UH Hilo Upward Bound awarded $1.5M to give high school students boost in science and math

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The federal math and science grant supports first-generation students and students who come from low-income families who are interested in STEM fields around Hawai‘i Island as they explore and prepare for college.

Students working on wiring equipment.
Students from the Teaching Through Technology (T3) Alliance, a University of Hawai‘i at Hilo Upward Bound summer program, install an air-quality monitoring station outside the Dragon’s Eye Learning Center on Papaya Farms Road in 2017. (Archive photo courtesy of Adam Low)

The Upward Bound program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo was recently awarded a new five-year Math and Science grant totaling $1,488,005 through the U.S. Department of Education Federal TRIO Programs to support Hawai‘i Island high school students in their preparation for college entrance.

Farrah-Marie Gomes
Farrah-Marie Gomes, file photo.

The Upward Bound Math and Science program is designed to strengthen the math and science skills of participating students and help them recognize and develop their potential to excel in math and science, and to encourage them to pursue postsecondary degrees and careers in those fields.

“This grant adds to the four Upward Bound programs that UH Hilo was awarded two months ago. With a math and science focus, this will allow us to help address equity gaps while still prioritizing key elements of student success, first with completion at the high school level, then with preparation for a smooth transition to college,” says lead author of the grants Farrah-Marie Gomes, who serves as vice chancellor for student affairs at UH Hilo.

Co-authors of the grant proposals are Upward Bound Interim Director Shayna Fuerte, Associate Director Claire Uyetake, Assistant Director Sarah Lips, and staff.

“The math and science grant provides us the opportunity to support first-generation students and students who come from low-income families who are interested in STEM fields around Hawai‘i Island as they explore and prepare for college,” says Gomes.

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