reunion was a blast! New students and parents were introduced to the year round staff and questions were answered. Annual testing then followed for our new and current students. Afterwards, we enjoyed our delicious lunch from Subway. After satisfying our stomachs, more testing followed. Our day ended with cookies and snacks during our Alumni Reunion. Upward Bound Alumni answered questions for students about overcoming the challenges of college life. We then moved on to our summer planning. This summer our theme will be PIRATES! Aye Aye Captain! Thank you to all the students, families, and alumni for making this event a special one.
