Nzuzi Mwaka's children are going to college.
Her oldest is only 14, but she has been talking to him about college since he was in elementary school.
"I want them to have something more than just high school," she said of the children and foster children she raises. "I want to make sure they graduate from college with something that will help them."
www.csumentor.com — Possibly the most important Web site for students who want to attend one of the 23 California State University campuses. The site offers information and admission requirements for each CSU campus and information on financial aid.
www.calstate.edu/datastore/guides.shtml — This is a downloadable handbook from the California State University system that serves as a guide for students and parents on all steps necessary to get to a four-year university.
www.fastweb.com — This site requires a log-in process, but offers an extensive database of scholarships.
www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions — The site for the 10 University of California campuses. Information includes admission requirements, scholarship opportunities, important dates and deadlines, and information on all campuses.
www.fafsa.ed.gov — Applying for any type of federal or state financial aid begins at this site.
www.csac.ca.gov — The California Student Aid Commission's Web site offers information about financial-aid options throughout the state, such as the Cal Grant.
www.collegenext.org — The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium's site for students, parents, counselors and teachers. Provides information on college preparedness, financial aid, transfer programs and more.
www.piqe.org — This is the home page for the Parent Institute for Quality Education. The site offers information to parents and students, a list of districts being served by the program, schools that have GEARUP grants and other community resources.
www.appris.org — The Academic Preparation Program Reference and Information System has information about major academic preparation programs throughout the state's public schools, such as GEARUP; the California Student Opportunity and Access Program; the Advancement Via Individual Determination program and others. Gives lists of participating schools.
The Hanshaw Middle School seventh-grader knows a degree will open doors that her mom and dad — a homemaker and construction worker — never had a chance to walk through.
"My dad works hard to give us everything we want," said the Modesto teen, who hopes to become a lawyer or businesswoman. "But I want to give my children more than my dad gave to me, so I want to go to college."
In an effort to help other teens set and reach the same goal, college-prep programs geared toward junior high students are popping up in schools around the region.
Norma participates in two such programs at her school.
One is Advancement Via Individual Determination, a program for students from minority backgrounds, lowincome families or those who would be the first in their families to attend college.
Through the elective course, students learn how to take notes and study effectively, stay organized, use calendars to keep on top of assignments and work on projects in groups.
"It sets them up for success in high school, and success in high school sets them up for success in college," said Cindi Karras, an AVID teacher and the program's coordinator at Hanshaw.
AVID students also identify career interests and research universities.
In Stanislaus County, 18 junior high and high schools have AVID programs, said Deanne Lowe, the county's AVID consultant. Next year, there will be at least 24.
About 85 percent of AVID graduates statewide complete four-year college entrance requirements, Lowe said.
After school, Norma attends the TRIO Program, where Modesto Junior College students provide two hours of tutoring.
TRIO is similar to AVID in that it's designed to motivate and support students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Santiago Uviña, now a representative for TRIO, participated in the program as a Hanshaw student. He said a TRIO field trip to a college campus cemented his decision topursuehighereducation.
"That's how I got exposed touniversity-level education," said Uviña, 23, a first-generation college student and recent graduate of California State University, Stanislaus.
A recurring theme in college-prep programs is algebra.
"Math is the gatekeeper," Karras said, adding that AVID encourages students to take pre-algebra by eighth grade.
To be eligible for a four-year university, students need at least two years of algebra and one year of geometry.
To reach junior high students who don't have access to such programs, the Stanislaus County Office of Education offers a College Awareness Night at two middle schools each year.
Event organizer Kandy Woerz said the goal is to reach communities where students are less prepared for college.
This year, families gathered at Cardozo Middle School in Riverbank and Yolo Middle School inNewman to learn about the college process, from admissions requirements to financial aid options.
In the past, she said, information nights were held Hanshaw Middle School and Mark Twain Junior High, both in Modesto.
"We try to … provide resources and information to those who need it most," she said.
Bee staff writer Kristina Seward can be reached at 578-2235 or kseward@modbee.com.
Maurissa Bash took college-prep courses during her freshman year at Johansen High School in Modesto, but was forced to drop them when her grades slipped.
MaryJane Larry enrolled in general education classes as a Modesto High School freshman, but teachers pushed her toward college-prep classes when she breezed through basic algebra and English.
Today, both are seniors about to graduate. They made different choices and took different routes, but both will go to college this fall.
Steps toward college, counselors say, should be taken as early as eighth grade.
In the Modesto City Schools district, students must achieve high scores on standardized tests in junior high to take college-prep classes.
At Turlock High School, freshmen are eligible for advanced math and English based on recommendations from eighth-grade teachers.
"We actually meet with the eighth-graders and their parents individually and look at the other classes they would like to take," said Sandra Blair, a Turlock High counselor. "If they're in college-prep or advanced English, they will probably pick other college-prep courses."
Randy Huth, an English teacher at Turlock High, said students in his general English classes are not ready for the rigors of college-prep curriculum, which includes more independent reading and homework assignments.
College-prep classes, he said, are "designed for students who read at grade level and involve regular and considerable homework."
Toqualifyforfour-year colleges, students must take certain subjects.
For the California State University and University of California systems, required courses include at least three years of math, two years of science and two years of a foreign language.
At most schools, students who aren't eligible can petition to take college-prep classes.
"We don't say, 'If you're not a four-year-bound student, you can't take these classes,'" Blair said. "We want them to take those classes if they want to."
At Waterford High School, all students are put on a college-prep path.
"Every kid that comes here, by default, is placed in collegepreparatory classes," Principal Don Davis said. "Not every kid goes to college, but we want them to at least leave with choices."
Some unsure of requirements
Not all students know about the required courses.
Not until his junior year did Alberto Aguilar realize he wasn't taking the right classes to attend a four-year college.
Aguilar, 17, took general-education classes during his freshman and sophomore years at Denair High School.
When he transferred to Turlock High School as a junior, a counselor told him it would be too late to complete the necessary college-prep courses.
Aguilar's mother said she feels partly responsible.
"As a parent, I really didn't know anything about (college-prep) classes," Raquel Aguilar said. "I just sent my kids to school."
If students aren't taking the right courses by sophomore year, "it does become too late," said Teresa Pitts, college counselor for Modesto's Beyer High School.
"But it's not exactly that cut and dry — college bound or not," Pitts said, adding that students still can choose to go to community college.
In the Northern San Joaquin Valley and nearby foothills, that's the route most college-bound students choose.
About 35 percent of graduating seniors in the Central Valley attend community college after high school, compared with 10percent who enroll at a California State University campus and 3 percent who go to a University of California campus, according to the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium.
Some attend private or out-of-state universities, but the majority of high school graduates enter the work force.
Some teens, such as Bash, take advantage of programs that allow students to start community college early.
After two years in a comprehensive high school, the Modesto teen said, her grades were slipping and she felt she wasn't accomplishing much academically.
Bash transferred to Commun-ity Middle College, a program run by the Stanislaus County Office of Education that lets students take Modesto Junior College courses that count toward high school diplomas.
A few weeks away from earning her diploma, Bash already has 20 college credits.
The program, she said, helped her get on track and develop a plan: to earn an associate degree from MJC, then transfer to UC Berkeley to study journalism.
When she started high school, Bash said, planning four years ahead was hard to do.
"I was thinking about getting through the semester," she said, "not planning for the future."
Other teens agree.
"When you're a freshman, you don't think about graduation because it seems so far away," said Rita Neay, a senior at Modesto High School. "But then when you get here, it's like, 'What am I going to do?'"
The amount and type of counseling students receive varies from school to school.
Turlock High School students receive one-on-one counseling before freshman year and during sophomore year, Blair said.
"Plus, we have an open-door policy," she said. "Parents can come in at any time and talk about their student's schedule."
At Hughson High School, former students criticized the quality of counseling services.
In March, recent graduates said the senior counselor missed deadlines for submitting college admissions paperwork and discouraged certain students from applying to top-tier universities. Administrators said they are working to improve Hughson's counseling program.
Load up on information
The important thing, counselors agree, is for students to arm themselves with information.
Larry, the Modesto High senior, said information about college admissions and financial aid is tough to avoid.
"They were throwing it in our face all through junior year," said Larry, who will attend Louisiana's Grambling State University this fall. "There's so much information out there."
Larry also participated in AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination), a program for students from minoritybackgrounds,lowincome families or those who could be the first in their families to attend college.
In AVID, students learn to navigate the complex college admissions process.
Community service is another emphasis of the program.
College applications ask students to list their community involvement but AVID also encourages students to be better citizens, said Jorge Ortiz, a Modesto High School senior and AVID student.
Ortiz has volunteered as a tutor for an elementary after-school program and worked in the kitchen at Modesto's Red Shield Center.
Four years ago, Ortiz said, the idea of college was daunting.
"I thought about college, but never thought about how I could get there, or what I would need to do to get there," he said.
In the fall, Ortiz will attend Norwich University, a military school in Vermont.
AVID, he said, provided support and motivation.
"They put it in our heads that anyone can go to college," Ortiz said. "They helped us achieve our dreams by explaining everything in detail. It would have been a lot more difficult to get that information on our own."
Bee staff writer Kristina Seward can be reached at 578-2235 or kseward@modbee.com.
Isn't that early to start thinking about college?
Actually, experts say, if you haven't started before middle school, you're running late.
"What happens in seventh and eighth grade determines your placement in high school," said Encarnacion Ruiz, admissions director for the University of California at Merced.
And what happens in high school determines your college future.
Middle-schoolers are on the cusp.
Like Mwaka and Miriam Washington, both of whom participated in the Parent Institute for Quality Education at Creekside Middle School in Patterson this spring, parents can learn to guide their children on the college path.
"We knew we needed to start early," Washington said. "We just didn't know all the avenues."
Unless they take college-prep courses in high school, students aren't eligible to attend four-year colleges unless they first go to community college.
Junior college is fine, Ruiz said, and a choice the majority of valley students make.
However, educators say, it's best to keep every option open by making sure children are prepared for anything.
That means knowing what's required and making students follow an educational plan that keeps all doors open.
It starts with communication.
Rosenda Mataka works with the Grayson Community Council, a group that aims to better the community. She said she sees a lot of teenagers hanging around, seeming to have no aim in life.
"They don't know why they aren't going to college, they just know they aren't going," she said. "I ask them what I can do to help them get to college, and they look at me like I'm crazy.
"We have a large number of people in the valley who don't even think college is an option for them."
Getting help
For some families, college is a given.
For others, it seems as likely a destination as Mars.
Jorge Aguilar, director of UCMerced's Center for Educational Partnerships — which offers the Parent Empowerment Program — said parents of would-be college students need information.
"If you've had access to more, if you have more tools, you can pick up a brochure, get some general information and make a decision," Ruiz said.
But some parents in the empowerment program cannot read or write.
Without help, they wouldn't have the first idea about how to get their children to college.
The UC Merced empowerment program; the Parent Institute for Quality Education, which offers a program of nine weekly sessions; and other courses give parents the information they need, Aguilar said.
Parents learn how to get involved, advocate for their children, how children qualify for college, how to encourage their children and how the school system functions. Advisers who guide the sessions speak a variety of languages and can help even parents who don't read.
They teach parents about financial aid and that college is accessible to anyone who qualifies for entry, Aguilar said.
And they fight the perception that college is only for the wealthy.
"Parents don't have to have sophistication," Ruiz said. "They just have to learn which questions to ask."
Parents get involved
Norma and Cesar Baca took some college courses in Mexico. Since moving to Modesto in 2000, they've taken the PIQE course twice — once for their son Javier, now 15, and once for their son Cristian, now 13.
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