Hoop of Learning prepares high school students for college

Ariia Pike

Mesa Community College offers a bridge program called the Hoop of Learning, designed specifically to prepare Native American high school students for transition and success into a college setting.
There are eight bridge programs in the Maricopa County Community College District; one at each school, with the exception of Rio Salado Community College.
The program was established in 1995 at Phoenix College and began at MCC in 2006.
At MCC, the program partners with Mesa Public and Tempe Union school districts.
Currently, there are 40 students enrolled in the Hoop program at MCC, which is a significant increase from the six students that were enrolled during the fall of 2008.
Heavy recruiting by Jackson Sanderson-Harris, the Hoop coordinator for MCC, along with coordinators from other schools, has enabled the program to reach new audiences.
The project’s foundation is in teaching kids how to maintain balance and the Hoop of Learning is not only the program’s namesake, but its entire infrastructure.
It incorporates the mental, spiritual, physical, and emotional elements into its courses and its students.
“We are very one-on-one with our approach. The intention is not to overwhelm the student. We take every factor into account from home life to involvement in sports activities and what type of future plans they have for themselves,” Sanderson-Harris said.
There is the expectation that students have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 and are commited to academic achievement. They must also be dedicated to succeeding in all high school and college courses, since each student in the program attends college courses in addition to their high school workload.
Students can take six credits at a community college each spring and fall, as well as three to six credits during the summer.
The mission is to place heavy emphasis on the value of post-secondary education early on, and by earning college credits in high school, the student can accelerate their degree completion.
A major incentive for participating in Hoop, is that each student enrolled receives a scholarship for the Maricopa County Community College of their choice that covers tuition costs, as well as books and registration fees upon completion.
Most of the students involved begin as sophomores in high school, but more are starting their freshman year.
Sanderson-Harris explained that more than 70 percent of the kids are first generation college students with no familiarity in pursuing life after high school. That is why this program is so important in helping them find their identity and building self-esteem.
The Hoop of Learning program boasts a retention rate of 95 percent and a graduation rate of 95 to 97 percent.
Mariah Curley, a senior at Marcos de Niza High School, has been in the program since she was a freshman. She credits the Hoop of Learning Program as encouraging her to walk both paths.
“The program taught me that higher education is not a threat to my Navajo ways. Rather, education is a vital tool for both worlds that I live in. The Hoop of Learning program has enabled me to stay connected with my cultural settings (and) empowered me as an individual to survive in this modern society,” Curley said.

  • Mesa Legend Staff

    These are archived stories from Mesa Legend editions before Fall 2018. See article for corresponding author.

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