This year Rodel Scholars Melissa Wilson and Ashton Conwell are creating a database where we will gather information about participating schools in Arizona. Our goal is to create a link where professors as well as any other academic researcher can find up-to-date information and statistics concerning schools in Arizona. We are asking each school to provide 2-3 specific areas in which they would welcome aid from a professor at a university to conduct, facilitate, or collaborate with regarding research and or simply solving educational related problems together. This database will be a win-win for all parties involved. The schools will benefit by having faculty who are experts in the areas the schools identified as having needs for partnerships and the faculty will benefit by becoming involved by crafting community outreach and research projects with various schools in the State of Arizona.

View data collected for this project here.

The purpose of this project is to simplify the process of acquiring institutional information in the pursuit of higher education. The project goal is to create a website that contains information for every college in the state of Arizona. This information includes primarily scholarship information, but also includes information about the institutions in general. The pursuit of higher education is a difficult process, and many do not even attempt to attend because of the difficulty in acquiring information or for financial reasons. This website will be a useful tool to help students and parents find information more quickly and easily. The website will have a search engine in which the student/parent can search a number of descriptors that will show results for scholarships at institutions throughout Arizona. For example, the student may be of Hispanic origin and wish to search for scholarships available to those of this ethnicity. The results of a search such as this will include scholarships for Hispanic students at all Arizona institutions. Parents and students can also search for scholarships based on grade point average, major, gender, and other descriptors.

View data collected for this project here.

"Remix" is an alternative mentorship program for youth on probation, ages 14-17. This program will be implemented in the City of Avondale, due to its increasing probation rate. The goal of our program is for the kids to gain professional and civic leadership skills. However the primary focus is to have the kids be productive while on probation and also give them a mentor from the local community or local colleges. We want to avoid typical community service punishment, such as picking up trash and cleaning offices. After a six month trail with the participating kids, we will keep different statistics such as, graduation rate, recidivism rate, dropout rates and college enrollments, that will be compared to our control group who are no in the "Remix" program. Upon review of our pilot study The Rodel Community Scholars will seek to have this program implemented as an alternative to the current programs available for adjudicated youth in the City of Avondale.

My name is Frank Gracia. I am currently doing a project which is two-fold. First, an analysis of dropout and graduation rates by ethnicity on reporting states utilizing NCES data. Secondly, to create a strategic intervention drop-out proposal plan with effective research proven methods. In addition, I am assisting one of my peers with a meta-analysis regarding the impact of human brain development on child and adolescent development.

The Midwest Flood Relief project was established by Kurt Warner, an Iowan from Cedar Rapids, to assist with the rebuilding of homes that were destroyed due to the flood in the Midwest, in the summer of 2008. Iowa was only one of five states that were hardest hit by the flood. Over 90,000 families and individuals have registered for FEMA assistance. Iowa alone suffered an estimated $10 billion+ in damages. Seeing that there is much needed assistance in the rebuilding process, the goal of this project is to raise enough money to help rebuild as many homes as possible in Iowa. To accomplish this, we have partnered with Habitat for Humanity to sponsor as many homes as possible in the regions hardest hit by this disaster.

We have requested NFL players to donate money to this project, and have received a positive response. We have also conducted an eBay auction that assisted in raising money. The plan is to start the rebuilding of homes this summer.

Teaming up with La Jolla, Maryvale, Franklin Police & Fire High Schools, Litchfield, Dysart, Casa Grande, Coolidge, Round Valley, Glendale, and Phoenix (more to be named as the year progresses) school districts to essentially create a "Hitchhikers' Guide to Education" for parents of students entering high school for the first time. As students transition from middle school to high school, often parents become unaware of the educational environment of students as the educational system becomes more complicated. This guide/handbook will address key issues such as assessment, standards, accountability, special education, ELL, governing boards, charter schools, class scheduling, graduation requirements, credits, university requirements and possibilities, scholarships, teachers and administrators, free and reduced lunch, uniforms, district types, state board, guidance counselors, contact information, and school and/or district demographics.