Nevada R-5 A+ program benefits entire district

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Nevada Daily Mail

For years, Nevada High School students have earned free tuition at Missouri community colleges through the A+ Program.

"I think it's a fantastic program," said Rebecca Keltner, coordinator for the program, which Nevada spent three years getting certified for when the state first initiated it.

The program provides the scholarship money to students meeting certain requirements such as cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher, 50 hours of unpaid tutoring or mentoring, 95 percent attendance record and maintaining a record of good citizenship. They also have to attend an A+ high school such as Nevada for three consecutive years before graduating.

Each year, Keltner said Nevada, one of the first area schools to join the program, graduates as many as 100 to 120 students who meet those requirements.

"It's a program the state put into place to encourage at risk students to stay in school," Keltner said. "To give them a way to earn college tuition."

Now, the program continues to provide the scholarships to those students or any student who participates in the program, following the requirements and doing weekly assignments such as keeping a log on what they did for the program and writing a paragraph about what they learned. At the end of the semester they write a final report.

For the hours of tutoring and mentoring requirement, students volunteer as tutors at elementary schools or as a mentor through the cadet program. They can also work during summer school. This past semester 33 A+ students volunteered as tutors and five as cadet mentors, which includes tutoring but also extra things such as helping the teachers in grading assignments and even teach a lesson.

"I think it's had a huge impact on the school," Keltner said. "Number one, just the mentoring and role modeling impact my students have on the elementary students is just phenomenal."

Keltner said although the students influence those they tutor, they also are impacted by their time spent teaching the younger students. Some even changed their goals as they decide they want to teach. The school also restarted the Future Teachers of America organization, which currently has about 25 students participating, as a result of the program.

"I think it teaches them compassion," Keltner said. "I think it teaches them to appreciate teachers."

The students also learn responsibility and other work ethics such as filling out a log sheet and other work place skills.

After the first of the year, the school will send information packets to the families of freshman students so they can consider enrolling those students in the A+ program. Even students already in their senior year can still enroll if they meet the requirements.

"My goal is to eventually get to the point where every kid in school is A+ eligible," Keltner said.

Although the tuition is only for community colleges, Keltner said some four-year universities are giving scholarships to A+ students. The tuition is available for four years after graduation as well, in case a student changes their mind after entering a university. The scholarship is deferred for those entering the military and will be available when they are ready to go back to school.

"I think it has a real positive impact," Keltner said of the experience and skills the students gain through the program. "It helps our community...They're giving back to our community."

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