The 2025 Upward Bound Summer Academy has officially kicked off and is in full swing. Described as a “mock college experience” by Academic Coordinator Jessica Dale and Director Aaron Gersonde, the summer academy is a 6-week residential program that gives 10th and 11th grade Upward Bound students a taste of what life in college is really like.
“Kids live in the dorms, take classes, and have college student mentors who live in-residence with them,” Aaron said. “They eat all their meals in the dining hall and spend their afternoons doing various things, often science and art exploration activities.”
During the day, students attend classes on Appalachian State University’s campus, typically spending their mornings engaged in a STEM class, while the afternoons are reserved for cultural activities. In the evenings, students participate in a number of activities, from movie nights with their fellow attendees or spending time at the University Recreation Center.
Students will also spend some of their time during the summer program visiting other universities and colleges in the area to get a sense of what type of school they might like to attend after graduating high school.
“We like to say that by the time they graduate with Upward Bound, they'll have seen around 15 college campuses, in a variety of shapes and sizes,” Jessica said.
Upward Bound also provides programming for rising 12th graders and rising college freshmen.
The 12th graders spend a week on campus with Jessica participating in a “Common App Boot Camp,” where they complete college applications, essays, and develop interview skills.
“We spent a week really diving into the Common App, their college essay, and their resume,” Jessica said. “A lot of them started out the week not having any of that completed, especially their essay. By the end of the week, all of them had a full first draft of their essay as well as their Common App completed and a resume. So we saw a lot of success just during that week.”
The rising seniors are rewarded for their hard work after this “bootcamp” week. They spend a week visiting 6 different college campuses in North Carolina, including the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
“We went to the beach, which I'd say probably half of our students had never seen the ocean before,” Jessica said. “So that was sweet to experience them just being so excited to be at the beach for a couple hours.”
For rising college freshmen participating in the Upward Bound Summer Bridge Program, a major celebration is in order. Students who have participated in Upward Bound from the beginning of their high school career take a week-long visit to Washington, D.C. the week after the 4th of July to celebrate their achievements and their time with Upward Bound.
“Aaron and I usually take a group of anywhere between 25 and 30 Upward Bound students who have just graduated. The requirement for that trip is that they must have completed their FAFSA paperwork and gotten that processed as well as be enrolled in some sort of college or university in the fall,” Jessica said. “It's really just meant to be a celebration of their end of time with Upward Bound and to celebrate the success of graduating and achieving their goal. We do a lot of sightseeing and touristy things in DC. It's just like a fun week to kind of be together.”
Above all else, Upward Bound aims to support these students in their academic, professional, and personal development through these programs. Many of these students have now spent multiple years with program staff members, and getting to have space to enjoy quality time with the leaders they’ve become so close to is almost just as meaningful as the hard work they’re doing on campus.
“We meet them their freshman year of high school, and we're with them until they graduate. And so much change and growth happens within that time period,” said Jessica. “For me, it's been really cool to see these students who are really shy and nervous and scared and not very outspoken, and then seeing Upward Bound help them come into their own experience of high school and just be a safe space for them to figure out who they are.”
Upward Bound is a federally funded early intervention program that aims to help teach high school students the skills they need to be academically, professionally, and personally fulfilled and successful. Upward Bound has been at Appalachian State University since 1972, making it one of the oldest college access programs in the United States. You can read more about Appalachian Upward Bound here.
Upward Bound Students Participate in Summer Academy
Upward Bound Students Participate in Summer Academy