What's New Educator Initative Grant Program Conference 9/29/2007 Make plans to attend the Educator Initiative Grant Program Conference on September 29, 2007 from 11:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. at the Akron-Summit County Public Library. The keynote speakers for the event will be Dr. Elizabeth Stroble, Provost and Senior Vice-President, The University of Akron, and Alan November. Come and learn how to maximize your “gifts” as an educator with creative cutting edge ideas from national and local experts and learn about ways to fund them! For more information, please contact the GAR Foundation at 330.576.2926 or GAR Foundation Funding awarded to Ohio communities for KnowHow2GO to College Campaign 9/19/2007 Columbus, Ohio - The Ohio College Access Network (OCAN) announced this week that college access programs serving 23 counties across the state have been awarded a combined $150,000 to further implement the KnowHow2GOOhio Campaign. KnowHow2GOOhio is a multimedia and grassroots campaign that helps low-income and first-generation students in grades 8-10 learn the steps to take to go to college. Informative and imaginative tools designed to attract the interest of Ohio’s young people include television, radio, outdoor and interactive public service advertising (PSA) along with KnowHow2GOOhio.org – an interactive website with Ohio-specific information for students in each grade. Launched in March 2007 by Governor Strickland, Senate Education Committee Chair Joy Padgett and House Education Committee Chair Arlene Setzer, KnowHow2GOOhio speaks to students in their own language and helps directly connect students to caring adults who can provide one-on-one guidance about college. While KnowHow2GOOhio has been utilized statewide for the past six months, increased efforts by the following programs will create additional impact and help boost the number of students going to college: Access Ashtabula & Mahoning Valley College Access Program, Cincinnati Youth Collaborative & STRIVE, Holmes & Wayne County College Access Programs, I CAN Regional Center of Excellence, Lima/Allen County College Access Program, Ohio Appalachian Center for Higher Education (OACHE), Southern Ohio Regional Center of Excellence, Springfield Higher Education Partnership, Summit Education Initiative. “These groups will use KnowHow2GO to strengthen and expand local access collaborations so that they can engage students, adults and community members in creative, effective ways. And when I say creative, I mean creative. OACHE will paint roadside messages on barns in southern Ohio, I CAN in Marion will work with the Ohio Council of Churches, Lima will hold a KnowHow2GO Expo to help more families and the list goes on,” said Martha Lamkin, Founding President and CEO of Lumina Foundation for Education, who recently addressed over 300 education professionals at the Ohio College Access and Success Conference. The KnowHow2GO Campaign launched nationally in January by co-sponsors American Council on Education, Ad Council and Lumina Foundation for Education. In Ohio, the Ohio College Access Network, Ohio Board of Regents and Ohio Department of Education have taken the lead on the campaign. The Ohio College Access Network (OCAN) was founded in 1999, by KnowledgeWorks Foundation, in collaboration with the Ohio Board of Regents, the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Business Roundtable. OCAN works to establish college access programs across the state and is the first statewide coordinating body for college access programs in the nation. The goal of the organization is to help more Ohio students pursue postsecondary education through the work of local college access programs, which provide financial aid advising, last dollar grants, career guidance, and other services. Currently, 36 college access programs serve nearly 300 of Ohio’s 612 school districts, and 17 private/parochial schools in 46 counties touching nearly 200,000 students annually. For more information visit: www.ohiocan.org. KnowHow2GOOhio, outlines four steps to college including: Be a pain – find an adult who can help you with the steps to college, Push yourself – find out which classes are required for college and take them, Find the right fit – explore colleges with programs that suit your interests, and Put your hands on some cash – there is money out there to help pay for college you just need to apply for it. Statewide Campaign Partners are: Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), Ohio Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel (OAEOPP) – TRiO, KnowledgeWorks Foundation, Business Alliance for Higher Education (BAHEE), The Ohio State University Economic Access Initiative, Ohio Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (OASFAA), Ohio Association for College Admissions Counseling (OACAC) New Learning 24/7 Activities Added! 9/19/2007 Check out the Learning 24/7 section of the SEI website to see the new activities: Welcome to the Soapbox Derby, The Great Pizza Mix-Up, and Escape to Freedom. Be sure to check back frequently for more activities! Archived Articles << Back