Adopt-A-College: Promoting Post Secondary Educational Institutions (PSEI)

Meyer Carillon Bells
Missouri State University

Our school is located in a middle income community with only about 50% of our student population attending a post secondary educational institution (PSEI). About the same percentage of adults in our community have attended some type of PSEI.  Many of our kids parents have little or no college background but have a strong desire for their children to gain some type of education beyond high school.  For some of our kids their education after high school will consist of military training, vocational school, junior college, university studies or a combination of these experiences.  The roadblock that keeps many of our kids from attending a PSEI is a lack of knowledge about the admission process, costs, or understanding how the program offerings at the schools are tied to employment. We have a goal in our high school to limit the road blocks and increase the number of students PSEI programs.

Jesse Hall University of Missouri

We harvested an idea from Julian Elementary, also a 2010 CEP National School of Character.  We call this program the Adopt-a-College program.  It is a function of our student advisories.  Each advisory had students select one university, college or vocational institution to adopt.  After the selection was made the class created bulletin boards to display general information about their school which included admission requirements, costs, housing information, and information about student activities.  We have some pretty elaborate bulletin boards.  Last Friday we had a teacher college t-shirt day the faculty members wore their favorite school's t-shirt to school.  We will be having our first "Fight Song Friday" coming up.  We have asked each advisory to send in copies of their schools fight songs to play over the intercom in the morning before school.  We want to create some of the fun and excitement that goes along with college life.

Truman State Logo

Other activities include an advisory college day and a college fair mini-indoor parade.  For the advisory college day each advisory will host a representative from their adopted university to talk about their school and the kids will invite students from other advisories to meet the representative.  For the College fair mini-indoor parade classes will decorate a wagon or other wheeled device homecoming style to represent their adopted school.  We hope to include middle school and elementary kids in the parade.  Students will pull the wagons through the hallways while the student body sits along the walls of the hallways.  Instead of having marching bands we are looking for kazoo bands and mp3s of the colleges fight songs and Alma Maters.

St. Louis University Gates

We want kids to be excited about the college admission process, recognize the costs and opportunities for scholarships.  We want our kids to understand the PSEI's school programs and how they relate to employment in their future.  A lack of experience and understanding has stood as a roadblock to many kids attending PSEIs.  We believe that these activities will open doors and remove the roadblocks for more of our students.