Motorola grant helping Harper freshmen succeed
A new $30,000 grant from the Motorola Solutions Foundation is bolstering a unique Harper College program aimed at ensuring success in higher education and beyond.
The money will fuel scholarships for students enrolled in the College's Choice Scholars Institute, an intensive four-week summer initiative that helps incoming freshmen brush up on basic skills before starting classes in the fall.
“The Choice Scholars Institute has helped us change the course of students' educational pursuits, and this grant will ensure that we can continue to do that,” Assistant Professor Shante Bishop said.
Motorola Solutions first teamed with Harper last summer to offer lunchtime sessions, where company professionals worked with students on a variety of important skills, from critical thinking, innovation and marketing to communications, teamwork and the importance of a positive attitude.
“Our continuing partnership with and support of Harper's Choice Scholars Institute is devoted to providing freshmen with the fundamental skills they need to succeed in today's competitive economy,” said Matt Blakely, director, Motorola Solutions Foundation.
“We are committed to jointly guiding students to be more successful in higher education and to better equipped professionally.”
The program targets incoming students whose placement tests land them in at least one developmental course, but whose scores also place them on the cusp of college-level classes. Students learn basic skills in the context of specific career paths that interest them, like graphic arts technology or health care, and they're often able to improve their test scores quickly and begin college-level course work sooner than they would have otherwise.
Monika Pasek is one of the success stories. She started the program worried she'd never be able to make it in college; with help from the Choice Scholars Institute, she boosted her scores on the English placement test and gained the confidence she needed to get through her first year of college successfully.
“Suddenly, I knew I could do it,” says Pasek, who has returned to the program twice since as a peer mentor. Without the program, “I don't think I'd even be here now. And I'm so proud to be here.”
The Motorola Solutions Foundation is the charitable and philanthropic arm of Motorola Solutions, and seeks to benefit the communities in which it operates across the world.