KIDS GET TASTE OF COLLEGE.Byline: Bhavna Mistry Staff Writer The classroom chairs may have been a bit too big for the sixth-graders, but the youngsters had no complaints as they sat through an academic lecture Wednesday at Moorpark College Moorpark College is a California-state funded community college located on a 134 acre (542,000 m²) property reclining on a hill in Moorpark, a town in Ventura County, California. . Invited to visit by the campus' Alpha Gamma Sigma There are at least two organizations known as Alpha Gamma Sigma:
n. An organization to which students are admitted in recognition of academic achievement. , the Simi Elementary School elementary school: see school. students attended the academic class, then took in a golf lesson, watched a show at the college's teaching zoo and had lunch with the older kids. ``This is cool 'cause we're in college,'' said Dennis Grisham, 12. ``We went straight from sixth grade to college.'' Grisham and some of his classmates Classmates can refer to either:
Western culture class taught by Professor Daniel Brown, then sat down after lunch and picked out classes that they may one day want to take. ``I want to get a scholarship for art or something,'' Grisham said. ``I really want to go to college.'' The visitation program was launched by Debbie Heaslip, president of AGS AGS American Geriatrics Society. , and her daughter, Tricia Heaslip, who teaches at the elementary school. Hoping to encourage students to pursue higher education higher education Study beyond the level of secondary education. Institutions of higher education include not only colleges and universities but also professional schools in such fields as law, theology, medicine, business, music, and art. , the program brought in more than 60 students, who spent over five hours on the campus and left excited about their first college experience. ``College seems so far off for them,'' Tricia Heaslip said. ``This gives the kids a chance to see what they could aspire to. Bringing them to this atmosphere makes it less foreign.'' While Stephanie Harris, 12, and Megan Glynn, 11, went to a history class, 11-year-old Troy O'Connell attended an algebra class and Heather Collins was getting an introduction to accounting. ``I understood most of it,'' Collins said, remembering her lessons about merchandise, inventory and sales. ``I like accounting.'' Collins said that she knows she'll be back to the college campus. ``I've always wanted to go here,'' she said. ``There's a lot of neat stuff and classes to go to.'' Hana Khzam, 18, of Agoura, one of the AGS volunteers who served as a campus guide for the visiting students, found the program a success. ``I remember college as a kid was something I feared,'' Khzam said. ``But I can already see the excitement in their eyes that they can do anything they want.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Bethany Womack of Simi Valley Elementary School jots down notes as she and other schoolmates visit Moorpark College on an introductory tour Wednesday. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion