Non-Profit
U.S. Postage
EDUCATIONAL TALENT SEARCH
PAID
2200 169th Street
Hammond, IN 46323-2094
Hammond, IN
Permit No. 1844
Alumni Update about Sankara McCain
Sankara McCain is an Alumnus of Educational
Talent Search and a current freshman at the
private and prestigious Howard University
in Washington D.C. She graduated from
Emerson High School in Gary, Indiana, in
May 2008, with a stellar academic performance record and extracurricular slate. I
asked Sankara to share with her peers a
little about herself as she represents an
inspiration to the youth, like each of our
children do.
FOR MORE INFORMATION...
Phone: 219/989-2460* or Fax: 219/989-2094
Visit our Web site at: www.calumet.purdue.edu/talent
*800-HI-PURDUE ext. 2460
(toll free in northwest Indiana and Chicagoland area)
An equal access, equal opportunity, affirmative action
employer that is committed to a diverse workplace
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College Goal Sunday
Vincennes/ISU College Tour
Summer Programs Workshop CORE 40 Requirements Workshop
Careers for the Future Workshop
Focus: Family Values
UIC Health Professions Conference
Scholarships Workshop
21st Century Scholars Workshop
Reality Store Workshop
UIC/Loyola/Columbia College Tour
Summer College Tour 2009
Project Excel Orientation 2009
Project Excel Summer Program 2009
ACT Test Dates
January 24, March 14, May 2, June 6
February 15, 2009
February 15-16, 2009
March 4, 2009
March 5, 2009
March 18, 2009
April 2, 2009
April 4, 2009
April 8, 2009
May 7, 2009
May 15, 2009
May 22, 2009
June 8-11, 2009
July 1, 2009
July 6-17, 2009
Sankara has a desire to give to her community
and help those in need. Throughout high
school, her extracurricular activities included
dance and theater. Her major at Howard
University is business because, she says,
“Dance is my passion in life, and I want to
take my talent to a higher level. I want to
pursue the Business field to have a foundation to return to after I have completed my
dancing goals.” Sankara has a heart for
entertaining audiences through dances.
She described her proudest moment. “My
proudest moment was when I was accepted
into the Dance Major program for Howard
University, they only accepted 8 people out
of 30 people.” Another fond moment was
when she danced for the Feed the Children
in Chicago event sponsored by Barack
Obama. At that time, she noted that he was
not in the running for president, but she still
had the chance to perform for him. Later,
she had the fortune to perform for Michelle
Obama for the 2008 presidential campaign.
She credits her love for theatre to one
pivotal experience, playing the lead role
in the play Dreamgirls. With the help of
West Side Theater Guild’s Mark Spencer,
Sankara believes that a new interest in
theater began. While she enjoys dance,
she has not neglected her academics
naming English as her favorite subject.
“Writing is another way I can express myself.”
Whether
through dance
or writing,
she makes an
effort to inspire
her peers and
others of her
generation
to interact in
the arts by
performing for community shows. She
does not fear approaching new tasks that
will broaden her horizons and encourages
her peers to do the same. “I am proud of
myself because I decided to go away for
school, and many people my age stayed
close to home for school. I wanted to step
outside the box to experience the outside
world. I feel that going off will help me
develop and mature myself as a person.”
“While in Talent Search, I attended and/
or participated in many intellectual classes
that helped prepare me for the school year.
My fondest memory was performing for
the end of the programs award ceremony.
It was the summer of my going into my
seventh grade year. I performed a dance,
that school year was when I founded dance
as my true passion.”
Inside this Issue
Alumni Update 1
New Officers Elected to the 2
ETS Parent Advisory Board
Student Leadership 2
Conference 2008
Project Excel 2
Summer Enrichment
Summer Programs 2
Tutoring 2
Open House 3
Student Spotlight 3
In the Words of Janelle Williams
Student Spotlight 3
In the Words of Autumn Gonzalez
Important Dates 4
Five years later, this ETS Alumnus has began
to embark on her career as a college student
gaining the academic and art prowess to
achieve her dreams. She humbly honors
everyone who has touched her life to this
point and said, “I owe my success at this
time to no one person, activity, or thing but to
the Lord, my daddy, my mother, my uncle and
aunties, Emerson VPA, the art of Dance, my
cousin Kacie Garland, Mark Spencer of West
Side Theatre Guild, and Howard University.”
All the best to Sankara McCain as she
continues this journey! w
SAT Test Dates
February 7, April 4, June 13
Volume 11, Issue 1, January 2009
1
New Officers Elected
to the ETS Parent
Advisory Board
After countless efforts and coordination,
the Educational Talent Search Parent
Advisory Board (PAB) has elected new
officers for the school year. With the
direction and guidance of Renea Maxfield,
responsible for the origination and
organization of the PAB, the new officers
have completed a slate of meeting dates
for parents and guardians. The officers
are as follows: President, Celia White;
Vice President, Crystal Beeks; Secretary,
Andrea Richardson; Interim Secretary,
Christine Sales; Sergeant at Arms, Melvin
Loggins; and Treasurer, Marge Kowalski.
Their commitment and diligence are
appreciated. The Parent Advisory Board
meetings take place on the third Thursday
at 5:30 p.m. w
Project Excel
Summer Enrichment
Excel 2008 was the bomb!!! Kudos to
those students that sacrificed some of
their summer vacation to attend. Thirty
ETS students from area schools spent two
weeks on PUC campus enhancing their
skills in Math, Health, and Science. The
students completed the summer experience
by traveling to South Bend to tour Notre
Dame University, Taylor University in Fort
Wayne and had an overnight stay at Splash
Universe in Shipshewana, Indiana. To hear
how you can participate in similar ventures,
please plan to attend the upcoming middle
school work shop on October 9th at 5 p.m.
We have some exciting and fun-filled
activities planned for this school year! w
Student Leadership Conference 2008
Open House
Twelve Educational Talent Search
participants attended the 2008
Mid-America Educational Opportunity
Program Personnel (MAEOPP) PreCollege Student Leadership Conference at the Pheasant Run Resort
in Historic St. Charles, Illinois, from
Friday, October 24 through Sunday,
October 26, 2008. The conference
attendees were ninth graders Auche
Roberts, Gavit High School and
Gregory McCloud, Hammond High
School; tenth grade students Ryan Byrd, Thea Bowman Leadership Academy; Trevian
Clark and Dimitra Nelson, Calumet High School; Jonathan Floyd and Mitchell Holman,
Merrillville High School; Tierra Harrington and Darren Simpson, Hammond High School;
Natasha Browder, Je’len Gillis and Chevis Sneed, Central High School.
The annual ETS Open House on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at Purdue University
Calumet in the Student Union and Library was a positive and practical event for the
attendees. In addition to a Parent Advisory Board led panel discussion, several student
sessions were offered including “Online Tutoring, “On Campus Tutoring Guidelines,”
“Core 40,” and “Top Five Ways to Impress a College Admissions Officer.” Dee Jones
presented a session about parental involvement in which she highlighted the
significance of parents and guardians taking an active role and responsibility in
the learning engagements of their children. Dee Jones is a children’s advocate and
the Federal Legislative PTA President.
The theme of the conference “Achievement: Rewarding Changes in Higher Education”
was embraced by many students as they participated in educational sessions about
leadership, educational career development, math and science, and life skills. Students
enjoyed a Trio Idol Show and participated in volunteer activities like introducing keynote
speakers and monitoring sessions. The conference included a banquet and dance that
gave students an opportunity to network with peers from throughout the Midwest. w
Summer Programs
Students, if you would like to attend the NIDDK (National Institute of Diabetes and
Digestive and Kidney Diseases) education program for high school students (STEP-UP),
the application deadline is February 15, 2009. Accepted students will receive a
participation stipend of $2300.00. For additional information, visit the following website:
http://stepup.niddk.nih.gov/hs.htm.
Applications for the Camp Calcium Program at Purdue University West Lafayette for
middle school girls ages (12-14) can be downloaded from the following website:
www.cfs.purdue.edu/fn/campcalcium/public.htm. Call 1-800-830-0275.
The program is six weeks long, and students may be eligible to receive daily stipends for $10.
The online application for the Spring Shadow Program at Indiana University Bloomington
for students in grades nine through twelve is available at the following website:
www.indiana.edu/~cpartner/. The deadline is February 23, 2009. w
Tutoring
As in previous years, Talent Search and Upward Bound continue to collaborate to
provide the tutoring program to participants. Tutors are Purdue University Calumet
students hired because they possess excellent academic skills to assist the TRIO students
in boosting their academic potential. This year to assure that the tutorial component
operates at its optimum best and maintain safety, all students desiring services
completed a Memorandum of Understanding form affirming both parent and student
agreement to adhere to tutorial program rules and guidelines. Tutor Coordinator Renea
Maxfield made the forms available to each student at the initial tutorial session. Parents
interested in getting their children registered for tutoring can access the form on the
Talent Search website. w
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Feedback from the parents demonstrated parents’ appreciation for the valuable
framework that Educational Talent Search provides in helping the youth to achieve
their goals of attaining a college education. w
If you would like to
become a contributing
reporter for the
Talent Search Horizons
newsletter, please
contact the office at
(219) 989-2460.
Student Spotlight In the Words of Janelle Williams
The Indiana Academy for Science
Mathematics and Humanities has been
a life altering experience! The Academy
is a school for the academically gifted
students in Indiana who wish to come.
When you come, you give up your life at
home and live in Muncie on Ball State’s
campus to get a better education than
what you could have possibly attained
at your home school. The Academy also
allows you to take classes not offered at
your home school to possibly give you a
head start on your career or show you
what career you might want. The good
part is that there are breaks from school
that allow you to go home and relax
once a month and there are things to
do on the weekends when you cannot
go home. They have many clubs to join
such as guitar, knitting, food, and even
a club for people who like horses. They
do not have sports for this school in
particular, but you can join a team from
the school affiliated with the Academy.
I cannot help but accredit my current
success in this school to some of the
Trio programs that I have participated.
They helped me with my study habits,
so that I am not behind. All in all, I
would recommend somebody to go
here as long as you want to learn more.
It might be harder than what I expected,
but I have the feeling that it’ll be worth
it in the long run. w
Student Spotlight IIn the Words of Autumn Gonzalez
Hello everyone.
I am Autumn
Olivia Gonzalez
and I am a
sophomore at
Munster High
School in
Munster Indiana. This summer I was
very fortunate to attend a business
camp at the University of Chicago and
New York City with the organization
named, “Youth About Business.”
The business camp at the University
of Chicago took place in June for 1
week. The activities involved included
meeting with corporate executives from
top business companies and law firms
in downtown Chicago. The leaders
divided our groups into teams and
gave us a business project to research.
At the end of the week, each group
presented their project to the executives
of each business or law firm. I enjoyed
each moment of this learning experience,
especially connecting with other young
adults within my age group.
The business camp in New York City
took place in July for 1 week. The
participants who were involved were
able to make lifelong networking connection with other participants from
the Youth About Business camps from
Nashville, Chicago, Houston, and New
York. We not only to met with people
within our age group but we also were
able to develop network relationships
with executives from banks, law firms,
and analysts firms. These executives
offer participants internships for just
being a part of Youth about Business!
Through this experience I have learned
that young Black, Latino, Caucasian,
and Asian children of not only Northwest
Indiana and Chicago but from countries
overseas as well. We were all a part of
this fabulous learning venture. I will
carry that experience with me for the
rest of my life. Next year I plan to attend
advanced business camp so that I may
continue to growth within this learning
experience. As well, this opportunity
will assist me as I move forward in my
goal to become an attorney after the
completion of high school.
“To be prepared is half the victory.”
CERVANTES w
Important Links
www.myskillstutor.com/login.jsp
www.petersons.com
www.collegeboard.com
www.gmsp.org/
www.learnmoreindiana.org/Pages/default.aspx
www.smart.net/~pope/hbcu/hbculist.htm
www.doe.state.in.us/htmls/higher.html
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