ACTivate
Because college prep should be fun
The “ACTivate: College Success Bootcamp” is a collaboration with Nebraska Honors, the Office of Admissions and Beyond School Bells to facilitate college preparatory programs for rising sophomore and junior high school students who qualify for free and reduced lunch. Unlike other programs, ACTivate seek to tap the power of competition to challenge youth to work as a high school team to see who can earn the most points for their school through their program participation. This interactive curriculum was created by UNL Honors students with facilitation by Beyond School Bells staff and relevant feedback from John Baylor with OnToCollege.
While the use of the standardized testing for admission to school is declining, the use of standardized testing for special academic programs and scholarships is still very strong. This program exists to encourage low-income students to get energized about their college prep, apply to UNL and the UNL Honors Program, and gain resources for college. This offers a near-peer experience for Honors students to build relationships with Nebraska High School students. The application is below.
ACTivate High School Application (Closed)
What Students Have Said
About the program
"This is the best program to be familiar with the ACT!" -High School Student "This calms my nerves and gave me insight on other information I will be taking advantage on." -High School Student
About what they learned
"My favorite part was that I got to learn way more tips and tricks for testing and for studying." -High School Student "The science flashcards and just getting some inside tips from a college student." -High School Student
About getting connected
"Thank you so much for giving an opportunity like this to kids who were struggling as to what to do with their future, I feel it helped the others in my group, along with me, that information on what we have learned will help with setting up what we want, thanks for having us and I hope this kind of opportunity never goes away for kids." -High School Student
Each day is divided up into sections led by college facilitators. 4 groups of students will rotate the activities they do per day, 2 groups per activity. College students will facilitate the activities and build relationships with their team members.
ACTivate is also available in a semester-long format as well. The semester format uses 10 week mentorship to go over the curriculum and help high school students build relationships with college students.
If you're interested in facilitating ACTivate for your high school sophomores and juniors, please contact Honors at Emailhonors@unl.edu. Please indicate if you're interested in the summer bootcamp or the 10 week semester program.