WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) — In the late ’70s and early ’80s, Tony DiMito had high hopes for his future but not a lot of resources. Now, he’s a successful writer of music for TV shows and films.
DiMito, of Nanticoke, was one of dozens of graduates of the Upward Bound program at Wilkes University who attended the program’s 45th anniversary reunion Sunday at the school campus and credited the program for giving them the help they needed to attend college and succeed there and in life.
“It certainly helped out with the financial aid,” DiMito said. “They were really good at getting all the (paperwork) together. Berklee College of Music is where I went to school, in Boston. That was not a cheap school, and I don’t think I would have been able to do all the financial aid stuff.”
While attending the Upward Bound program as a student at the John S. Fine High School in Nanticoke, DiMito took several art and music courses at Wilkes that he said helped prepare him for school in Boston. And there were additional benefits to the program, he said.
“I grew up in Nanticoke. I think I left to go to the mall a couple times, but I rarely got out of that little town. But getting up here (to the university campus), I got to meet students from all different schools. . That gave us a lot of confidence, meeting new people, social skills, all that stuff – it definitely was a great three years for me,” DiMito said.
“After college, I was out in LA and I’ve been writing music for TV shows and film for 23 years. . I’m still writing for TV in Nanticoke in the bedroom that I grew up in. It’s just weird to think that here I am with my little studio and, now in the electronic age, I just email the music back to LA and no one knows that there’s some guy in this house in Nanticoke who’s writing music for all these shows,” he said.
Tom Thomas, executive director of University College – the department that includes the Upward Bound program, said the 45th reunion of program graduates went well and was a good warm-up for the 50th. He said the program has grown at Wilkes but noted that it depends on federal funding.
“But compared to other education programs we’re still here. . This is now the oldest, continuously funded Upward Bound program in the state and one of the oldest in the country. The Wilkes-Barre area was very fortunate to very early get involved with Upward Bound. Whole areas – Scranton and Hazleton, for example – don’t have programs,” Thomas said.
The program helps students choose a college and complete applications; provides tutors; helps with personal, financial and career counseling; provides workplace and college visits; gives special instruction in reading, writing, study skills and mathematics; helps students apply for financial aid; and gives them academic assistance in high school, high school re-entry or college situations.
To be eligible, students must meet the following minimum requirements:
— Show academic promise and enthusiasm toward learning.
— Be in the 10th grade in high school.
— Meet certain educational and economic criteria set by the U.S. Department of Education.
Chris Kudrak, a teacher/counselor for Upward Bound from 2008 through 2010 who is now a biology teacher living in Newton, N.J., said he would still work in the program if he lived closer.
“I really liked working for Upward Bound. . It’s almost like a family; everyone works with each other. They’re good kids and they’re motivated because they’re looking to go to college. They never cease to amaze me,” Kudrak said.
He enjoyed seeing some of his former students at Sunday’s reunion, adding that it was “nice to see how far they’ve come.”
Donna Chajko was so thankful for the advantages the program gave her after graduating from it in 1981, she felt the need to give something back.
A Wyoming Valley West High School graduate, Chajko attended Marywood University and earned a bachelor’s in elementary/early childhood education and a master’s in reading education. After working at the former St. John the Baptist School in Pittston, she spent six years working with Upward Bound before taking a job teaching fourth grade in the Wyoming Valley West School District.
“I went full circle – I graduated from the program and I gave back to the program, which was extremely rewarding. I mean, without Upward Bound, a lot of students would not go on to college, myself as an example. I wanted to go, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it,” Chajko said.
“I’m (a) first generation (college graduate). My parents never went to college. They graduated high school . but it was like, ‘College? You really want to go to college?’ And I was like, yes! Then when Upward Bound came to the school, I thought, ‘This might get me there,’ ” she said.
To start with, the Upward Bound staff encouraged her, helped her family fill out complicated financial aid forms and college applications, Chajko said.
“It’s one of the most amazing programs in existence,” Chajko said, “because everyone needs a little boost.”
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Information from: Times Leader, http://www.timesleader.com
