Project Strive celebrating National TRIO Day

Friday is National TRIO Day, in which people recognize the federal student support services programs that provide assistance for first-generation students and students from low-income families. At CSC, 160 students participate in the program each year.

Students of a CSC TRIO program, Project Strive, will celebrate with food, games and door prizes in the Student Center at 6 p.m. Friday. The students who wear their Project Strive T-shirts will be eligible for a chance at a $50 gift card to the college bookstore. The students also plan to distribute bookmarks to CSC faculty, a show of gratitude for support of the program.

CSC receives TRIO grants from the U.S. Department of Education to support Project Strive and Upward Bound programs. Upward Bound serves a similar population of high school students in Chadron, Alliance, Gordon and Rushville.

Aaron Prestwich, the director of CSC’s Student Support Services, said programs such as Project Strive and Upward Bound, ensure success for countless students throughout the region and beyond.

Prestwich said the TRIO programs have served more than 10.5 million students throughout the nation since their inception in 1965. More than 1,200 colleges, universities and community agencies serve 850,000 students in more than 2,800 programs.

CSC was first awarded the Student Support Services grant in the early 1970s.