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Fifth-graders, college students, donors, alumni: All are electing for involvement Greetings from the campus of UW-Green Bay! If the leaves are changing — actually, falling — it’s certain to be an exciting, invigorating time on campus. This past month gave me my first opportunity to have an up-close view of the groundbreaking and award-winning Phuture Phoenix Program. And what a fabulous view it was! I was proud to stand on the Weidner Center stage and look out at the hundreds of fifth-graders assembled for the annual Phuture Phoenix Day on Oct. 14. Wearing their fluorescent-green Phuture Phoenix t-shirts, they were eager to get a glimpse of the various facets of college life. Throughout the day, these youngsters visited classrooms and laboratories, the library, the Kress Events Center and our residence halls. Guided by UW-Green Bay students serving as role models and mentors, the fifth-graders even stopped by the Chancellor’s Office to see what the “principal” was up to. I also participated in two great traditions of Phuture Phoenix Day. I autographed so many students’ t-shirts that I developed my worst case of writer’s cramp since my days as a finance professor when I would write out my lectures in longhand. And I led a Q-and-A session at a “press conference” where the fifth-graders asked a lot of good questions. But Phuture Phoenix is about much more than a one-day field trip to our campus, as enjoyable and motivating as the daylong experience may be. Throughout the year, about 100 UW-Green Bay students continue to serve as mentors and visit the children in their schools. This type of year-round, year-in-and-year-out approach provides these students with the type of nurturing and encouragement they need to help them stay on track toward high school graduation and enrollment in college. |
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 Looking out over a sea of fifth-graders at the Weidner Center, I experienced first-hand the tremendous energy that powers the Phuture Phoenix program. In a way, their excitement isn’t all that different from that shown by current students, alumni and community members for this University. One person who clearly understands the benefits of the Phuture Phoenix Program is UW-Green Bay friend and supporter Billie Kress. She made the first leadership gift toward the creation of a multimillion-dollar endowment to fund scholarships for Phuture Phoenix students. She also helped out as a volunteer when the students were on campus. I mention her support and involvement because we hope others will follow the example set by her and early supporters of the program and help create new Phuture Phoenix scholarship funds. October brings another type of excitement to our campus community. This is a presidential election year, and our students, faculty and staff are energized by the opportunity to participate in our democratic process. All across campus this month I saw students and other members of our community take advantage of opportunities to register to vote. In fact, UW-Green Bay was one of the leading campus sites in the country for registering voters. . . . . .More |
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