FOUNTAIN LAKE -- The Fountain Lake School District has given the Class of 2029 a head start on choosing a college.
The class, which is in kindergarten this year, toured National Park College Monday morning with the goal of exposing the children to higher education. The concept of taking elementary-aged students to educational institutions is one that Fountain Lake hopes to continue.
Leann Robertson, Fountain Lake's elementary counselor, said the students reacted with great excitement to the outing.
"They got on the bus today and said, 'We're going to college,'" Robertson said. "They were very, very excited about that."
Fountain Lake's current kindergarten class arrived at the college around 9 a.m. and were greeted by NPC faculty members dressed as superheroes. Kay Foshee, who works in NPC's TRIO program, said that the goal in dressing the hosting faculty up was to represent power, which she said can be gained when one attends college.
This welcome was promptly followed by the students witnessing a science experiment by Foshee that featured an explosion. Foshee said the presentation was designed to show the students what it takes to be successful in school.
"The people were dressed up as superheroes, and superheroes represent power, and then (there was) my science experiment that I did, because kids always identify with things that go 'poof' or some kind of explosion," Foshee said. "We talked about the kind of things that you need to put in your potion to have power. You need to become a good reader and do a lot of reading, you need to attend school regularly and you need to be a good listener and follow directions. I mixed all those different ingredients together in a beaker, and it went 'poof.'"
The opening demonstration was followed by campus tours, where the students split up into three groups and viewed the automotive, industrial engineering and nursing departments. Darla Thurber, assistant to the NPC president and one of the costumed tour guides, said that they made sure that the tour was a hands-on experience.
"They went out to automotive, and they were underneath the car that was on a lift. They got to touch some things," Thurber said. "Same with nursing -- they saw mannequins, they got to touch skeletons, they got to listen to their heartbeat. Industrial technology is obviously with machinery, so they got to watch a couple of machines and learn how they work."
Foshee said this kind of hands-on interaction is instrumental in getting students excited about college and its possibilities.
"When they went around to all the classes and they got to touch the things and push the levers and touch the mannequins and get under the car, I think that made everything come to life for them," Robertson said. "They understand what a college is now."
Robertson said she was introduced to the concept when attending a conference in Orlando this summer where someone from another school had discussed having a similar event with their students.
"Typically, college is focused on the upper grade levels, not the elementary," Robertson said. "But one of our school goals is to increase college career, discovery and exploration, so I thought that this would be a good chance to open up our kids' interest to different colleges or tech programs."
Fountain Lake plans to take other students to different colleges as well. Robertson said she plans to take first graders to Henderson State University and second graders to Ouachita Baptist University.
Along with the students, Robertson said she is excited about the college field trips herself.
"I'm hoping that I continue this every single year and that it just grows," Robertson said. "It's just going to be a great opportunity for our kids."
Local on 09/27/2016