While most students don’t start thinking about college until
their junior year of high school, about 85 students started six
grades earlier this year.
Gilroy – While most students don’t start thinking about college until their junior year of high school, about 85 students started six grades earlier this year.
These fifth-graders toured the University of California, Santa Cruz in May thanks to the I’m Going to College after-school class at local middle schools. Part of California Student Opportunities and Access Program – a state initiative to increase the percentage of high-school students attending college – the six-week class informed students about the benefits of higher education and discussing ways to academically prepare.
The CALSOAP program introduces fifth-graders to college students, financial aid programs, classes offered at California universities and the application process, said Erin Gemar, program director for the district.
For 11-year-old Irving Garcia of Eliot Elementary School, the most memorable part of UCSC was meeting the college mascot, a banana slug.
The important part is that students begin to build a relationship with college, said Diane Padilla, who runs the course.
“It’s “something where he’s going to remember it from now until high school,” she said.
Leticia Morales, an 11-year-old at Eliot and an avid reader, said the course taught her that college provided tools for greater success.
“You can have a good job and do more things,” she said.
Her mother, Irene Sarmiento, was delighted that the program was drumming up an interest in college.
“If she wants it when she’s younger, she’ll be wanting even more when she’s older,” Sarmiento said.
If Morales and Garcia go to college, they will be the first generation in their family to attend college.
