Education specialist Kristina McClure, right works with high school students in the Upward Bound Math Science program. Photo by Angela Foster.
For the last 25 years, the Upward Bound Math Science (UBMS) program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has served high school students intending to improve their performance in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) classes and motivate them to pursue postsecondary education.
UBMS is one of five TRIO programs located at UTC, and the program’s collective mission is to serve and assist low-income and first-generation college students and those with disabilities to progress through the academic pipeline.
Twyler Boykin, program director of UBMS, has been a part of UBMS for 24 years. Before that, she worked with a different TRIO program, Student Support Services.
“The overall goal for us is to help students graduate high school and enroll in four-year programs to succeed in math and science,” Boykin said. “We’re developing STEM majors and STEM interests.
“STEM students are what the world is lacking right now. We know that in the United States, we lack STEM majors. This initiative was produced to help students become more interested in those fields and get them into those fields.”
The program currently serves 52 students from Brainerd High School and The Howard School. Throughout its UTC history, UBMS has served over 414 students who graduated from high school and college.
Boykin explained that the program provides year-round academic support—including tutoring, test preparation courses, career awareness, cultural enrichment, classes about college admissions for students and parents, and financial aid guidance for securing scholarships.
The program also offers a six-week summer residential program for students to participate in research activities to prepare them for the academic year.
Upward Bound Math Science education specialist Kristina McClure and program director Twyler Boykin.
UTC Multicultural Affairs Assistant Director Chris Stokes worked with the UBMS program from 2006-2011.
Initially volunteering with the traditional Upward Bound program during his UTC undergraduate days, Stokes was part of the team that brought the residential program to campus.
“Ms. Boykin wanted to try the residential piece,” Stokes said. “With my experience working with the traditional Upward Bound—and their summer residential program—working as a resident director at UTC, I was very familiar with the campus and all the residence halls. With that new grant cycle, she wrote to start a residential program, and we’ve had one ever since.”
Stokes remembers the bonds he made with the students during his time at UBMS, including taking high school students on college visits to campuses in Texas.
“I wanted to be able to basically be boots on the ground working with kids that had similar backgrounds as myself and finding ways to help them get connected and get to college,” he said.
Stokes appreciated the opportunity to connect with students by working for his alma mater.
“I just fell in love with people all over again in a whole new way,” Stokes said. “I could stay connected and do all those things that I was involved with as an undergraduate, but from a different lens—support students, amplify their voices, and support students and amplify their desires to be this or to go into this area.”
UBMS education specialist Kristina McClure has been with the program for over a decade and echoed Stokes’ sentiment about impacting students.
“In the work that we do, everything is to provide academic support,” McClure said. “You’re working with people. The highlight of the job is being able to see students have their ‘aha’ moment. I can be good at this, or this is an option for my life.”
One of those students who went through the program is Christian Brown, who graduated from UTC in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in legal assistant studies.
Brown is a first-generation college graduate and Chattanooga native.
“We weren’t just being prepared for college,” Brown said. “We were being prepared to understand cultures outside of our own, whether that was racial, religious identities, whatever it was, or just the unknown what was beyond Chattanooga.”
Graduating with a degree in paralegal studies, Brown found herself following in the UBMS footsteps of counseling students. She is now the director of college counseling at Beacon Academy in Evanston, Illinois.
“I essentially do the same work that Twyler does in Upward Bound, just in a high school capacity,” Brown said. “We literally do the same job in different spaces. Upward Bound, for me, it was life-changing.
“I was able to identify this as a passion. I liked the idea of college counseling and helping students navigate a pathway. I had intentional and solid support through Upward Bound and the folks associated with it. Now I get to do that every day, and it feels fulfilling.”
KeyAirra Sutton participated in the Upward Bound Math Science program before enrolling at UTC.
KeyAirra Sutton is a senior biology major at UTC. She attended UBMS and took advantage of the program’s resources, citing exam preparation, cultural enrichment and college tours.
“It was interesting seeing the campus life and what people would do with the freedom that they had,” Sutton said. “The Saturday sessions they had would help us with strategies and tips on properly taking the exams. A lot of it was fun, honestly. There were a lot of incentives that a lot of people used. I liked getting them, and it forced me to continue going.”
Boykin and all the employees at UBMS hope they can lead students toward high school and college graduation, but that isn’t their only goal.
“The other part of it—which is what we add on—is to become a productive citizen,” Boykin said. “What does that look like for you? We have alumni who are productive citizens. They’re contributing positively back to society.
“That’s the overall goal for me. That’s my push. Are you being productive, and are you using it to give back and reach back into your community? When that happens, that’s a proud moment.”
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