Local elementary and middle-school students to receive intro to college
Los Angeles, CA -- In keeping with its commitment to opening the doors to higher education, Cal State L.A. will host two events on Friday, May 23, aimed at creating a culture of college-readiness.
“Cal State L.A., Here We Come!”
WHO: 350 schoolchildren from five Los Angeles Unified School District elementary schools will step foot on a college campus for the first time Friday, May 23, during “Cal State L.A., Here We Come!” The event, which takes place 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m., will let the students become “college students” for a day.
WHAT: The visit is the culmination of the Cal State L.A. Educational Participation in Communities (EPIC) program’s America Reads/America Counts program, sponsored by the Center for Engagement, Service, and the Public Good at Cal State L.A., in which Cal State L.A. students provide academic assistance to children whose achievement levels are below standard.
Students from 99th Street, Ann, Anton, Robert F. Kennedy, and Huntington Elementary Schools will experience:
- health and nutrition workshops
- science lab presentations
- greenhouse tour
- sports pep rally and more
IMPACT LA Open House
WHO: That same day, more than 150 students who attend Stevenson Middle School in Los Angeles will explore the possibilities of becoming future scientists and engineers at Cal State L.A.’s IMPACT LA Open House from 9 a.m-2 p.m.
WHAT: After weeks of anticipation, these schoolchildren will finally have an opportunity to tour research labs of Cal State L.A. graduate fellows, who have been working with the middle schoolers on research projects in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) for ten hours per week for an entire school year. The graduate fellows are paired up with local middle-school math or science teachers in order to bring “real world” science and engineering into the classrooms.
The day’s event will also include workshops about college life, a tour of Cal State L.A.’s new Hydrogen Station, and a hands-on rollercoaster building challenge. The aspiring scientists and engineers will be divided into groups of about 15 students. The program is funded by a five-year, $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
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Working for California since 1947: California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 230,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six Colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to the Honors College for high-achieving students. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu