The weekend before Thanksgiving break, the College of Southern Maryland's (CSM) La Plata campus students looked a bit younger than usual.
"I want to go to college in California," Kayshawn Woodman, a fifth grader at C. Paul Barnhart Elementary School, said. "I want to be a race-car driver, a gamer, and to own my own company."
Fifth grade students at C. Paul Barnhart Elementary School try their hand at college for a day at the College of Southern Maryland (CSM) at Destination College.
After sitting in CSM Professor Chris Ripley's class — How to Start Your Own Business —, Woodman said he aspires to go into business with his parents' companies. Woodman, among other students from Barnhart, was excited to attend college for a day at CSM's Destination College experience.
"The students are excited to be on the campus and to see student life," Virginia Basquez, a fifth-grade teacher at Barnhart, said. Destination College is a Title I districtwide initiative, with all 10 Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) Title I schools sending fifth graders to CSM for this experience.
Each year, fifth-grade students at CCPS Title I schools can attend Destination College at CSM to try their hand in the college classroom for a day. The initiative fulfills a Title I requirement outlined in the Title I application. The initiative ensures that elementary-aged students have access to the proper resources to prepare them for careers in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field.
"The opportunity allows elementary-aged students to branch out and explore careers as well as give them a long-range goal to see themselves in a career in the future," Arin Bonner, CCPS director of Title I, said. "CCPS has partnered with CSM for this opportunity for over 11 years and will continue to provide the same access to succeeding fifth graders at all CCPS Title I schools."
Upon arriving on the campus, students are welcomed by CSM staff and students and are briefed on what to expect that day. Barnhart students would spend the entire school day on the college campus attending sessions like T.J. Reim's Lumpy Liquid presentation in science, Ripley's business class, and CSM Professor Joe Burgin's coding class.
Students would also eat lunch with their campus peers, communing in the school's courtyard, just like a higher education student. Barnhart fifth graders look forward to spending the day at the college to see a glimpse of their future possibilities.
"Some of the students do not experience going to college or have other people in their family who go to college," Kim Miller, a fifth-grade teacher at Barnhart, said. "It opens their eyes to the opportunities that await them—even though they are only in fifth grade—they have it in the back of their minds that this is achievable."
"A lot of these fifth graders have a dream to go to college. I think it is inspiring and motivating for them to see and get a taste of what they can look forward to," Basquez said. "A lot of them are taking notes on how exciting it is."
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