DELHI TOWNSHIP — Culled from Cincinnati-area high schools, more than 100 talented African-American students are getting a chance to learn with equally motivated peers this month at the College of Mount St. Joseph.

        “We're all smart, young minorities,” said Sarah Kaiah, a graduate of Winton Woods High School who will attend the University of Virginia this fall. “In high school, some people don't care.”

        She and the others are participants in the Mount's Summer Collegiate Orientation Program and Enrichment, or Project SCOPE. Twenty-nine are in their third summer of the program, which requires students' commitment for three summers.

A taste of college

        They live and study on campus and come away with more than a boost in scholar ship: a network of lasting friendships.

        “Everyone's focused on the same thing. Everyone here has goals,” said Kevin Brown, a graduate of Roger Bacon High School who will attend Kentucky State University. “It's a little taste of college.”

        Most are black, said Monica Adkins, the project director and college coordinator for multicultural development, but a few come from other ethnic or racial groups.

        “We're one big family,” said Jennifer Rodes, a graduate of Winton Woods High School who will attend the University of Findlay.

Program works

        SCOPE provides:

        • College classes and college credit.

        • Workshops on study skills and what colleges and professors demand.

        • SAT and ACT preparation.

        Students pay nothing. Costs are covered by Avon Products Inc. and Links Inc.

        The program appears to be working. Dr. Adkins said about 90 percent of the students who attended SCOPE since the program's inception in 1986 have started college.

        The Mount runs the program but it does not use SCOPE to recruit. This summer's participants have been admitted by historically black colleges as well as other schools.

        This year about 100 Tristate high school sophomores applied to the program and SCOPE accepted 42.

        They spent June 10-15 on campus, learning computer literacy and science from The Mount's faculty.

        Students completing their second summers of the program are spending June 17-29 on campus taking the first half of “The Spoken Word” and “Introduction to Psychology,” both college-level courses.

        Students in their third summers are required to complete those two courses June 17-29, for which they receive six college credits.

        Jim Bodle, assistant professor of psychology, cited one difference between his college students and the SCOPE participants: “We get into much more heated debates than in a typical class.”

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