Department of Education grants Tri-County continued funding for Educational Talent Search Program

Tri-County Technical College received $409,920 in federal grant funding for its Educational Talent Search (ETS) program to continue to provide students in grades 6 – 12 with academic support and assistance to understand their educational opportunities and options.

The U.S. Department of Education granted the College a five-year continuation grant for ETS to provide services for up to 854 students in Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties who have the potential for college but not the resources.  ETS program services are free of charge to those who qualify.

ETS is part of the TRiO programs which are designed to provide academic and motivational support to first-generation (neither parent has a bachelor’s degree) and income-eligible students in Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties who might otherwise have found higher education beyond their reach.

The College also has one additional year of funding from the previous grant competition in 2005.

“This grant process is very competitive,” said Dr. Thwanda Davidson, director of the TRiO programs at Tri-County.  “A score of 100 is not a perfect score.  A score of 106 was necessary to be funded.   There were 880 applications and Tri-County was among the 459 funded nationwide, and 70 of the successful applications were new programs,” she said.

“We were holding our breath until we received notification. When I received the call from the Department of Education, I couldn’t tell the staff fast enough,” she said.

ETS has been federally funded at Tri-County since 1981 and Tri-County has the only ETS program in the Upstate.

ETS counselors assist students with one-on-one counseling and with setting up action plans to apply for scholarships and to build a strong college application.  

“Our counselors’ role is to go to the students at their schools and to provide them and their parents with the information and resources necessary to prepare for college.  We start talking to them as early as middle school to establish a foundation for what it’s like to be college ready,” said Dr. Davidson.

“It’s a process that doesn’t start in your senior year of high school.  It starts in middle school to get them thinking about a career and what they want after high school.  And it involves students and their parents,” she added.

“We start early, getting them excited about learning and to give them information about careers that require a college degree,” she said.

ETS activities this year included:

Sponsoring a College Day event for Blue Ridge Elementary students transitioning to middle school – June

College tours — visited four colleges – Furman, Limestone, USC and Winthrop – July 12 and 14

Senior Transition workshop held May 14 at Tri-County for 35 seniors and their parents  

Students participated in a Leadership Conference at Myrtle Beach; 16 students were selected based on grades – January 15 – 17

Summer Academic Enrichment Academy held July 11 – 14 for 40 students who learned about money management, financial literacy, leadership skills and career options

Math/Science Mini-Camp held June 27 – 29 for students in grades 6 – 8

“We have changed the lives of so many students and their families and we want to continue to do so as we have done for the past 35 years. The staff contributions are so valuable. We are here and we are doing big things. Our tag line is ‘TRiO Works.’ We’ve had too many success stories to say it doesn’t,” said Dr. Davidson.

“We are a huge support system for students and their parents to help them to understand what it takes to get into college,” said Cindy Trimmier-Lee, program coordinator for ETS.  “It’s so rewarding to work with students who initially may not believe they can go to college and help them prepare for it and be successful.”