Contact: Jennifer Dorr, (360) 650-7984, or e-mail jennifer.dorr {at} wwu(.)edu.
BELLINGHAM - Washington Campus Compact (WACC) will receive $100,000 from the College Spark Washington Foundation to support The Retention Project, WACC’s statewide mentoring program.
The Retention Project pairs college students as mentors with middle school and high school students across the state to improve academic success and increase college readiness.
The grant will allow WACC to expand and enhance The Retention Project across the state by improving mentor training, assessing and disseminating program data, and increasing the number of low-income students both serving as mentors and receiving mentors. Since its inception in 2006, 2,772 college students and 5,618 middle school and high school students from across the state have participated in The Retention Project.
“The Retention Project is effective at keeping students engaged in their education,” said Jennifer Dorr, executive director of Washington Campus Compact. “Over 80 percent of youth who have received mentors have demonstrated academic improvement and interest in attending college.”
During the 2007-2008 academic year, WACC-sponsored programs mobilized more than 13,000 students at colleges and universities to volunteer more than 1,258,000 hours of service, contributing in excess of $24,547,000 worth of community development support.
Established in 1992 and hosted at Western Washington University, WACC is committed to providing meaningful experiences for students to become active, engaged leaders in their communities, furthering the civic and public purposes of higher education, and strengthening communities. WACC has 35 college and university members throughout Washington state. It is an affiliate state office of Campus Compact, a national organization comprised of more than 1,200 colleges and universities committed to the civic and public purposes of higher education.
For more information on the Washington Campus Compact, contact Jennifer Dorr at (360) 650-7984.
