University of Virginia Library

Project Opportunity

The following is a statement by the University's student seminar
committee of Project Opportunity, a program designed to aid students in
rural areas prepare for college.

Project Opportunity began several years ago as an effort
to encourage Southern high school students from rural districts
to seek an advanced education. Created by the Southern Association
of Colleges and Schools and the College Entrance
Examination Board and financed by the Ford and Danforth
Foundations, this project includes eleven school systems and
sixteen colleges throughout the South. The idea of such a project
was presented in 1963 and both Mary Baldwin College and the
University of Virginia expressed an interest. Nelson County's
school system was selected because of its proximity to both
institutions and because of its similarity to the majority of rural
Virginia school systems.

The main function of the colleges involved is as follows:
First, give both time and the talents of their faculties and students
to the project; second, invite project students to attend
cultural activities on the college campus; and third, provide
scholarships to those qualified project students who apply to
the college. Nelson County's responsibilities are to interest their
own teachers and student body in participating in the project and
to arrange a schedule which allows time for project activities.
To coordinate all these activities, a policy committee was created
whose main function is to handle administrative problems. Dr.
Richard L. Beard, head of the University of Virginia's Counselor
Education Department, is chairman of the committee which includes
Dean Raymond C. Bice Jr., Mr. Harville, Superintendent
of the Nelson County School District, Mr. Ingersoll, the project's
counselor in Nelson County, and the principals of the two high
schools in Nelson County.

The most important part of the program is handled not by
the policy committee, however, but by the college students from
Mary Baldwin and the University. These students are the people
who must encourage Project Opportunity's high school students
not only to complete their secondary school education but also
to interest them in going to college. In order to accomplish this,
the college students arrange cultural activities, seminar programs,
and tutoring sessions to augment the normal high school
courses taken by Project Opportunity students.

At the University, the most important aspect of the project
is the seminar program, consisting of various classes taught by
either students or faculty. The aim of this program is to present
the project students with new ideas and concepts, to promote
discussion, and to stimulate curiosity. These seminars, moreover,
provide a major educational experience for both the high
school and college students involved. Although a number of
University students run these seminars, they do not have the
teaching experience or skills necessary for a fully successful
program. It is the aim of these University students to interest
faculty members from various departments to participate in the
seminars.

An example of an exceptionally successful program was held
in the biology department on Saturday, Feb. 10. Organized by
a number of University students, faculty members and graduate
students set up displays and then gave lectures to the project
students on various aspects of experimental biology. The response
was tremendous, for the project students were interested in both
the seminar and the improvement of their own biology department.
At the moment, the University students involved are setting
up a tutorial program and are organizing a foreign language
seminar.