Students sing for success with Upward Bound

Cabell and Wayne county high school students plan to sing their way into college scholarships Saturday March 4 at the Sounds of Success musical benefit sponsored by the Marshall University chapter of Upward Bound.

Members of Huntington, Cabell Midland, Tolsia and Wayne high school show choirs will begin their performance at 7 p.m. in the Huntington High auditorium.

Local singing groups "The Kernels" and "River Magic Chapter of Sweet Adelines" will also perform.

The fund provides scholarships to five high school students.

Chartered in 1972, the Upward Bound program is designed to assist students of lower income families and first generation college students make the transition from high school to the university environment.

To apply for the program, students must be in the 150 percent poverty level or have parents who do not have a college degree.

Tori Wucher, program coordinator, said the program is beneficial to students.

"A majority of the students we help come to Marshall," she said. "We have an 80-90 percent success rate."

Roger D. Justice, Kermit, W.Va., freshman, is one of those success stories. "The program aided in my development from high school to coming to college. They put in your head that you are going to succeed. They gave me motivation and relieved my fears about coming to college."

High school students in the program take six weeks of classes at Marshall during the summers.

The classes are designed to get them ready for their freshman year of college. They can pick from fitness, computers, tennis, music, drama and etiquette classes.

"This prepares them for the next year of school and for college," Wucher said. "Some of the students have never been away from home."

All the proceeds from the Sounds of Success concert will be donated to the Marshall University Upward Bound Scholarship Fund.

"Last year 250 to 300 people attended the concert," Hersman said. "Huntington High's auditorium holds 500 people, so we hope that more people show up now that we have a name for ourselves," she said.

There will be a spaghetti dinner from 5-6:30 p.m. before the concert. Tickets to the dinner are $10 and are available at the door. Tickets for the concert are $5 for adults, $3 for children under 10. These tickets may also be purchased at the door or in advance by calling 696-2270.

Parthenon reporter Charlene Cornell contributed to this story.