ASPIRA Inc., de Puerto Rico annually assists over 20,000 of children, students, and young adults in schools and communities located in over 40 municipalities throughout Puerto Rico, through the implementation of an array of educational, leadership, and family development programs. This page provides a brief description of our programs. To learn about our programs, click on any of the following program titles.

Talent Search Educational Counseling Program
Upward Bound Program
ASPIRA Parents for Educational Excellence Program (APEX)
Teachers/ Parents Collaborating in Middle Schools
Leadership Development Program
Upward Bound For Veterans
Head Start Program
ASPIRA AIDS Education and Prevention

The ASPIRA Talent Search Educational Counseling Program encourages low-income youth to resume and/or finish their high school education and to aspire towards higher education. Our educational counselors provide students incentives to stay in school, get more value out of their educational experience, choose a career, and enhance their personal growth. The program is directed at high school students, high school graduates who have not continued their education, and high school and college dropouts.

We accomplish the program’s purpose through educational support activities that:

• provide academic, financial, and personal counseling;
• provide career exploration and aptitude assessments to assist students evaluate their career options;
• offer assistance with the re-entry process to high school or college;
• publicize the availability of students financial assistance at the post-secondary level;
• provide detailed information on student financial aid to individual students;
• provide assistance to prepare for college admission tests, and to complete the college admissions and financial aid applications;
• organize college and university trips for participating students to help them become familiar with college settings;
• provide tutorial services to seventh and eighth grade students, help stimulate the leadership potential of students through ASPIRA Leadership Development Club activities; and,
• refer students who have dropped out of school to the ASPIRA GED Tutoring Program.

Upward Bound Program

The ASPIRA Upward Bound Program provides comprehensive services to youth who need to improve their academic preparation and desire to undertake and complete a post-secondary education program. Program services include:

• career and vocational counseling;
• referral to educational institutions;
• counseling for college admissions and financial aid;
• application completion assistance for college admissions and financial aid;
• personal counseling and tutoring for the college entrance examinations; and,
• intensive academic tutoring in English, Spanish, mathematics and the sciences.

The program offers academic development services, leadership development and seminars and workshops in study skills, sex education, the job market, attitudes and values, and decision making. Participants are also encouraged to attend remedial classes, cultural events, and weekend retreats to enhance and cultivate individual and group values. For more information, click here.

The goal of the APEX Program is to develop a greater capacity of parents in Puerto Rico to engage in meaningful involvement in education. To help us achieve this goal, ASPIRA has developed the APEX Workshop Series aimed at developing parent skills in: (a) the process of becoming aware of the importance of their rights and responsibilities to become involved in their children’s education; and, (b) the process of facilitation and formation of parent groups to discuss and evaluate their role in impacting the educational system in their communities.

The APEX Workshop Series is comprised of ten – one to two hour parent workshops covering the following themes:

• Self-Esteem
• Why is Education Important?
• The Home Connection
• School Structure
• Parent Involvement
• The Importance of Communication
• Involvement with Schools
• Organizing Parent Networks
• Group Dynamics
• The Effective Facilitator

Workshops are offered to parents who meet the following criteria:

• A parent or family member dealing with school age or Head Start children;
• Agree to attend at least eight of the ten APEX Workshops and the graduation ceremony; and,
• Participate in surveys at the beginning and end of the APEX Workshop Series, and respond to surveys one year after completing the APEX Series.

Parents who have completed the APEX Workshop Series will be given an opportunity to receive additional training and ongoing support so that they might become effective trainers for other parents.

The purpose of the ASPIRA Teachers/Parents Collaborating in Middle Schools Programs (TOPS) is to surround students with a unique support system of parents-teachers-counselors partnership teams. TOPS brings together teams of parents, teachers and counselors into contractual partnerships with students to establish educational goals and to plan and implement the educational support activities to achieve these goals. This program was developed as a new response to extensive research which confirms the benefits of involving mentors and parents in working with middle school youth to stem their school disaffection. TOPS links features of existing ASPIRA programs – counseling, parent and mentor training – into a unique student centered support system for middle school youth. With counseling assistance, the students determine their goals for a given school year, and each adult team member develops action plans to help the students achieve these goals.

The ASPIRA Leadership Development Program responds to one of the basic ASPIRA goals- to develop the leadership potential of our youth. Through student led, school and community based ASPIRA Leadership Development Clubs, ASPIRA provides leadership development, educational counseling and academic services, cultural enrichment activities, and community service projects that enhance out students’ leadership skills and abilities. ASPIRA staff provide club organizational guidance and support to assist students in planning and implementing activities that are conducive to their development.

Through the ASPIRA Leadership Development Clubs, which provide an excellent environment for personal and group development, the ASPIRA Process begins with an infusion of personal awareness and self-knowledge, a literal awakening of the intellectual strengths, interests, values, communication skills, leadership skills, artistic and athletic abilities of each student. Among the ongoing activities of the ASPIRA Leadership Development Clubs are conferences, workshops, promotional activities, and visits to centers for the elderly. Students evolve from theory to practice by learning to take charge of their Clubs and expanding their knowledge in a learn-by-doing process that develops an Aspirante with powerful inner strengths and leadership skills. The next level of ASPIRA’s youth leadership development program is the ASPIRA Clubs Federation. The Federation is composed of the ASPIRA Leadership Development Clubs, and serves as the organizational forum for the leadership of the Clubs. In addition, youth representing students’ interests sit on the ASPIRA board of directors.

ASPIRA operates an Upward Bound Program for educational and economically disadvantaged veterans in Puerto Rico. This program prepares veterans for the high school equivalency test and offers refresher and pre-college courses for those veterans who seek to enter a post-secondary education program. Program services include career and vocational counseling, referral to educational institutions, counseling for college admissions and financial aid, application completion assistance for college admissions and financial aid, personal counseling, tutoring for the college entrance examinations, and intensive academic tutoring in English, Spanish, mathematics and the sciences. The program offers seminars and workshops covering: coping skills, leadership development seminars and workshops in study skills, and the job market.  For more information click here.

The goal of the ASPIRA Head Start Program is to help families improve by giving young parents the opportunity, through knowledge and skills, to support their pre-school children in their development from birth through finishing school and beyond. The Program operates on the belief that parents exert the most important influence in their children’s development, and that the home is the center of family life.

The ASPIRA Head Start Program is home based, comprehensive, preventive, family-oriented, and provides a pro-family system that supports families by helping them empower themselves to reach to their potential. Program services are tailored in accordance with the needs of the children and families in each community served, the availability of local resources, and the emphasis on early intervention with children. Services offered include: educational counseling for parents to develop their skills as teachers of their children; family counseling and support; health services for the children; nutrition education and information; parent involvement seminars; and, special services for parents of physically challenged children. Inherent in our service approach is our focus on cultural sensitivity and diversity, and on the needs of physically challenged children.

The goal of the ASPIRA AIDS Education and Prevention program is to reduce the high incidence of the HIV/AIDS transmission by offering workshops on human sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases, self-esteem, decision-making and HIV/AIDS prevention. Services are provided to individuals and groups between ages 12 to 22. The program provides workshops that are geared to students and adults, including youths from low-income housing developments, school dropouts, teachers, parents, and the public in general. The success of this risk-reduction program is based on the effectiveness of workshop strategies designed to encourage attitudinal and behavioral changes of program participants. The participant outreach and information delivery efforts are achieved through peer Change Attitude Behavior Agents (CABA). This approach is based on the assumption that participants are likely to be more receptive to believe and act upon information provided by their peers. This program offers an array of educational workshops designed to address participant needs. These include: intensive behavior modification workshops; parent workshops and teacher workshops covering various aspects of HIV/AIDS and strategies for educating and intervening with students. Teacher educational workshops consist of group sessions covering human sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases, drugs and alcohol, AIDS, interview strategies; materials development, adaptation, translation, and dissemination, including Spanish language written and audiovisual materials appropriate to the targeted audiences.