Area students begin charting path to college

Milton LeBron, Jr. knows getting into college won't be easy.

The 16-year-old Elgin High sophomore will need good grades, a solid ACT score, and evidence of participation in several extracurricular activities.

And a scholarship to help his family shoulder those hefty tuition bills.

"It's going to take a lot of work," he said Wednesday. "But I think I can get there."

For the second year in a row, LeBron spent a full day at Elgin Community College learning how to clear those hurdles at a seminar for students in the Plan, Learn and Navigate Success program.

The program, sponsored by the Alliance for College Readiness, pegs area high school students as being college bound but needing some support and encouragement.

LeBron was one of area 120 high school freshmen selected for the program last year.

Wednesday's session included that group, now sophomores, along with a new crop of freshman chosen from 11 area high schools that feed into Elgin Community College.

Each high school sets their own criteria for selecting students who have college potential but face several challenges like high absentee rates, financial difficulties, failing grades and status as an English language learner.

All students selected must also be identified as having leadership qualities, ECC's Dean of Students Carol Cowles said.

Students attended sessions on time management, teamwork and communication Wednesday and heard a presentation on leadership by Foreman High School teacher and ECC adjunct professor Pete Ramirez.

"Right now, your options are way open," Ramirez told students. "Don't let yourselves get pushed into a corner. You'll end up hating your life."

Ramirez warned the group to chart out their paths, and find ways to achieve their goals, instead of making excuses.

Participants will return to campus with their parents in tow Saturday. Parents will hear presentations similar to Wednesday's as well about financial planning and career evaluation. The program will culminate with a ceremony celebrating students' first step to achieving their college dream.

The Alliance plans to keep tabs on the students in the PLAN program, like LeBron, as they progress throughout High School.

"We're keeping track of the fundamental pieces," Cowles said. "If students are taking more difficult classes, if they're staying involved."

Next year, she said, the program will be tracking freshman, sophomores and juniors.

"If ECC's ($178 million) referendum passes, we're going to need the extra room," she laughed.