Tim Davis
UNK KearneyBound! coordinator, 308.865.1593
Forty-seven ninth-grade students from Kearney, Lexington and North Platte have been selected for inclusion in the University of Nebraska at Kearney “Kearney Bound!” program.
“We are excited about the new students chosen for Kearney Bound this year,” said Tim Davis, UNK Kearney Bound! coordinator. “They are all excellent students who are looking forward to the great opportunity this program offers to them. The Kearney Bound program continues to offer strong support to our first generation students.”
Kearney Bound! is a college-prep program for high school students who will be the first in their families to attend college. Along with preparation for college, Kearney Bound! students receive full support for their tuition, books, fees, and room and board when they attend UNK.
“We started the program, because there are a number of very talented and deserving students who face the same big hurdle–they can’t afford to attend college,”said UNK Chancellor Doug Kristensen. “If we had the resources to do so, we would include a lot of other schools in the program. We are very committed to first generation students.”
To be considered for inclusion on the Kearney Bound! program, students must show academic promise, demonstrate motivation to participate and meet the federal government’s criteria for participation in TRIO programs. Further, the students must be Nebraska residents, have a social security number and be a first-generation college prospect, i.e., neither parent has a bachelor’s degree.
As high school students, participants will receive directed advising, tutoring, mentoring and a fee waiver for the first ACT exam at their high school. They will come to the UNK campus for motivational experiences and other educational opportunities. While attending UNK, students will receive tutoring, mentoring, and directed academic and career advising.
To prepare to attend UNK, Kearney Bound! students must complete the core courses identified by UNK for admission to the university: three years of mathematics, including algebra and geometry courses; four years of college-prep English; three years of science; three years of social studies; two years of the same foreign language; and one year of an academic core elective.
Kearney Bound! students must also complete the PLAN (pre-ACT) in their sophomore year, maintain a minimum overall GPA of 2.85 on a 4.0 scale and a minimum 2.5 in the core courses, and enroll in an ACT prep course before their senior year. To maintain membership in the program while at UNK, the students must earn at least a 2.0 GPA each academic year and take a minimum of 12 credit hours each semester.
Ninth grade students selected for Kearney Bound! are listed below, alphabetically by high school:
Kearney Catholic High School – Garrett Dondlinger and Deena Schleiger
Kearney High School – Meg Arnold, Taylor Axtell, Samantha Cromer, Eric Elder, Destiny Garcia, Francisco Garcia, Joseph Helleberg, Zayne Kinkade, Javin Klingelhoefer, Allie-Marie McCann, Brianna Melroy, Jamieson Oertle, Isaac Stansbury, Christian Urugutia and C’Sandra Vest
Lexington High School – Alma Adame-Lopez, Alam Alvarez, Bryan Escobar, Pascual Francisco, Bella Garcia, Leslie Garcia, Sandra Gomez, Andy Gonzalez, Benjamin Jimenez, Erik Jimenez, Josiah Madison, Luciano Ramirez, Eduardo Salas, Odaliz Santoyo and Eduardo Tecla
North Platte High School – Skyler Bokoskie, Shyenne Cooper, Alexis Edwards, Audrey Gay, Kyle Halsted, Courtney Harwager,
Sally Hengen, Chase Hohnholt, Hannah Lee, Erin Lewis, Kellie Matthewson, Shawnee McCook, Ryan Ochoa, Kaylee Thompson and
Kristen Wullschleger
