UW-Green Bay to host nearly 1,600 fifth graders Oct. 16-17
Green Bay, Wis. — UW-Green Bay will host its fifteenth annual Phuture Phoenix Campus Visit on Oct. 16-17, 2019, welcoming 1,595 students from 26 Northeast Wisconsin Schools to the Green Bay campus to inspire the students to “dare to dream about going to college.”
UW-Green Bay’s signature Phuture Phoenix program partners with schools that have high percentages of students from low-income families and encourages students to graduate from high school and pursue a college education.
The program has hosted nearly 22,000 fifth-grade students during the annual campus visits every October since it began in 2003. To help support the campus experience for fifth graders, there will be over 300 UW-Green Bay students volunteering to serve as role models and group leaders for the day and 107 faculty members participating in various activities and sharing their classrooms on campus.
Phuture Phoenix is a coordinated program to inspire academic success and alert children to educational opportunities that are available to them. College prep starts early, and the Phuture Phoenix campus experiences offer students a first-hand look at the necessary steps to pursue and attain higher education goals, as well as everything a university education can offer. Phuture Phoenix programming helps prepare elementary school students for college early, according to Jenny Woldt, fifth-grade teacher at Jefferson Elementary School.
“You have to start in kindergarten, get it in their brain that they are college-bound no matter where they come from, and that they just need to work hard in school and work hard in their community, and they can get there,” Woldt said.
Included in this fall’s campus experience are expanded partnerships with the Kress Events Center and UW-Green Bay’s Office of Residence Life, making it possible for fifth graders to experience two essential elements of college life: recreational opportunities and on-campus housing.
“The Office of Residence Life is happy to be able to participate in the Phuture Phoenix program, as it’s never too early to introduce the concept of attending college,” said UWGB Director of Residence Life, Gail Sims-Aubert. “It’s so important that today’s youth understand going to college means they will be a part of a vibrant educational experience both inside and outside the classroom. This program is an outstanding opportunity to provide a sneak peak of life on campus.”
All students who participate in the Phuture Phoenix Campus Visit days are eligible to apply for a Phuture Phoenix Scholarship if they choose to attend UWGB after graduating high school.
More information about Phuture Phoenix is available at http://www.uwgb.edu/phuture-phoenix/.
About the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay is a comprehensive public institution offering undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs to more than 8,000 students with campus locations in Green Bay, Marinette, Manitowoc and Sheboygan. Established in 1965 on the border of Green Bay, the University and its campuses are centers of cultural enrichment, innovation and learning. The Green Bay campus is home to one of the Midwest’s most prolific performing arts centers, a nationally recognized 4,000-seat student recreation center, Division I athletics, an award-winning nine-hole golf course and a five-mile recreational trail and arboretum, which is free and open to the public. This four-campus University transforms lives and communities through student-focused teaching and research, innovative learning opportunities, powerful connections and a problem-solving approach to education. UW-Green Bay’s main campus is centrally located, close to both the Door County resort area and the dynamic economies of Northeast Wisconsin, the Fox Valley region and the I-43 corridor. UW-Green Bay offers in-demand programs in science, engineering and technology; business; health, education and social welfare; and arts, humanities and social sciences. For more information, visit www.uwgb.edu.
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