The Pipeline to Higher Ed: NEED's Academic Enrichment Programs

What Enrichment Programs Are Offered Through NEED?

What happens when possibility meets preparation? At NEED, the answer is transformative educational pathways for students who might otherwise never consider college as an option.

Dr. Marcia Sturdivant's passion for student empowerment shines through as she details the organization's comprehensive approach to college readiness. Their flagship ACE (Access to College and Career Education) program doesn't just help students navigate applications—it builds a complete support system that includes parents, mentors, and career exploration opportunities tailored to each student's interests and abilities.

Particularly compelling are NEED's targeted initiatives addressing critical workforce gaps. The Pathways to African American Nurses and Teachers programs respond to alarming shortages in these professions, recognizing that representation directly impacts both health outcomes and academic achievement. By bringing Black professionals into schools to share their experiences and expertise, these programs have already sent dozens of students into nursing programs, creating a pipeline that will benefit communities for generations.

The organization's culturally responsive approach extends to their popular HBCU Tour, where students visit approximately 18 Historically Black Colleges and Universities across the eastern seaboard. For many participants, it's their first time seeing campuses filled with Black scholars—an experience described as "mesmerizing." Other innovative programs include Hip Hop Robotics for sixth-graders and a PEACE gardening initiative that connects environmental science with African cultural traditions.

Underpinning everything is NEED's scholarship program, providing crucial "last dollar" funding that bridges the gap between other financial aid and total college costs. As Dr. Sturdivant powerfully states, "Our kids are brilliant and can get into any college they desire. Paying for it is a different thing."

Ready to support this vital work? Visit www.Needld.org to learn how you can help unlock the power of education for students, families, and the future of our region.

To learn more about NEED visit:
https://www.NEEDLD.org
NEED
429 Fourth Avenue, 20th FL, Suite 2000
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
412-566-2760

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the NEED Podcast highlighting students,
partners and advocates Presentedby NEED and hosted by Dr Marcia
Sturtevant, president and CEO.
This series highlights theimpact of mentoring,
philanthropy and collaborativepartnerships that empower
students' triumphant entry into,and progression through higher

(00:25):
education.
Whether you're applying forscholarships or supporting the
mission, you'll find insightsthat inform, inspire and empower
.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
College access isn't just about getting in.
It's about being ready.
In this episode, dr MarciaSturdivant walks us through the
enrichment programs that preparestudents academically,
emotionally and socially for thejourney ahead.
Welcome back everyone.
Millie M, co-host and producer,back in the studio with Dr
Marcia Sturdivant, president andCEO of NEED.

(01:03):
How are you, dr Sturdivant?

Speaker 3 (01:05):
I'm good.
How are you?

Speaker 2 (01:06):
I'm doing quite well.
I know today's topic is closeto your heart because the
programs are where preparationmeets possibility.
So tell us what enrichmentprograms are offered through
NEED.

Speaker 3 (01:17):
We have tons of them, to help develop a pipeline of
students who are ready to go tocollege.
We know that there are studentsout there with their families
working towards getting them tocollege, and that's great and we
support them as well.
But the question is, what aboutthe student that no one ever

(01:39):
told them they could go tocollege?
We have to have a pipeline, aprepared pipeline, so that we
can continue the legacy ofhigher education amongst African
Americans.
Our main program is called ACEand that stands for Access to
College and Career Education,and that's what we talked about
a little bit at the last sessionthat we have trained

(02:03):
professionals who are eitherformer teachers themselves or
college graduates who go intothe schools and work one-on-one
with students.
We recruit students to say, hey, what do you ever think about
college?
Or what do you want to do whenyou grow up?
What do you want to be when youleave high school?

(02:25):
And that engagement processbrings students in hey, yeah, I
do want to go, but I don't knowhow or I can't afford it.
So we take them through thisprocess from the beginning to
the end.
Career exploration this iswhat's required of college.

(02:45):
These are the high schoolcourses that you have to take?
Where do you want to go?
What kind of college do youwant to go to?
Big school, small school?
And with that we team with theparent, because a lot of
programs will work with thestudents and not with the parent
.
Well, the parent has to beinvolved as well.
So we have a lot of contact.
You know I'm Marcia, I workwith Johnny, and today we talked

(03:08):
about him going on to collegehow do you feel about that?
And so on.
So our ACE program Access toCollege and Career is both
mentoring as well as directintervention to help them really
know the whole college process,from searching for college to
developing a major, all the wayto financing.

(03:31):
We have FAFSA nights where wehelp parents and students
prepare for that very complexprocess and also tell them about
ways to finance throughscholarships and so on, and I'll
talk more about our scholarshipprogram, another program that
we have actually, there are twothat we always try to keep

(03:54):
abreast of.
What are the career options outthere?
Which direction are industriesgoing?
What are some of theprofessions that are, you know,
the new profession, so to speak.
And what we found out was andit's a crisis across the country
, not only in Pittsburgh, acrossthe country that there are

(04:14):
fewer African-American nursesand fewer African-American
teachers.
And we know that when peoplelike health, outcomes are better
served when someone like you isproviding the intervention,
providing the care that we allknow that nurses of

(04:37):
African-American descent whotreat patients of
African-American descent thehealth outcomes are improved.
That's not to say that otherpeople don't do what they're
supposed to do and do a good job, but sometimes that cultural
connection is greater.
You know it's enhanced andthose outcomes are greater.
Also, we don't have a lot ofAfrican-American teachers.

(05:01):
The one time, you know,african-americans went into
education and they're not doingthat as much anymore.
We know that when students aretaught by someone who looks like
them, their academicperformance is better.
So we go into the schools and wehave former nurses of
African-American descent and wecall that our Pathway to African

(05:25):
American Nurses program.
We have the same program forteachers Pathways to African
American Nurses.
Some kids have never had ateacher that looks like them.
Okay, and that's a problem.
But long story short, we havehired African American nurses
some that have been retired,some that are currently working

(05:47):
in the field and they go andteach children about the nursing
process.
This is what we do.
This is a specific day in thelife of a nurse.
This is what you can expect.
These are the courses you needto take.
They do field trips, they takethem to these hospitals and do

(06:07):
whatever the nursing stuff isand what their experience is has
an African-American in themedical field.
It's been one of our mostpopular programs that we've had,
where last year we sent I don'twant to get the numbers too
wrong, but 22 African Americanstudents to colleges to study

(06:29):
nursing.
So we hope that will then be apipeline later for the industry
to have more minority nurses.
And the same thing withteachers.
We have former principals,former teachers, to go into the
schools and help these studentsunderstand you know what

(06:49):
teaching is really about and areyou interested in that, are you
motivated for that, and again,that's been very successful as
well.
We also support those studentswith scholarships once they, you
know, register or apply tocollege and get into college for
those particular degrees.

(07:10):
Now we mentor around that wholeprocess, whatever career avenue
you want to take.
But we know now that ourcommunity is suffering from not
having enough African Americansrepresented in the nursing
industry as well as in educationAnother program that we have,

(07:30):
which is probably our mostpopular program, is PCU Tour.
Yes, we take students on a10-day we call it a conversion,
a transformational experienceacross the eastern seaboard and
southern states and we visitabout 18 different HBCUs.

(07:55):
We travel to, you know, small,private HBCUs as well as large
state-run HBCUs to help studentssee that there are others out
there just like you RightUnderstand and appreciate the
beauty of the HBCUs, and everyyear we are so touched when we

(08:18):
see our students walk on thesecampuses and they're just
mesmerized.
They can't believe that thereare universities full of
African-American scholars andit's very popular and very
motivating.
About a third of our kids noware enrolled in HBCUs, although

(08:41):
we support whatever college theywant to go on.
There are industry needs aroundtechnology and to grasp
children earlier, becausecertainly in many of these
fields we have to get kidsearlier.
So we started sixth grade withthis hip hop robotics.

(09:03):
I know you got to get them.
So writing music is always theway we have a scientist who
works with young children tolearn about the robotics
industry and they build theserobots that at the end of their

(09:26):
project, these robots will danceto whatever music they pick out
, and it's really a lot of funto see.
You know these 12 year old kidsyou know dancing to.
I see I'm going to age myselfdancing to.
You know Beyonce.
I'll say Beyonce, right, right,right.

(09:47):
But they learn and they learnthe mechanics of robotics, which
is just amazing how ourstudents are just brilliant.
They're just scholars, theyjust can do these things.

Speaker 2 (10:00):
They just need that outlet and that opportunity.

Speaker 3 (10:03):
Oh, it's just wonderful to see them and we
showcase their projects at ourannual scholarship dinner.
Another area that we don't havea lot of African-American
representation as far as careersand that's agricultural
sciences, and we just happen tohave someone who not happen to

(10:27):
have, but we have a person whowent to an HBCU, graduated with
a degree in environmentalscience and we also want to have
our students give back to theircommunities.
Just don't take from theservices, but give back.
So we have a gardening programcalled PEACE, promoting

(10:48):
education, arts, culture andenvironment, and they grow
vegetables in community spacesand when the vegetables come and
they learn all about you knowwhat's needed for the soil and
the air and so on, because manyof them have never had a

(11:08):
vegetable other than somethingin the cellophane pack.
They don't know that.
You know that comes from theground and it's also very
self-fulfilling for them.
But while we're doing that,we're talking about our
ancestral roots in gardening andfarming.
So kids will be drumming duringthat particular African

(11:34):
American.
African drumming, they learnAfrican-American drumming, they
sing songs, they do artwork, allwhile coupling this with the
environmental science aspect ofit, and it's been very
pleasurable to see.
In fact, I visited one of thegardens last week, and actually

(11:54):
she's in the third grade.
She's very young and she cameup to me and she showed me a
very tiny strawberry.

Speaker 2 (12:05):
She was proud of it.
She was very proud of it.

Speaker 3 (12:08):
She was proud of it.
She was very proud of it.
So we picked it now.
But it can get bigger.
But that is a hands-on scienceengagement.
We really promote some of thescience disciplines that a lot
of our children don't receiverobust science education in the
underserved, under-resourcedschools they serve or they

(12:31):
attend and we want to boost thatand I love how you're catering
to that, because there are somany different children that
learn different ways.

Speaker 2 (12:39):
Everybody is not going to sit at a desk or at a
computer and have a career likethat.
Some people need to be outside,some people need to be mobile,
some people need to work withthe electronics and robots and
things like that.
So you are catering to all ofthose different types of
students and learners.
And it's a beautiful thing,even that connection with
agriculture and our culture andour history, because at

(13:03):
Thanksgiving I'm always the onewho's cleaning the greens and I
just feel connected to mygrandmother when I'm always the
one who's cleaning the greensand I always feel connected to
my grandmother when I'm doing it.

Speaker 3 (13:10):
You know, just the process of washing and cleaning
the greens makes me feel closerto my grandmother, so I
understand that yeah, we have togo back to some of the
traditional and old ways and we,you know, we're always very
culturally specific because wethink that's what makes the
difference with our studentsunderstanding the culture,

(13:31):
understanding the history ofdifferent experiences.
But our flagship program whyNeeds Was Started is our
scholarship program and weprovide scholarships to students
from Western Pennsylvania,primarily Pittsburgh and
Allegheny County, to help themfund their college education.

(13:52):
We know that our kids arebrilliant and that they can get
into any college they desire.
Paying for it is a differentthing and there are many more
challenges now than there havebeen in recent years.
So we put out applications andstudents they don't have to be

(14:14):
active with us but parents andstudents who are in need of
financial support.
We garner support from donorsand what we have we give out to
help with funding your collegeeducation.
And that's called our lastdollar, our last dollar

(14:34):
scholarship program, where youmay be eligible for other types
of financial aid but there'salways a little bit left and for
students of lower economicmeans, that difference, that
what's left on the table, willmake the difference between what
the other.

Speaker 2 (14:50):
They need that last dollar, yeah.

Speaker 3 (14:52):
So here we come with our little scholarships, and
well, some of them were great, Ishould say, and Very meaningful
.
We help kids to go, yeah, tocollege.

Speaker 2 (15:02):
And that's a way that the community can get involved
and help with need.
Thank you so much, DrSturdivant.
It's clear that enrichment atneed means empowerment.
Looking forward to continuingthe conversation next time on
the Need Podcast.

Speaker 3 (15:18):
Have a great day.
See you next time.

Speaker 1 (15:24):
Thank you for listening to the Need Podcast.
To apply for scholarships,access support or learn how you
or your organization can getinvolved, visit wwwneedldorg,
email needpgh at gmailcom orcall 412-566-2760.

(15:45):
Need unlocking the power ofeducation for students, families
and the future of our region.