The Alpha Kappa Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (AKA) and other Houston area AKA chapters in partnership with The Dow Chemical Company hosted hundreds of high school girls and boys at an ASCEND℠ Summit where students had the opportunity to receive academic enrichment and life skills training to support their journey to college or vocational employment.

Close to three hundred students from Houston ISD and surrounding school districts registered to pack the hallways of Jack Yates High School eager to soak up information to prepare them for life after high school. Six workshops on entrepreneurship, branding, college readiness, maritime careers, STEM activity/heat transfer and finance and banking were presented to students by representatives from various entities. Sessions were very interactive and students were highly engaged. A culminating activity about college life with undergraduate students from Texas Southern University, University of Houston, and the University of Houston Downtown wrapped everything up.

Eleventh grade, Westside High School student Christina Watson said she found the summit pretty enjoyable. “I like this opportunity for me to learn about college,” she commented. The information she found most helpful was that given to help her stand out more as a college applicant. “I learned to do those extra steps when thinking about me when applying for college.”

Leah Clemons, a tenth grader at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, had similar sentiments about the summit. “My favorite workshop was the College Readiness workshop. I learned more information about how to talk to college representatives and who to talk to like the head of the college’s minority office,” said Clemons, who admits that she didn’t initially want to attend the summit but was glad she did.

ASCEND℠ focuses on Achievement, Self-Awareness, Communication, Engagement, Networking and Developmental Skills. It is the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.’s signature youth enrichment program with efforts designed to motivate, engage and assist high school students in reaching their maximum potential. ASCEND is part of the “Launching New Dimensions of Service” program thrust under the sorority’s international president Dorothy Buckhanan Wilson. The ASCEND Summit was under the direction of Alpha Kappa Omega Chapter Marsha Penn, president; Cherise Story, vice president; and Beverly Marlin, event chairman.