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Marketing and University Communication UW-Green Bay, CL 815 2420 Nicolet Drive Green Bay, WI 54311-7001 (920) 465-2626 E-mail: hildebrs@uwgb.edu Last update: 10/23/07 |
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In
the News Archive - Year:
October 10, 2007 UWGB students give back, show fifth-graders Phuture Phoenix program targets first-generation college students By Kelly McBride
Waibel entered foster care at the age of 12, she said, and had a rough time in the system until becoming an emancipated minor in high school.
It's those experiences that have led her to be a three-time mentor for UWGB's Phuture Phoenix Day. The event, held Tuesday, brings students from largely low-income schools to campus to boost their aspirations for college.
"That's why I do this," Waibel said. "My family was bad from the beginning. I always got along well with my teachers at school, so that was my home. But a lot of these kids, they don't have the communication skills to get along with teachers. They don't have a family anywhere. That's why I do this — to try to give them somebody that they can talk to."
Even for students with solid family supports, navigating college — or even the prospect thereof — can be difficult for so-called first-generation college students. About 300 student volunteers participated in this year's Phuture Phoenix Day, said Phuture Phoenix director Cyndie Shepard, wife of UWGB Chancellor Bruce Shepard.
Many, like UWGB senior Crystal Salas, are first-generation students themselves. Through campus tours, events and relationship-building, organizers hope UWGB students can show their young charges that college is possible.
"Through the tour, they actually see it," said Salas, an education major. "I think, in general, experiences help you learn a lot more than just being told or reading something about a college campus. Your experience is a lot more meaningful."
More than 1,200 area fifth-graders from 11 Green Bay elementary schools and several other districts were slated to take part in Phuture Phoenix Day on Tuesday. Almost 500 more students will visit Thursday as part of a second, smaller Phuture Phoenix Day celebration for outlying districts, Cyndie Shepard said.
In addition to the on-campus events in October, several area middle schools have developed Phuture Phoenix clubs, sessions that bring UWGB students into study halls for tutoring and mentoring. Student follow-ups and a Phuture Phoenix class for UWGB education majors also are part of the picture as the program continues to grow.
"The real meat of the program, where we're following them from sixth grade through 12th grade, has really jelled this year," Shepard said.
Phuture Phoenix has received numerous accolades, including from the office of Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle. State first lady Jessica Doyle and Secretary of State Douglas LaFollette each spent time on campus Tuesday as part of Phuture Phoenix Day.
But for the fifth-grade students, each clad in a fluorescent green T-shirt and toting a UWGB knapsack, things like Harry Potter tattoos in the library and UWGB student autographs were more pressing concerns.
Walking to the new Kress Events Center, Waibel strolled hand-in-hand with Danz Elementary School fifth-grader Zimri Fuentas, chatting about campus life.
Fuentas, 10, hopes to become a math teacher, she said. After her first day on a college campus Tuesday — and thanks to Waibel and her fellow mentor — she's excited to give it a shot.
"They're so fun, and they help me, too," Fuentas said. "I like what the teachers show us about what to do in college."
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