Denison and Local Colleges Reach Out to Grade-School Students

December 9, 2009

On Tuesday, Dec. 8, Denison students teamed up with volunteers from two area colleges and AmeriCorps to encourage Newark second-graders to begin considering their education after high school.

Through the PEAK Program (Providing Early Awareness and Knowledge), representatives from Denison, Central Ohio Technical College (COTC), the Newark branch of Ohio State University (OSU-N), and AmeriCorps actively participated in a reading of “The Little Engine that Could” at the Licking County Library. Student volunteers, including Ana Aguilar ’13, Elizabeth Harbison ’13, and Rachel Voelkle ’10 from Denison, spoke with their audience during brief pauses in the reading, giving the grade-schoolers a chance to interact with college students.

Aguilar, a native of Santa Ana, Calif., believes the children understood the significance of the visit. “They all seem to know what the message is; be determined, don’t give up. A lot of them know they want to go to college.”

For Voelkle, who hails from Marilla N.Y., the experience was rewarding. “It energizes you for the rest of the day. It’s great to represent Denison and show what you can achieve if you put your mind to it.”

PEAK, currently in its first year, is an extension of A Call to College, a Newark-based program founded in 1991 by Lou Mitchell ’57 and the late Jane Cook McConnell ’56. Like PEAK, A Call to College aims at promoting college attendance among Newark city schools, but focuses primarily on high school students. Through a partnership with Denison, OSU-N, and COTC, PEAK works with second and eighth-graders to improve college awareness at a younger age.

“Students have been coming into their freshman year of high school without a good understanding of what they need to do to be on the college pathway,” said Janet Schultz, director of PEAK. “We want to start a discussion about college and the type of characteristics it takes for a young person to get on that pathway.”

Laurel Kennedy, director of Denison’s Alford Center for Service-Learning, is excited about working with other higher education institutions in the area. “This kind of a partnership between a liberal arts college, a state university, and a technical college is very, very rare. We feel like we are blazing new ground in our community.”

The partnership emerged a year and a half ago through the Ohio Campus Compact, a non-profit organization that promotes civic engagement within higher education.

“We began a conversation about the idea of having three AmeriCorps VISTAs (Volunteers in Services to America) on each campus that might work part time on the campuses but also part time as a team with Newark city schools,” said Kennedy. “It was a way for all three colleges to engage in this community issue, a way for all three colleges to work together, and a way for our students to work with other students from other campuses.”

This year’s efforts will conclude in the spring with PEAK Week, a week-long series focusing on college and occupations. All three schools will continue their collaboration with PEAK next year when fourth grade is added to the program.

Photo Gallery:

PEAK Director Janet Schultz introduces guest reader Edie Norlin from OSU-N.	Guest reader Edie Norlin shows the class an illustration form "The Little Engine that Could."	Ana Aguilar '13 reads to second-graders from McGuffey Elementary School.	Elizabeth Harbison '13 looks at an illustration with elementary students.
A COTC student interacts with McGuffey second-graders.	Rachel Voelkle '10 shows an illustration from "The Little Engine that Could."	Ana Aguilar '13 talking with elementary students.	Rachel Voelkle '10 looks at a page from "The Little Engine that Could" with students from McGuffey Elementary.
McGuffey Elementary students look on as OSU-N Professor Edie Norlin reads "The Little Engine that Could."	Ana Aguilar '13, Elizabeth Harbison '13, and Rachel Voelkle '10 perform during a poem based on "The Little Engine that Could."	Ana Aguilar '13 participates during an animated poem based on "The Little Engine that Could."

Links of Interest:

Volunteers promote further learning to area students (Newark Advocate, December 9, 2009)