Lois Vosika-Weir, alumna of the CEHD TRiO Upward Bound program, has been recognized with a 2013 national TRiO Achiever Award. Vosika-Weir participated in Upward Bound from 1974 to 1977.
Vosika-Weir, nominated by long-time directors of the University’s TRiO programs Bruce and Sharyn Schelske, started in Upward Bound as a 9th-grader. In her award nomination statement, Vosika-Weir said Upward Bound was the catalyst for ending the cycle of poverty in her life. When she became pregnant in high school, she said the staff continued to have faith in her.
“The staff was different than other people that I had met before,” said Vosika-Weir. “They didn’t believe that because I was poor and now pregnant that I couldn’t achieve.”
Vosika-Weir began her studies in the University’s General College and earned a degree in psychology, youth studies, and chemical dependency. She completed a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Saint Mary’s University and was licensed as a psychologist. She pursued her interest in working in schools and earned a special education teacher’s license from the University of St. Thomas and a school administrator’s license from Hamline University. Vosika-Weir is currently an assistant principal at the American Indian Magnet School in St. Paul.
“Upward Bound gave me a vision for the students that I work with today,” she said. “When I was the administrator for a school for pregnant and parenting teen moms, I worked with young ladies who faced similar obstacles to education as I once did.”
The TRiO Achiever Award is given to five TRiO alumni annually. There are 2,500 TRiO programs nationally with more than 800,000 participants each year.