5th Graders Get an Inside Track on College
SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 12, 2017 - For most 5th grade students, now is the time to be thinking about middle school -- new teachers, new friends, new independence.
But on Friday, May 26, nearly one hundred 5th graders from San Jose’s Greater Washington neighborhood will spend the day thinking about college-- how to get in; what it’s like to live in a dorm; and how students who are the first in their families to go to college find support and thrive.
This Family Engagement Day is part of a four-year-old partnership between Santa Clara University and the Greater Washington neighborhood, which, while rich in cultural and community assets, falls among the lowest income neighborhoods in the area.
“When we began our commitment to provide resources and support through the Thriving Neighbors Initiative, parents let us know that giving their students an ‘inside track,’ to college life would be one of the most useful things we could do,” said Dorian Llywelyn S.J., executive director of the Ignatian Center for Jesuit Education at SCU, which sponsors the partnership. “This is now one of the most popular events we run, and it is a key step in helping students in the Greater Washington neighborhood consider college as a realistic prospect for them.”
The students will spend the day:
- Touring a dorm room to learn what its like to live on campus.
- Participating in a workshop with physics professor Phil Kesten to perform experiments and get a taste for a college lab experience
- Experiencing a mini marketing course in the Leavey School of Business.
Parents of the students will meet with ethnic studies professor Jesica Fernandez on her experience as a first-generation college student and now as a faculty member.
Media are welcome to attend and interview students, mentors or others hosting the event. Please RSVP to Deborah Lohse of SCU’s Media Communications team, dlohse@scu.edu or 408-554-5121.