Elgin school gets taste of college life
As an admissions officer at Northern Illinois University, Shevon Porter meets with plenty of high school juniors and seniors each year.
Often, a student in the last semester of his senior year will say, “I don't have the grades or test scores to get into NIU. What can I do?”
“That's something we see a lot, especially if they're the first in their families to go to college,” Porter said. “If you're trying to work with people in junior or senior year of high school, sometimes that's too late.”
To avoid this scenario, Elgin's Abbott Middle School on Thursday held College Day, an event designed to get students to think about college and what they need to do to get in.
In the morning, students met with representatives from area colleges to find out what college life is like and how to gain admission. At lunch time, they held a mock tailgate outside.
After lunch, students earned “diplomas,” picked a career and tried to make ends meet while paying for a house and supporting a family.
Events like College Day are especially important at Abbott, where many students come from low-income families.
“It builds a purpose for what they're doing,” said Jackie Johnson, an English teacher at Abbott who organized the event. “If they don't know, they can't make a choice. They're just going to follow what their friends or parents or the street tells them.”
Abbott and several schools in Elgin Area School District U-46 participate in No Excuses University, a national program that aims to get students thinking about college and making the right choices before they even enter high school.
Vinesse Lewis, a seventh-grader, said College” Day and No Excuses has given her a more vivid and realistic picture of college life.
“It's not something on TV where everyone is partying,” Vinesse said. “You're learning something. That's what you're there for. It's not some fantasy world.”
Some students at Abbott, like seventh-grader Bianca Espinosa, have more than just themselves to worry about.
“I will be the first of the kids (in my family) that goes to college,” Bianca said. “I always work hard. I tell them to work hard every day.”