Footsteps to College
CAP recruits a cohort of 15 students in their freshman year who collaborate on building their personal capacity in the areas of college readiness, career exploration, personal and academic achievement, and leadership development. CAP’s students enjoy meaningful relationships with their peers, CAP staff, and community members in order to become holistically prepared self advocates and community leaders. CAP provides field trip opportunities to students in order to foster individual and group relationships. Students in this program meet regularly to meet measurable benchmarks, engage in conversation with community members, and to have fun!
There are no grade point average requirements for this program. We seek students who have a certain spark–who have Big Dreams and the will to fulfill them–but who may not be sought or served by other programs.
CAP’s Footsteps to College students thrive because we provide:
- Consistent, professional college-readiness support throughout a student’s high school years
- Clearly articulated and reachable benchmarks that match each student’s unique interests, needs, and desires
- Group cohorts of 15 students who work together for four years, creating a strong peer-to-peer bond
- Student-designed projects that build the ability to work effectively in groups and develop leadership capacity
- Field trips to colleges, museums, sports events, cultural sites, and other places that expand the students’ experiences and world view
- A student-designed community service project
- Leadership retreats that build confidence and help students to set long term goals
- Professional program oversight based on best practices in both leadership and college readiness
CAP enjoys introducing our students to all sorts of environments–both familiar and brand new! Here’s a sampling of where we’ve been:
- Cal State Northridge, USC, Cal State Los Angeles, Occidental, and other colleges
- Dodgers games
- Museums
- Olvera Street and Chinatown
- Bowling
- A weekend-long leadership retreat in the San Bernardino mountains
Footsteps to College Junior Leadership Retreat
What we accomplish:
- Students consider the goals, dreams, and desires that drive them to their future colleges and careers
- Students participate in various interactive challenges that build leadership capacity, communication skills, and group dynamics
- Students plan their next five steps to college–for example, visiting colleges, taking the SAT, improving their grades, and exploring volunteer opportunities
- Students meet their ultimate challenge: a ROPES course including the Tarzan Swing and the Leap of Faith
CAP could not count its successes with Footsteps to College without the steadfast support of the Pasadena Mentoring Partnership.
