Upward Bound students got a pep talk last week after the director of the college aspirations program noticed that a few participants weren’t living up to their potential.

“If you don’t work hard you won’t succeed in life and you won’t succeed at college. It’s that simple,” Linda Ives told the 100 or so young people who gathered for their daily meeting under a yellow and white striped tent at the University of Maine in Orono.

Marking its 40th anniversary this summer at the Orono campus, Upward Bound continues to inspire high school students from low-income families in Penobscot, Piscataquis, Hancock and Waldo counties to succeed in school and go on to higher education.

“We’re a combination parent, best friend, guidance counselor and mother bear who holds their hands and boots them along when they’re not focusing,” Ives said during an interview. “Some need more of the hand-holding, some need more of the boot.”

The program, which targets sophomores through seniors who aspire to be the first in their families to go to college, includes one-on-one academic, financial and personal counseling as well as a six-week summer program in which students live at UM, take rigorous courses, do volunteer work, visit colleges and participate in a variety of social activities.

“Summer is when students really get hooked into Upward Bound,” said Ives.

“They get a strong sense of belonging to a community that values and respects them.” Participants are challenged academically and socially as they learn to adjust to a new environment and figure out how to meet deadlines, she said.

“The days are pretty jam-packed, to say the least,” said Kyle Dempsey of East Millinocket, who will be a senior the coming school year at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone.

His time management skills have definitely improved, said Dempsey recently as he made his way from the dining commons to the tent near Chadbourne Hall for the Upward Bound daily meeting.

“Every hour is accounted for here,” he said. “You wake up each day knowing what needs to be done and how to get it done. Just sitting around watching TV isn’t an option.”

Taking a break during a biology class, other Upward Bound students said they appreciated the academic boost they get during the summer.

“I’ve never taken biology. Now I’ll be way ahead of the game,” said Cheryl Roesing, who is entering her junior year at Penquis Valley High School in Milo.

Jared Monahan, who will be a senior at Penquis Valley, praised the regular visits during the school year by Upward Bound staff. “It’s nice to have someone check on you,” he said of the counselors who monitor students’ academic performance and family life, ensure they are taking the proper courses and help them prepare for the SATs and fill out college applications.

Peering up from their microscopes, some students said they also enjoyed meeting young people from other communities during the summer program at UM.

“It’s a friendly environment,” said Kristin Ballard, 18, who will be a senior at Mattanawcook Academy in Lincoln. “Everyone fits in here no matter where they come from or who they are.”

Nate French is determined to be the first in his family to go to college. “I want to be a success in life,” said the Hartland resident who will be a senior at Nokomis Regional High School. “I’ve seen my mother struggle, working two or three jobs. I don’t want that for myself or my kids.”

Last spring, when French’s chemistry grade slipped, his Upward Bound counselor reminded him that colleges wouldn’t want an “underachiever.” He got extra help from his teacher and ultimately improved his ranking.

“I needed that push,” he said.

But it’s the summer program that becomes a life-changing experience for Upward Bound students – many of whom never have been on a college campus.

Attending classes, living in dormitories and interacting with college students, participants begin to realize that higher education is something they can do too, say supporters of the program.

“It was the first time I had been away from home, and it was important to know that I could be away from home,” said Jessica Brophy, 24, who participated in Upward Bound several years ago as a student at Deer Isle Stonington High School.

“Coming from such a small town to be up here at Orono around all these new people was definitely an eye-opener,” said Brophy who decided to attend Smith College in Massachusetts after being introduced to the school during a visit with Upward Bound. She graduated two years ago and recently earned her master’s degree at UM.

The Upward Bound program includes a summer “bridge” program for about 30 students who just graduated from high school. They complete a research project, explore work opportunities, and take courses that earn them college credit. UM’s Upward Bound receives $554,000 annually from the U.S. Department of Education and spends about $5,000 on each student, Ives said.

“The taxpayer should look at Upward Bound as a $5,000 investment to bring a student out of poverty and to never again have that person be supported by welfare of any type,” she said.

But the focus of Upward Bound could change. The U.S. Department of Education has proposed that the program recruit only ninth-graders and that at least 30 percent of participants be at “high academic risk of failure.” UM’s Upward Bound program now recruits no freshmen and only 10 percent to 20 percent of students with low grades, focusing instead on those who already are showing potential.

Since Upward Bound can accommodate only 7 percent to 10 percent of eligible students in the four counties, Ives said she wants to ensure that “the investment by taxpayers go into students who have a higher likelihood of succeeding.”

Ives isn’t enthusiastic about the proposal and has said so in a letter to the Department of Education, which is taking public comment through Aug. 2. She said in her letter, among other things, that ninth-graders aren’t mature enough to take advantage of Upward Bound and that a number of other college aspirations programs already focus on students who are at high risk of academic failure.

The proposed changes are based in part on a national study conducted several years ago that said there was no evidence that Upward Bound significantly increased the number of students who went to college.

But Ives said that UM’s program is highly successful and that, each fall, 70 percent to 85 percent of high school seniors who participate enroll in college.

John Maddaus, UM associate professor of education, who compiles data for the local Upward Bound, said the national study is flawed because it counted students who never actually participated in Upward Bound.

Area students likely aren’t concerned with such national surveys. All they know is that the UM Upward Bound program has improved their self-confidence and changed their lives.

Snow Fawn Augustine, who just graduated from Central High School in Corinth and plans to attend the University of Maine at Farmington, praised the program for helping her navigate the complicated college application process.

“I wanted to go to college, but I had no clue about how to get there,” she said.

Martha Beiser, who recently retired as guidance counselor at Mattanawcook Academy, said she can tell an Upward Bound student when she meets one. “When it came to their senior year and all the things that needed to be done, they were much less needy,” she said. “They get it. They know what they need to be doing. They’re also prepared socially and don’t have the same level of anxiety. I don’t think their parents do either.”

Betty McCue-Herlihy, an Upward Bound alumna, also feels strongly about the program.

Her parents never went to college, and 35 years ago while growing up in Brooks she figured she wouldn’t either. Spurred by Upward Bound, she enrolled at UM, subsequently earning bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.

Her efforts triggered a chain reaction. When her nine brothers and sisters saw that she was successfully making her way through school, one by one they also decided to continue their education. Today the family includes a lawyer, an accountant, a registered dietitian, an engineer and successful businesspeople.

“Upward Bound started it all,” said McCue-Herlihy, who now lives in Old Town and oversees the counseling program at University College of Bangor.

“You have to have someone believe in you,” she said.

“We’re a combination parent, best friend, guidance counselor and mother bear who holds their hands and boots them along when they’re not focusing. Some need more of the hand-holding, some need more of the boot.”

LINDA IVES, DIRECTOR, UPWARD BOUND