UW-Green Bay’s signature Phuture Phoenix program to host fall tour days
The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Phuture Phoenix program will host its annual Fall Tour Days Tuesday, Oct. 8 and Thursday, Oct.10, welcoming 1,400 fifth-graders from 26 elementary schools in 10 Northeastern Wisconsin school districts. The Phuture Phoenix program partners with schools with high percentages of students from low-income families and encourages students to graduate from high school and pursue a college education. At the conclusion of the 2013 tour days, more than 12,000 students will have been involved since the program began in 2003.
The students will connect with more than 250 UW-Green Bay student mentors who volunteer as tour guides. The fifth-graders and their teachers will get to know their mentors in small group settings. They will meet students like UW-Green Bay junior Jesse Perez, who was a Phuture Phoenix participant and looks back on the experience fondly.
“The Phuture Phoenix program has shown me that I can do anything I want as long as I keep up my positive attitude and give 100 percent effort in what I do,” Perez said. “I had an amazing experience with the annual Phuture Phoenix Day and it made me realize that UW-Green Bay was the right place for me.”
Phuture Phoenix Day is a coordinated effort to inspire academic success and alert children to educational opportunities that are available to them. College prep starts early and this year’s Phuture Phoenix field trip will offer students a first-hand glimpse of the steps they will need to take to make sure their educational aspirations are attainable.
New to the field trip experience this year, students will learn about different financial aid resources available to them. Diana Delbecchi, UW-Green Bay Student Employment and Scholarship Coordinator, will discuss the importance of saving for college. She will give students ideas on how they can start to save now for college and discuss the importance of saving. Delbecchi will talk to students about the costs of college and options to make it more affordable for them and their families, as well as living at home versus living on campus and various scholarship options.
The Admissions office also will have a presence at this year’s field trip. Jennifer Jones, Assistant Director of Admissions for Marketing, Media and Recruitment at UW-Green Bay, will speak to students about their choice to attend college. She will inform them about the different types of colleges, what they will need to do in middle school and high school for college to be a possibility, and the different majors and minors offered by UW-Green Bay. This discussion will give the fifth-grade students an actionable plan to prepare for the college admissions process.
Students and their mentors will visit classrooms, residence halls, the Cofrin Library, the Kress Events Center and other parts of campus during the tour days. Several UW-Green Bay faculty members have special planned activities in which students and their teachers may participate. The fifth-graders will be welcomed into classrooms across campus, witnessing a typical day in the life of a college student. They will get to experience sitting inside a college classroom while class is in session, and will be introduced to what college curriculum looks like. The students will be provided a glimpse of the educational opportunities and resources that will be available to them as UW-Green Bay students.
For additional information contact: Phuture Phoenix Program Director Kimberly Desotell at (920) 465-2992; or Associate Director Stephanie Cataldo Pabich at (920) 465-5170.
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