The Diplomat

March 5, 2009

Franklin & Marshall’s weekly online newsletter

Focus on the Future

Adriana Lara ’11 knows what Thalia and her classmates are going through.

Lara is a first-generation college student at Franklin & Marshall. She met Thalia through College Connections, a program that encourages high school students to continue their education after high school.

“Often, nobody in their family has gone to school, and it is not something expected of them,” Lara said. “It’s important for her and her classmates to know that college is an option even if nobody in their family went.”

The Alice Drum Women’s Center is sponsoring College Connections with a $4,400 grant from the American Association of University Women.

The program matches female student mentors to female ninth-graders at Columbia Junior Senior High School in Columbia, Pa.

Thirty-two F&M students have volunteered to mentor 20 teenagers from Columbia High School. The students are chosen by the high school counselor. There are only 51 female ninth-graders at the school.

According to state Department of Education figures, only 15 percent of the residents of Columbia Borough have college degrees. Columbia High School has a graduation rate of only 82 percent, below the state average of 87 percent.

The ninth-graders have visited campus several times this semester to attend information sessions about college life, academic studies and careers. Afterward, they attended college events with their mentors. More visits are planned in the coming months.

“Encouragement is important for these young girls,” Lara said. “Without it, it is hard to believe in yourself.”

“We chose to work with ninth-graders because we believe helping them make a decision about college at that age gives the students ample time to prepare academically and motivates them to work hard in school,” said Judy Pehrson, director of the Women’s Center.

The students participating in College Connections are encouraged to discuss their experiences with their fellow students.

Columbia High School Principal Virginia Babic said she is seeing the positive results of College Connections. “That is an age you can have a real impact on these girls. These girls are visiting classes, participating in activities and talking to Franklin & Marshall students who are giving them the motivation to work hard, graduate and apply to college,” Babic said. “This gives them the confidence to believe that they can go to college and be successful.”

The Women’s Center has received support from a dozen campus groups and was flooded with student volunteers asking to be mentors, Pehrson said.

Kathryn Peck ’10 was paired with Jocelyn, a determined 15-year-old who has decided she wants to go to college.

“We have chatted about everything from academics to what we like to do on weekends. She isn’t sure about careers, but she likes science and interior design, and she wants to study abroad,” Peck said.

Some of the students are planning to go to college, Pehrson said, while others have expressed interest in learning a trade. Yet, many don’t know what they will do after high school.

At the end of each visit, the ninth-graders complete an evaluation form to consider what they learned that day. The forms are anonymous, but the answers are telling:

“Not everything is about beauty and women can do great things.”

“You can take different courses and not want to be that.”

“I learned what anthropology means.”

“I realized that there are many possibilities to go to college.”

At the end of this year’s program, in mid-April, a representative from the College’s Office of Admission will travel to Columbia High School to meet with the teens and their parents to discuss the basics of applying for college and financial aid.

“The campus has really taken this program to heart,” Pehrson said.

Offices and groups that have offered support include Admission, Athletics, the Black Pyramid Senior Honor Society, Career Services, the Franklin & Marshall women’s basketball team, the Gray Scholars (recipients of the William H. Gray Jr. Scholarship), International Programs, the Kappa Delta and Chi Omega sororities, the Keystone College Advising Corps, Mi Gente Latina, Multicultural Affairs and SISTERS.

Lara said each time the teenagers visit campus, “they tell me about all the things they did and how much they enjoyed their day and their time with their mentor. They are enthusiastic and anxious to come back. That makes the experience that much better,” she said.

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