Nearly three weeks ago, Chaminade University’s campus was overrun by smaller bodies and high-pitched screams of excitement. In collaboration with Hawai’i Catholic Schools, 166 fifth graders from eight Catholic schools around Hawai’i attended an “I Go To College” event that aims to expose 5th graders to higher education.
According to Llewellyn Young, Ph.D., superintendent of Hawaii Catholic Schools, this encourages these fifth graders to consider attending college.
“The whole idea for this event is to expose the 5th graders to college, get them out here to put at least college on their minds,” Young said. “Because, at this age, they’re not even thinking about college, but they are old enough to understand, so that’s what we’re doing right now. The research that we’ve done and that other colleges have done shows us that this is the prime time to expose them.”
The visit was the first of two involving 5th graders on campus. On Thursday, 193 5th graders from eight Catholic Schools (including schools from Kaua’i, Maui, and the Big Island).
The students arrived in front of Chaminade’s McCabe Gym, where they were greeted by Chaminade staff and students. After the opening prayer, the schools were separated into groups, given a class schedule, and went on a campus tour. After the campus tour, the students went on to follow their class schedules.
There were 24 30-minute class sessions throughout the day. One of those classes was “What is a bank?”, this class session was taught by Richard Kido, where he taught the 5th graders how a bank works. The classes were decided by professors and students who volunteered, some of those professors were Kimberly Gibbs, a professor in nursing, Guanlin Gao, a professor in economics, and Janet Davidson, Chaminade’s Vice Provost of Academic Affairs.
“The key is that these are college classes taught by college professors, but are catered to 10- and 11-year-olds, super engaging lessons, just to get them excited about learning,” said Kim Baxter, the early college director and coordinator for the event. “Because we are a busy school, with all the extra students, all our professors are super busy, but so many people carved out time to be able to teach these kids.”
After the first two classes, the students had lunch on the Sullivan Lawn, where Chaminade had its Lei-Making Club make leis and the Chemistry Club make slime with the students.
“I love it. I think it’s a great exposure for the kids to see what college life is about, see the campus, the classes, and I really enjoyed the hands-on,” said, Lekina Anderson, a parent chaperone from St. Anthony School. “I love the interaction, and it’s super cool to have the lei-making and slime-making [an] overall great experience.”
When lunch was over, the students got to attend their last class before heading down to the McCabe Gym to experience a mock graduation.
At the graduation, President Lynn Babington, Provost Lance Askildson, and Young wore their academic regalia like they would for a Chaminade graduation. They called the students up by schools and announced all 166 students’ names. The students received a certificate of completion for Chaminade’s “I Go To College” event.
“My hope is that they’re exposed to college in a positive way,” Young said. “So, when they walk away, they are excited about the prospect of college, even though it’s 8+ years from now. But at least they have some positive experience from something that is so far off in the future for them that when the time comes for them to be able to make the decisions for themselves and for their lives, that college becomes an option.”