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College success skills taught at Saturday Academy

After a three year absence, Sacramento State’s Saturday Scholars Academy is back and preparing Kit Carson Middle School students and families for their future in higher education.

“The objective of the Saturday Scholars Academy is to spark an interest in and highlight the importance of higher education for middle school students and their parents,” says Doris Tormes, program coordinator for the Saturday Scholars Academy, which is run through the office of Outreach, Admissions and Records.

Being prepared for college has to start early, says Tormes, and the parents have to be committed to the effort as much as the students do. “We tell the families up front that they have to commit to six Saturday sessions in a row in order to be a part of the Saturday Academy,” she says. The first session began on February 24, and the final session occurred on March 31. Class locations varied from week to week at either Kit Carson School or Sacramento State.

Kit Carson was chosen to be a part of the program because of its students’ low occurrence of attending and graduating from a four-year college. The reasons often stem from lack of planning for their college careers, as well as limited parental involvement—two areas the Saturday Scholars Academy addresses, says Tormes.

Each Saturday session is three hours long and focuses on a specific area related to college success. Examples of session subjects include building networking and mentoring opportunities, setting goals for college and beyond, developing and strengthening study skills and how to benefit from middle and high school college preparation programs.

Not coincidentally, the Saturday after the last Saturday Academy session is when the University’s “College—Making it Happen” event occurs. The annual event, in which the University teams up with other local colleges and universities to host a half-day program for middle school students and their families on preparing for college, includes practical workshops on preparing academically and financially for college, and on exploring career options.

Participants in the Saturday Scholars Academy are monitored after they leave the program to gauge their academic success through middle school, high school and college.

“The experience in this program really changes the students,” says Tormes. “When the students arrive for the first session, it’s obvious they were forced to attend. But by the last session, all of the students were excited about their educational future and enthusiastic about the program. We even had three of the parents tell us that they were going back to college after their experience they thought would benefit just their children.”

For more information on the Saturday Scholars Academy, call Doris Tormes at 278-5610.