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gives students head start for college
RELEASED: June 17, 2004
DANVILLE, KY—The Whitney M. Young Scholars are getting a dose of what college life is like. For the next two weeks at Centre, the rising high school juniors from Louisville live in the dorms, attend classes and take part a variety of social and educational activities. They arrived on campus earlier this week.
A few Centre students are helping with this year's program as resident assistants: DeShawn Collett '05, Shavaun Evans '05 and Tony Spalding '07 all of Louisville, Ky., and Renee November '07 of Owensboro, Ky.
"I hope they'll learn what being at a college is about," November says. "Hopefully, this will help them decide to go to college when the time comes."
The Whitney M. Young Program, created by the Lincoln Foundation of Louisville, recruits academically talented, economically disadvantaged seventh-graders from the Louisville area and provides them with educational enrichment to prepare them for high school and, eventually, college.
Spalding just completed his freshman year at Centre and says he can't imagine what his life would be like without the program.
"It helped shape me," he says. "I began looking at colleges, and it helped me to find friends outside of my school. It helped me to get connections with job opportunities and businesses, gave me a chance to look at other schools, and it helped me financially."
Collett, a chemistry major, also participated with the Whitney M. Young Program as a high school student. He says he also talked to graduates of the program who helped him decide to attend Centre.
"I got to talk to current [college] students," he says. "It gave me a chance to get a glimpse into what college life would actually be like."
Spalding hopes that this year's Young Scholars leave the program with not only academic knowledge but also the confidence needed to attend college.
He hopes it will "let them know their potential despite their background," he says.
The Young Scholars started classes this week and have high hopes for the future and what the next two weeks will do for them.
"I think the program is going to help us in the long run with college," Johnathan Tyus says. "Going to classes, living in the dorms, and deciding how to spend your free time. It's a head-start program for college."
Tiffany Slaughter says the program has given her a "better outlook on life and the college experience."
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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top-50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/
For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.
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