More than 400 high school and college students from across Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin will visit Bemidji State University on Feb. 16 for the Minnesota TRiO Association’s 10th annual TRiO Day.

The event, which begins at 10 a.m., will provide information and workshops intended to help both high school and college students alike prepare for and succeed in their educational endeavors. Workshop sessions will focus on career development, academic success, financial planning and personal well-being.

The Minnesota TRiO Association is sponsoring MN TRiO Day for the 10th year. The event is hosted on a different Minnesota campus with a TRiO program each year, and Bemidji State is hosting this year’s northern tier event. The southern tier TRiO Day will be held Feb. 23 at the University of Minnesota.

Other events on TRiO Day

• Craig Hillier, a youth speaker who founded Winning Edge Seminars in 1990, will talk to participating students about perseverance and resistance when pursuing life-long goals. Hillier also will conduct three workshop sessions focusing on student leadership.

• Breakout sessions include the use of personal strengths in academics and the search for a career field, the college admissions process, tips for student wellness, scholarship application tips and more.

• Representatives from more than 20 colleges in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin will have booths in the Hobson Memorial Union’s Lakeside Lounge and Crying Wolf Room, providing information on specific college programs and admission requirements.

The conference will close with 45 minutes of brief presentations from Minnesota TRiO Scholarship award winners, prizes and recognition of the event’s volunteers. The scholarship recipients were nominated by TRiO programs across the state; the award recognizes students who have succeeded in their higher education pursuits and have been greatly supported by TRiO services.

A complete schedule of TRiO Day activities is available online.

TRiO Day is a national celebration of TRiO programs and their participants. TRiO includes seven outreach and support programs that assist first-generation, economically disadvantaged and/or disabled students to progress from middle school to post-baccalaureate programs. Since 1965, federally funded TRiO programs have helped two million students from disadvantaged backgrounds finish high school, enter postsecondary education and successfully graduate.

Bemidji State University currently sponsors Upward Bound and Student Support Services as part of its TRiO program, and will soon be offering services under TRiO’s Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program. Upward Bound has been offered at BSU since 1966, and Student Support Services began in 1970.

For more information on TRiO Day contact Leah Girard, associate director of TRiO, at (218) 755-3334.

ONLINE
• BSU Upward Bound home
• BSU TRiO Day event page
• Minnesota TRiO Association
• Craig Hillier