Explore Service Learning @ Mt. Pleasant Week 1

My first day at Mt. Pleasant high school, or Mount as all the students call it, was mainly a meet an greet, get to know each other kind of day. I could tell that some students were all a little shy at first, but none of them seems disappointed to be attending the after school program. We learned that there is double the amount of students in the program this year, because so many students loved the program so much last year they encouraged their friends to join. Unfortunately, there are not as many college students as there are Mount students, but I don’t think that will really be too much of an issue because we can partner up into groups. I was very impressed with the guidance counselor who runs the program. She was present the entire time and seems to know all the students well, and seems to have their best interest in mind. We learned that most of the students in the program are what they call “at-risk” students, or students who are at risk of failing their grade level and would be forced to repeat their grade level. We also learned that some of the students are repeat freshman, and the guidance counselor does not want them risking having to repeat the grade again. After introductions we took a tour of the school. I was surprised to see the relationship between the students and the faculty. As we walked around the students talked and joked with many of the administration, teachers, and coaches. I wasn’t expecting this because as we’ve been reading our class books it seems like there is a disconnect between the faculty and the students. But whether these relationships were positive or not, the students at Mt. Pleasant seemed to know who runs the school. Our activity for the day was to share a goal we each have for ourselves…where would you like to be in four years? Not knowing what to expect freshman at-risk students would respond to this question, I was pleasantly surprised to hear their answers. Almost every one of the students responded they wanted to attend college. Some had specific career ideas set, some had specific locations; other had less specific answers, but regardless, they all knew they wanted to graduate high school and go to college. I think that this proves what we have discussed multiple times in class; the desire and the hope are there. These young students know they should graduate high school and go to college, these students want to graduate high school and attend college, but we need to start providing them the possibility of getting there. The explore program focuses primarily on college readiness and preparation. We will teach the students the tools to searching schools, how to apply to school, take entrance exams, and all the nitty gritty details they need to start hearing about if they are going to one day apply for college. I think planting the seed young, giving the students the ability to see that college is a possibility for them will help them pursue it more forcefully. No student should miss out on attending college because they simply did not know the tools to applying. I hope that throughout out ten weeks at Mt. Pleasant that we really get the opportunity to work with these young students and help them understand they have the capability of reaching college.