Community Partner: Higher Achievement
Intern: Ope Olukorede
Site Supervisor:Nicole Phillips
What is Higher Achievement?
Higher Achievement closes the opportunity gap during the pivotal middle school years. By leveraging the power of
communities, Higher Achievement’s proven model provides a rigorous learning environment, caring role models, and a
culture of high expectations, resulting in college‐bound scholars with the character, confidence, and skills to succeed.
There are no words to describe how it feels watching my reading buddies, Jada and
Jaylen, race me to our classroom, grab their books, sit down, and turn quickly to where
we stopped reading last week. I am so glad for the opportunity, in addition to working
in the office, to also spending time with the scholars this summer. Higher Achievement
is more than just an afterschool and summer program; in reality, we are a family. We
stand on 4 specific culture principles: Spirit, Collaboration, Respect and Excellence. If
you wake a scholar up in the middle of the night and ask him/her what the culture
principles are, you can be sure to hear those 4 words without hesitation. This
internship, just like last year’s, completely exceeded my expectations and unfailingly
pushed me out of my comfort zone. I learned so much about the three neighborhoods
we serve, namely Cherry Hill, Lakeland/Westport and East Baltimore and how much a
program such as Higher Achievement that offers great academic classes and awesome
field trips to the M&T Stadium, Downtown Sailing, and even colleges such as University
of Maryland and Johns Hopkins has and continues to make a difference in scholars’
experiences while only in middle school. It’s also interesting to look back at when I just
started at HA as a mentor coming in once a week for an hour to hang out with two
8thgrade girls and help with any homework they had. At the end of the school year, I
knew that there had to be more I could do to continue working with HA; I amso glad I
took the next step and became an intern. I am certain that I will continue to be involved
with HA for as long as I can and I cannot wait to see the amazing outcomes of this
program in Baltimore!
‐ Ope
Tasks:
• Recruitment of scholars for summer academy
and volunteers for after‐school academy
• Planning summer academy (6‐week program)
• Supporting scholars and their families
throughout the program by planning field trips,
family workshops and conducting survey
evaluations
• Developing ideas for new ways to retain
mentors throughout the school year
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