 Courtesy of andrew campbell. SESP sophomore Jeremiah Tillman and SESP freshman Adrian Alexander (back) showed NU to students from local middle schools at a Promote 360 event Friday.
| |
In order to inspire middle schoolers who would not normally consider college, Promote 360, a group of School of Education and Social Policy students, organized a student visit day to Northwestern on Friday called "Empowering Young Minds."
Eighty-five sixth-graders from Jane Addams School in Palatine and Lakewood Middle School in Carpentersville, which have large minority populations, participated in the event. Promote 360 co-sponsored the day with Northwestern Community Development Corps.
Promote 360 chose to bring sixth-graders because they wanted to instill an awareness of higher education in the students as early as possible, said group member Alexandra Sims, a SESP sophomore.
Founded last year, Promote 360 has undertaken various community-building initiatives adhering to its mission of "minority empowerment through education," Sims said.
The group recently started a pen-pal program with the sixth-grade pupils of Jane Addams School. Group members attempt to subtly weave the subject of college into these correspondences, Sims said.
"The goal of the pen pal program was to keep encouraging education and keep encouraging college," Sims said. "We of course answered their questions, but we'd bring up, 'What's your favorite subject in class?' "
SESP sophomore Tabitha Bentley, president of Promote 360, had a pen pal who mentioned a desire to be a horse trainer; Bentley researched schools that had degrees in horse training and brought up these programs in her letters.
Members of Promote 360 began the day with a scavenger hunt, which doubled as a tour of campus and a way for the kids to casually explore the unfamiliar environment of college.
The group tried to acclimate the sixth-graders to college life through personal interactions with faculty and a "campus celebrity." The pupils had lunch by the Lakefill with Willie the Wildcat and several SESP professors.
Afterward, head wrestling coach Tim Cysewski discussed the complexities of being both a student and an athlete. Cysewski emphasized time management as a key to success and a skill best learned at an early age.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Kristin
posted 5/15/08 @ 3:00 AM CST
This program is a great idea, but I hope that Promote 360 doesn't neglect the underprivileged kids in its own back yard. There are many kids in Evanston who probably don't think that Northwestern (or perhaps any college) is "for them," and the SESP students behind Promote 360 have a great opportunity to help them see that this doesn't need to be the case. (Continued…)
Post a Comment