Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Aug. 31, 2004

Article written with the assistance of Sarah Briney, PR intern

Wilmington, N.C.– The University of North Carolina at Wilmington is reaching out to the surrounding communities to encourage area youth to attend college. Several programs, including Campaign College Camp, Heritage School and the Cameron School of Business Youth Entrepreneurial Society, are bringing boys and girls ages 2 to 17 to the UNCW campus.

“We are planting the idea of coming to UNCW,” said Helena Lee creator of Heritage School.

The Campaign College Camp program was created by Claudia Stack, a UNCW General College advisor, in collaboration with Colleen Pate, a career counselor at Trask High School in Rocky Point. “Colleen Pate started the Campaign College program as a way of informing families about higher education and encouraging students to consider college,” said Stack.

“I organized the Campaign College Camp because I wanted to build a bridge between UNCW and the small town where I live, which is Rocky Point. People in my community do not see themselves as very connected to UNCW, and many of the students do not view college in general, or UNCW in particular, as a realistic option,” said Stack.

The program featured speakers and workshops on topics such as admissions and financial aid and the students toured campus and sat in on an actual UNCW class. In May, Stack had spoken to Trask students about skills for college success. Emily Bliss, director of financial aid and veterans services, and Denis Carter, associate vice chancellor in academic affairs, also gave presentations to Trask High School students in the past year.

The university then hosted 20 Trask students for a three-day summer program which included activities that gave them the opportunity to become comfortable in a college setting. The students learned about the admissions process and used UNCW facilities such as William Madison Randall Library and the Student Recreation Center.

Another program in its first year at UNCW is the Youth Entrepreneurial Society (YES), sponsored by the Cameron School of Business, which provided local students the

opportunity to learn how to start and manage a business, to manage personal finances and to identify business opportunities. Students who have completed the program may also be offered scholarships to the Cameron School of Business.

A second phase of YES will also be part of the 11th annual Heritage School. The Heritage School kicks off Saturday, Oct. 9 at UNCW with a public forum discussing the status of African American families in southeast North Carolina.

The Heritage School’s theme this year is diversity and is for children ages two and up. The school allows children to take classes over five consecutive weeks, with a closing ceremony the weekend before Thanksgiving. “Parents can go to their classes while children go to theirs. There is no need to hire a babysitter,” said Lee. The Upperman African American Cultural Center sponsors this series of continuing educational opportunities to learn, teach and share in the African American experience as a family unit or individually.

Past classes have included “A Spiritual Examination of the Hip Hop Culture: A Psycho/Social Analysis of Values” which explored the hip-hop genre, the language and movies.

“The class helps narrow the gap between the parent and the child,” said Lee.

Heritage School instructors have included attorney Ruchadina L. Waddell, State Farm insurance agent Henry B. Brown, Rev. Perry D. Griffin and Paul Hicks, executive director of Cape Fear Regional Development Corporation.

A closing ceremony will be held before Thanksgiving week to celebrate the previous weeks of learning. Last year’s program included guest speaker Sgt. Yolanda R. Sparrow-Fitzpatrick of the Wilmington Police Department, remarks from Joanne Nottingham, former director of campus diversity, and entertainment by the UNCW Gospel Choir and the UNCW Dance Team. This year UNCW alumnus Carl Laurore, business services officer at BB&T, will be the guest speaker.

For more information about the Heritage School, contact Helena Lee 910/962-7087 or leeh@uncw.edu.

For information on Campaign College, contact Claudia Stack 910/962-3821 or stackc@uncw.edu.

For more information about the Youth Entrepreneurial Society, contact Tammi Hamilton 910/962-7391 or hamiltont@uncw.edu.