{"id":11239,"date":"2012-12-14T12:13:04","date_gmt":"2012-12-14T18:13:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/?p=11239"},"modified":"2018-11-06T12:14:37","modified_gmt":"2018-11-06T18:14:37","slug":"npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2012\/12\/14\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\/","title":{"rendered":"NPT Reports: High School`s `College Zone` Gets Students on Track"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"580\" height=\"327\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4mg9957spWw?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Principal Ron Woodard is the epitome of \u2018in your face\u2019\u2014but in a good way.<br \/>\nHe\u2019s trying to change the culture of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.maplewoodhs.mnps.org\/site121.aspx\">Maplewood High School<\/a> and get college on his students\u2019 minds, everyday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it provides students with a focus,\u201d said Woodard, Executive Principal of Maplewood High School in <a href=\"http:\/\/mnps.org\">Metro Nashville Public Schools<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the end of your four year progression we tell kids that you\u2019re going to meet a crossroads, and they have to start deciding which way they\u2019re going to go\u2026And so we try to get them to think about this decision earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And there&#8217;s a lot for them to think about. Students are regularly given ACT prep, college campus tours, and help with writing important essays. Beginning this year, students are able to go to the College Zone- a one stop shop for access to resources.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a really unique space. Students have the opportunity to go down at any time during the day. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.marthaobryan.org\/\"> Martha O\u2019Bryan Center<\/a> is going to provide staff members there on site to assist students with college access need. And so is the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.oasiscenter.org\/programs\/oasis-college-connection.html\">Oasis College Connection<\/a>, they\u2019re going to provide a staff member there to help students find the right fit, to help students with their FAFSA information\u2026helping students write their entrance essays. The whole 9 yards,\u201d said Woodard.<\/p>\n<p>The school&#8217;s approach seems to be working. Last year, students received 1.4 million dollars in scholarship money\u2014up from $91,000 the previous year. College acceptance also went up significantly.<\/p>\n<p>Senior David Wilson says he has felt the impact from the College Zone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf they had never called me down here I don&#8217;t think I would&#8217;ve really applied to college,\u201d said Wilson.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don&#8217;t have a computer at home so I really was just procrastinating\u2026I used to play a lot and stuff like that. But now I see like the real world it&#8217;s going to come soon. And if you don&#8217;t take grasp of it, it will really tear you down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bobby Rooks, one of Wilson\u2019s college mentors, says he sees students all the time who are surprised at how easy accessing college really is.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTypically what they thought were barriers were just small things that were in the way. Like once they realize, you know they can fill out a FAFSA form for free, and possibly be eligible for thousands of dollars of grant money or federal work study then they realize that this is something obtainable. It&#8217;s not out of reach like I thought it was,\u201d said Rooks.<\/p>\n<p>David Wilson says his relationship with his principal has also made the difference.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI give the credit to Mr. Woodward; in the hallway he see you, talk to you, really just instill, he has a piece of paper show it in front of your face so you don\u2019t get\u2026he says it on the announcements every morning too. EOC [exams], ACT, and high GPA [grade point average]. That&#8217;s how you get money for college and stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re helping inner city urban students, students who come from impoverished conditions, to make their way to the top,\u201d said Principal Ron Woodard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI remember being a student in high school and no principal ever asked me about my future, my college plans, my goals. So I make it a point now to be sure to talk to kids about their goals. That sends a message that the person at the top is not just a talking voice or person on the announcements, but you know what? This guy really cares.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Principal Ron Woodard is the epitome of \u2018in your face\u2019\u2014but in a good way. He\u2019s trying to change the culture of Maplewood High School and get college on&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1923,900],"tags":[1589,3902,3903,3904,2327,3905,3906,3907,1361],"class_list":["post-11239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-graduate-2","category-npt-reports","tag-american-graduate","tag-college","tag-college-access","tag-college-zone","tag-education","tag-fafsa","tag-financial-aid","tag-graduation","tag-high-school"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>NPT Reports: High School`s `College Zone` Gets Students on Track - Nashville PBS Media Update<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2012\/12\/14\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NPT Reports: High School`s `College Zone` Gets Students on Track - Nashville PBS Media Update\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Principal Ron Woodard is the epitome of \u2018in your face\u2019\u2014but in a good way. He\u2019s trying to change the culture of Maplewood High School and get college on&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2012\/12\/14\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nashville PBS Media Update\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-12-14T18:13:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-11-06T18:14:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MiChelle Jones\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MiChelle Jones\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/14\\\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/14\\\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"MiChelle Jones\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/965b6924df6e765379fa176769640c3f\"},\"headline\":\"NPT Reports: High School`s `College Zone` Gets Students on Track\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-12-14T18:13:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-06T18:14:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/14\\\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":623,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"american graduate\",\"college\",\"college access\",\"college zone\",\"Education\",\"fafsa\",\"financial aid\",\"graduation\",\"High School\"],\"articleSection\":[\"American Graduate\",\"NPT Reports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/14\\\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/14\\\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/14\\\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\\\/\",\"name\":\"NPT Reports: High School`s `College Zone` Gets Students on Track - Nashville PBS Media Update\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-12-14T18:13:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-06T18:14:37+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/14\\\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/14\\\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/14\\\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"NPT Reports: High School`s `College Zone` Gets Students on Track\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/\",\"name\":\"Nashville PBS Media Update\",\"description\":\"News and Programming Updates From WNPT Nashville PBS\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"NPT | Nashville Public Television\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/nptblue.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/nptblue.svg\",\"width\":1,\"height\":1,\"caption\":\"NPT | Nashville Public Television\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/965b6924df6e765379fa176769640c3f\",\"name\":\"MiChelle Jones\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5cd11a316152773063e3f6dc837869b1e704e1287147dc887349755c4911e613?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5cd11a316152773063e3f6dc837869b1e704e1287147dc887349755c4911e613?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5cd11a316152773063e3f6dc837869b1e704e1287147dc887349755c4911e613?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MiChelle Jones\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.wnpt.org\\\/mediaupdate\\\/author\\\/michelle-jones\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"NPT Reports: High School`s `College Zone` Gets Students on Track - Nashville PBS Media Update","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2012\/12\/14\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"NPT Reports: High School`s `College Zone` Gets Students on Track - Nashville PBS Media Update","og_description":"Principal Ron Woodard is the epitome of \u2018in your face\u2019\u2014but in a good way. He\u2019s trying to change the culture of Maplewood High School and get college on&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2012\/12\/14\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\/","og_site_name":"Nashville PBS Media Update","article_published_time":"2012-12-14T18:13:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-11-06T18:14:37+00:00","author":"MiChelle Jones","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MiChelle Jones","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2012\/12\/14\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2012\/12\/14\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\/"},"author":{"name":"MiChelle Jones","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/#\/schema\/person\/965b6924df6e765379fa176769640c3f"},"headline":"NPT Reports: High School`s `College Zone` Gets Students on Track","datePublished":"2012-12-14T18:13:04+00:00","dateModified":"2018-11-06T18:14:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2012\/12\/14\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\/"},"wordCount":623,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/#organization"},"keywords":["american graduate","college","college access","college zone","Education","fafsa","financial aid","graduation","High School"],"articleSection":["American Graduate","NPT Reports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2012\/12\/14\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2012\/12\/14\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2012\/12\/14\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\/","name":"NPT Reports: High School`s `College Zone` Gets Students on Track - Nashville PBS Media Update","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-12-14T18:13:04+00:00","dateModified":"2018-11-06T18:14:37+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2012\/12\/14\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2012\/12\/14\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/2012\/12\/14\/npt-reports-high-schools-college-zone-gets-students-on-track\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"NPT Reports: High School`s `College Zone` Gets Students on Track"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/","name":"Nashville PBS Media Update","description":"News and Programming Updates From WNPT Nashville PBS","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/#organization","name":"NPT | Nashville Public Television","url":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/nptblue.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/nptblue.svg","width":1,"height":1,"caption":"NPT | Nashville Public Television"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/#\/schema\/person\/965b6924df6e765379fa176769640c3f","name":"MiChelle Jones","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5cd11a316152773063e3f6dc837869b1e704e1287147dc887349755c4911e613?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5cd11a316152773063e3f6dc837869b1e704e1287147dc887349755c4911e613?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5cd11a316152773063e3f6dc837869b1e704e1287147dc887349755c4911e613?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MiChelle Jones"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/author\/michelle-jones\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11239"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11241,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11239\/revisions\/11241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.wnpt.org\/mediaupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}