D.C. Middle Schoolers Learn About Getting to College

“This is a magnificent opportunity,” said Jerome A. Young, academic dean of school culture at Cesar Chavez,  “as this is the level where the important conversations and work begins with kids going to college. Often we wait until high school to begin this work and that is too late.”

College Life

Before the sixth-graders came to campus, Georgetown students visited their classrooms twice a week for six weeks.

As trained facilitators, the university students discuss their personal experiences of college life, pre-college accomplishments, career interests and answer questions.

The program also introduces students to the vocabulary of higher education and the variety of post-secondary education options, including vocational programs and two- and four-year colleges.

Making Goals

On campus, the youngsters participated in a scavenger hunt, met with Georgetown faculty and staff, attended seminars and ate lunch on campus.

After leading the students in chants of “Hoya Saxa,” Charlene Brown-McKenzie, executive director of Georgetown’s Meyers Institute for College Preparation and associate director of CMEA, encouraged them to think about careers and the educational requirements necessary to reach their goals.

“Learn how to be a good student,” she told the students. “Your biggest resource is every teacher that sits in front of you every day.”

Learning Partners

Georgetown annually reaches out to all Washington, D.C., area middle schools in Ward 7 as part of its Ward 7 Initiative, where the university is also a partner in the D.C. Promise Neighborhood planning grant with the Cesar Chavez Public Charter Schools for Public Policy.

The Promise Neighborhood program seeks to significantly improve the educational and developmental outcomes of children and youth in distressed communities, and transform the areas through high quality education and paths to college and careers.

“Here at Cesar Chavez Parkside Middle School, we are working to prepare our scholars to go to college,” said Young, who brought more than 90 students to campus. “Our students have greatly benefited from this program, the campus tour was excellent, and we wish to continue this partnership.”

The Next Step

Thursday’s daylong visit to Georgetown’s campus marked the program’s conclusion, but not the end of Georgetown’s work with the neighborhood.

The sixth-graders will now be invited to apply for Georgetown’s pre-college program, the Meyers Institute for College Preparation, which works with students in grades seven to 12.

For more information about Kids2College, visit the official Kids2College website. For more information