George Fox University hosts "Go to College Day" to show kids the
 possibilities of a higher education

 By Christie Scotty -- Newberg Graphic reporter

   Prospective college students got a taste of university life at George Fox this week, traipsing  through dorm rooms and sitting down with admissions counselors.  Still, the university will have to wait several years before recruiting those students. They are, after  all, still in elementary school.

    It was "Go to College Day" for 88 fifth-grade students from Washington Elementary School in northeast Salem. Of the school’s 450 kids, 84 percent are from low-income families, many are described as "transient" and the student body is collectively speaking as many as 14 different  languages at any given time.
    In short, the students are not necessarily the most likely candidates to pursue a college education. In fact, it’s not even a consideration for many, according to Dean Azule, community schools outreach coordinator for the Salem-Keizer School District.

    Azule came up with "Go to College Day" to counteract that tendency. From the looks on the students’ faces Monday afternoon, the trip to George Fox may have done the trick.
    "What happens when there’s lots of people who want to shower? Do you just take turns?" one girl asked Pennington Hall resident Stephanie Reedal and her friend Melissa Matthews, their guides  through the dorm.
    Laughing, Reedal explained the intricacies of living with dozens of other students before ushering her group of six girls down the hall to discover the wonders of the laundry room.
    "We put some work into this," Washington Elementary teacher Shannon Hack said of her class. "We fill out an application of why they want to go to school and a scholarship application on why they should go for free.
    "We talk about what they want to do when they grow up and for everything they come up with,  we talk about why it’s good to go to college."

    When finished touring the dorms, the groups of students decked out in T-shirts reading "GFU" on the front and "Go To College" across the back, made their way to the classrooms. A short while later in Room 217 of the Hoover Building, Daryl Dixon talked to students about what makes people different from one another.  Different holidays, skin colors, religions, ways of dressing, the students offered.   Dixon then asked the fifth-grade students what solutions there might be for two very different people living together and the answers that came back were as reasoned as those any college student might give.
    "If one is an athlete and one likes classical music, maybe one day she can play sports with you and then the next day you can sing with her," offered Marta from the fourth row of desks.

    As the students’ hands continued to shoot up, it became clear half the battle had already been won — they were comfortable in a college classroom and enjoying school.   Most important, organizers said, is that the students are excited enough to want to come back.  Hack said with her class she doubts it will be a problem.
    "When they leave, I can tell you it’s going to be all of them saying ‘I want to go to George Fox,’" said Hack, who knows from experience after a similar trip with students last year. "They’re so sure of it, even though I explain there’s a whole lot of different colleges out there and they all have neat stuff to explore."

(C) 2001 Newberg Graphic   Reprinted by permission
Graphic of logo and photos from George Fox University website.