Program Overview
Developing Young Scholars
Bearcats Academy (BA) is a multi-year mentoring program in partnership with Cincinnati Public Schools that aligns with the University of Cincinnati's CPS Strong strategic direction of increasing the number of UC graduates from CPS schools. In its current state, BA serves students from three CPS high schools (Aiken, Hughes, and Taft) by pairing students from underrepresented communities with undergraduate mentors. Mentors share skills, behaviors, and attitudes as well as experiences that are important to developing a young scholar. The intent is to expand to reach more CPS students in future years.
Mentoring is a foundational piece of Bearcats Academy. Near-peer mentors have walked through many of the same trials and tribulations in which the mentees have gone through, or will go through in their pursuit of college. Mentors commit to 30+ annual hours to developing a relationship with their mentee that will impact their academic success and life goals. Sharing weekly and quarterly experiences on and off-campus that are rooted in college readiness and preparation gives mentors satisfaction and mentees an advantage in navigating post-secondary opportunities.
Overall, the Bearcats Academy program supports a robust pathway of scholarship from early high school to college-entry by providing motivation, academic planning, scholarly and social experiences and financial awareness to cohorts of motivated students. BA provides readiness and preparatory experiences in partnership with CPS so high school students have opportunities to be on campus, engage with research, and interact with various disciplines. The multi-year structure allows for a community of support to be fostered and expanded through repeated and deeper connections. The ultimate aim is to help shape the next generation of college-bound scholars and increase their comfort in a college environment so they may contribute to their academic field and impact their community in innovative ways before day one of college enrollment.
PURPOSE
Bearcats Academy aims to support CPS students' pathway to college by infusing multiple opportunities to create a supportive community, to practice scholarly work, and to experience new and exciting college programs and career paths.
BELONGING
Bearcats Academy aims to create cohorts of support for high school and undergraduate students by fostering a community of scholars through weekly engagements that focus on academic motivation and skills and scholarly and social experiences.
Hosting quarterly events on UC's campus allows high school students to see themselves as a part of the facbric of the UC community and network before they even enroll. It allows mentors to showcase their campus and the programs that make it their academic home.
RESEARCH
Bearcats Academy wants to develop scholars with repeated research experiences. From learning foundational skills that help form research questions to presenting findings at research conferences, high school students will be mentored by near-peers through research activities so they may contribute to their community and academic discipline as scholars when they enter college.
EXPOSURE
Bearcats Academy offers four years of access to different colleges, programs, and majors through quarterly events that expand the future career and academic outlooks of high school students. UC Mentors are pivotal in sharing what opportunities can be found at the university. With repeated exposure, high school students will be more comfortable with the path they choose at college-entry.