Program aims to ensure success for Lima's collegians

Dec. 17—LIMA — The Lima community can prepare for college and career with the College Readiness Program, sponsored by the Smith-Jones Foundation, the Bradfield Community Association and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Sigma Omega Chapter.

The program kicked off on Saturday and meetings will be held at 10 a.m. on the first and third Saturdays of each month, teaching students, parents and anyone else in the community how to prepare for college. Londell Smith, of the Smith-Jones Foundation, said the program aims to prepare people for college and help them graduate.

Smith said he hopes to help reduce the number of students who go off to college but drop out and don't return to Lima to avoid embarassment.

"We have the responsibility to make sure that you have the information and the resources that you need so you can have a successful college experience, and to us, a successful college experience means you graduate," Smith said.

Robin Frazier, the acting executive director of the Bradfield Community Association, said the program will help students in deciding what career they are interested in pursuing, where the want to go to college and help people complete the necessary materials to achieve their goals.

Frazier handed attendees a survey to help in the decision of what topics to cover during the meetings.

Frazier said members will go on field trips to colleges, companies and other relevant places to aid in creating an individualized plan for the future.

Smith said a trip is planned for April to several colleges, including Howard University, in Washington, D.C., with stops at the Smithsonian and Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial. The trip will cost $550 per person and is all-inclusive.

To learn more, email rfrazier@bradfield lima.org or call 419-228-7766. Meetings are open to the public at the Bradfield Community Center on South Collett Street.