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. 2020 Oct;3(3):10.15695/jstem/v3i3.04.
doi: 10.15695/jstem/v3i3.04. Epub 2020 Oct 21.

The Health Sciences and Technology Academy (HSTA): Providing 26 Years of Academic and Social Support to Appalachian Youth in West Virginia

Ann Chester  1 , Sherron McKendall  1 , Alan McKendall  2 , Michael Mann  3 , Alfgeir Kristjansson  4 , Robert Branch  5 , Bethany Hornbeck  1 , Catherine Morton  1 , Summer Kuhn  1 , Feon Smith Branch  6 , Charlene Barnes-Rowland  7
Affiliations

The Health Sciences and Technology Academy (HSTA): Providing 26 Years of Academic and Social Support to Appalachian Youth in West Virginia

Ann Chester et al. J STEM Outreach. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

The Health Sciences and Technology Academy's, (HSTA) goals are to increase college attendance of African American, financially disadvantaged, first generation college and rural Appalachian youth and increase health-care providers and STEM professionals in underserved communities. Students enter in the 9th grade and remain in HSTA four years. They engage in a rigorous academic program within the nurturing environment of small after-school clubs punctuated by yearly summer camps on multiple college campuses. A distinctive piece of HSTA is its students' development of research projects under the mentorship of teachers and researchers that examine and address health issues faced by their communities. The projects help HSTA students to understand the health dynamics in their local community, transforming them into community advocates who address health and social issues at home as they prepare to move on to college and beyond. Substantial in-state tuition waivers inspire 99% of the 3,021 HSTA graduates to attend college versus 56% of WV high school graduates. Approximately 85% of matriculating HSTA students graduate with a four-year degree or higher versus less than 50% of all college entrants. To date, 57% of HSTA students go into health and other STEM majors, much higher than the state and national figures.

Keywords: After-School Club; Community-Owned; Community-Run; Financially Disadvantaged; First Generation; Friends; Fun; Funds; Health Literacy; High School; Minority; Out-of-School-Time Programs; Recreation; Relationships; Relevance; Repetition; Research; Reward; Rigor; STEM Degree; STEM Major; STEM Workforce; Science Mentoring; Summer Camp; Teacher Professional Development; Teacher-Led; Underrepresented.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Demographics of HSTA.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Comparison of Educational Attainment of HSTA alumni compared with the general population of WV, US, and Upward Bound.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Degree of distribution of HSTA graduates earning a Bachelor’s degree or higher, 1994–2019.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Expansion of HSTA over 26 years.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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