GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – LEAD: A UW-Green Bay Program is introducing 5th graders to college life this week.
The message this week from Phuture Phoenix, Dare To Dream About Going to College.
“We support economically disadvantaged and underrepresented students in our area.”
The program is designed to inspire kids that may come from low-income families.
“If students can see themselves on this campus and they feel a connection, their chances of reaching for this goal are much greater.”
Mary Sue Lavin, Director of Phuture Phoenix says some of their students will serve as mentors for the visit.
“I want the fifth graders to leave here and say I have a friend at UW-GBm,” Lavin said.
The 5th graders will be able to tour, ask questions and then they will be invited back when they are in 8th grade and thinking more about college.
“We have students on campus that we call role models and we have them walk around with the kids and not only show them the university but talk about their own journey.”
The program also offers scholarship opportunities down the road for those who visit, which Lavin says is an easy process with a big reward.
They have to fill out an application, write and essay and they have to fill out a FAFSA, so they have to have financial needs.”The program has hosted over 22,000 fifth grade students since 2003. Over 1,500 are expected to visit Wednesday and Thursday.
Included in this fall’s campus experience are expanded partnerships with the Kress Events Center and UW-Green Bay’s Office of Residence Life, making it possible for fifth graders to experience two essential elements of college life: recreational opportunities and on-campus housing.
More information about Phuture Phoenix is available at http://www.uwgb.edu/phuture-phoenix/.
