Melondy Doddy (left), admissions counselor and community outreach coordinator, reviews a monthly progress report with G-Force mentor and junior education major Nicole Gillihan.

The Texas Wesleyan admissions team is expanding their partnership with FWISD by supporting a GO Center at South Hills High School and the Fort Worth Central Library during June and July.

This is the first time that the program, which helps high-risk high school students see a pathway to college, has been available to students attending FWISD summer school, and the first time it has been offered during the summer at the Central Library. 

"There is a real advantage to connecting with students during the summer months when they don't have as much school work on their plates and they can dedicate more time to exploring the college application and financial aid process," Melondy Doddy, Texas Wesleyan admissions counselor and outreach coordinator, said.

"Plus, this is a wonderful opportunity for us to build our relationship with FWISD and extend our community outreach efforts," Doddy said.

GO Centers help drive admissions goals 

Doddy said that G-Force mentors, the Texas Wesleyan student workers who are trained to help staff the centers, focus on helping students think and plan for life after high school, whether or not that includes Texas Wesleyan. 

"Our G-Force mentors are service-oriented, not recruitment-oriented," Doddy said. 

However, Texas Wesleyan's support of the program does reap rewards. Doddy said that 10 percent of the confirmed, accepted students for Fall 2015 are from area high schools with Texas Wesleyan-supported GO Centers. 

"While we're not pitching Texas Wesleyan, the program gives high school students that may not have a personal connection to Texas Wesleyan an opportunity to meet our students and hear first hand about our programs," Doddy said.

The summer program will last six weeks and five mentors from Texas Wesleyan will be on staff at South Hills and the Central Library. 

During the academic year, Texas Wesleyan provides mentors to six FWISD GO Centers: Castleberry H.S., O.D. Wyatt H.S., North Crowley H.S., Crowley H.S., Polytechnic H.S., and Crowley Career and Technology Center.

GO Centers are available at several FWISD high schools and are supported by other higher education institutions in North Texas, as well as community and business leaders.

"GO Centers are a win-win for everyone, but especially for high school students," Doddy said. "We are looking forward to the summer program and picking back up again at our regular locations in the fall."