Students to Participate in National TRIO Day, Feb. 20

High school and college students from Coos, Curry and western Douglas Counties will participate in a National TRIO Day community service project assisting the South Coast Family Harbor, a relief nursery, on February 21, 2015. Relief nurseries help families stay safe, together, and thriving by providing therapeutic early childhood development services for children, and comprehensive family support. TRIO program students are volunteering to assist the nursery to show their appreciation to the community for its support of TRIO programs. For millions of students from low-income families who strive to be the first in their families to attend and graduate from college, seven federally funded programs called TRIO are making a world of difference. Unlike student financial aid programs which help students overcome financial barriers to higher education, the TRIO programs (Talent Search, Upward Bound, Student Support Services) have been providing valuable supportive services to students from poor and working families to help them successfully enter college and graduate for over 50 years. Southwestern Oregon Community College (SWOCC) has four TRIO programs that service Coos, Curry and western Douglas counties. TRIO Talent Search has served over 600 6th through 12th grade students annually in Coos Bay and North Bend since 1991. TRIO Student Support Services has served 160 SWOCC students each year since 1993. In 2002 SWOCC added another Talent Search Program to serve over 500 students annually in Curry and western Douglas Counties. In 2003, the fourth intensive TRIO program, Upward Bound, was added to serve 50 students in Coos Bay and North Bend High Schools. Students who join SWOCC TRIO programs are twice as likely to enter college and have significantly higher rates of graduation and transfer to four-year schools as their peers.