July 10, 2013

Wayne State provides high school students with weeklong college experience

The office of Community Engagement@Wayne is hosting its annual College JumpStart program. The free program takes place July 14-20, 2013, and is designed to expose underrepresented students to higher education and career paths. Sixty ninth and 10th graders from metropolitan Detroit will spend a full week living and learning on the campus of Wayne State University.

“We want to provide students with a real college experience and get them thinking about all the wonderful things they can do with a college education,” said Monita Mungo, program manager at Community Engagement@Wayne and creator of College JumpStart. “In addition to exposing them to life on a college campus, we want to get the students thinking about their professional careers and what they need to do now so they can get into college.”

On the first day of College JumpStart, students and parents will hear about how to get into college — and how to pay for it — from college access advocate Jenny Hutchinson as well as representatives from WSU’s admissions and financial aid offices.

Then students will get a taste of college life by attending classes such as Spanish and Information Literacy in actual lecture halls; honing study skills and time management techniques with help from learning specialists; being introduced to and acquiring strategies for doing well on the ACT; performing a community service activity; and spending the week living and dining in a WSU residence hall.

Students also will get the chance to act as plaintiffs, prosecutors, defendants, judges and jurors in a Wayne Law mock trial activity. Before the students leave campus, WSU Career Services will work with them to help identify possible majors and career options.

“We hope the experience we provide to these young students will help them see the tremendous possibilities that exist when they attend a university like Wayne State,” said Jerry Herron, dean of the Irvin D. Reid Honors College. “We’re looking forward to having them on campus as our guests.”

To learn more about future College Jumpstart programs, please contact Monita Mungo at ah6559@wayne.edu or (313) 577-9216.

Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution offering more than 370 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 29,000 students.