It’s every student’s anticipation and every parent’s vision for their child to college. For most it’s expected, however, for others it’s just a dream.
Financial and domestic problems keep the students from St. Francis of Assisi of Norristown from acquiring any hope of moving on to further education after high school. With little intuition or motivation, these students give up on the fight and just ride out the rest of their educational career.
Cabrini’s teen motivators have been working alongside St. Francis of Assisi to show these students that college is not out of their reach. Every Friday, they spend time with seventh and eighth graders to answer questions and prepare them for high school.
“They go into high school thinking it’s the end of the road,” Stephen Eberle, coordinator of Community Partnerships, said,
The teen motivators are run by a group of four Cabrini students, Kerry Allaire, Lindsey Anderson, Megan Conte and Matt Slutz.
As a service learning part of the course, Dr. Beverly Bryde’s class joins them every week. On the fourth week of the month, the students bring the kids of St. Francis to Cabrini’s campus.
“Teen motivators bring the students to campus to show them what college has to offer,” Allaire, junior elementary education major, said.
The volunteers show them what life is really like in college by doing activities such as sitting in the classroom, eating in the cafeteria, learning about Cabrini’s newspaper, the Loquitur, and playing different sports in the gym.
During this program, they take the time to show the students what colleges are really looking for. The Cabrini students also share their experience of high school and tell the students what type of courses will help them in applying for college.
It’s really important that these students see that high school is not the end of the road. With a lot of ambition and a little guidance, anyone can overcome anything.
Even though these students are brought up with many disadvantages, it doesn’t mean that they should deny themselves of a college education.
Teen motivators have been nothing but successful in their mission to open up the minds and show the students that they are capable of so much more.
