Tulane to Host 'Wave Days' for Local Elementary School Kids
Nov 13, 2008 | General
Nov. 13, 2008
NEW ORLEANS-The Tulane Devlin S-AFE (Student-Athletes for Education) Center, in conjunction with the A.B. Freeman School of Business, will be hosting the third installment of `Wave Days' Saturday, November 15. The program, designed to educate elementary and middle school students about the possibilities of going to college and continuing their education, is a project that is modeled after a similar program head football coach Bob Toledo began while coaching at UCLA in 1996, called "I'm going to college," a community outreach program whose participants were upwards of 10,000.
The New Orleans Superdome will be transformed into a scene of inspiration for many local area students. Through the help of the freshman TIDES (Tulane InterDisciplinary Experience Seminars) classes, S-AFE Center and Tulane Athletics, local area school children will be attending Tulane's last home football game of the season free of charge.
Prior to the game, these students will have the opportunity to participate in many events set up around the Superdome. These events include academic programs, icebreaker activities, and most importantly, mentoring programs in which the area students will be given the chance to personally connect with a Tulane TIDES student. This personal connection is intended to lead these children to form a lifelong goal of continuing their education and striving towards a college degree.
"The theme of the day, and of the program overall, is that going to college is something that's within their grasp, if they take the proper steps," Director of S-AFE Center and Tulane Senior Academic Counselor Lindsey Stineman said. "We want to give these kids an opportunity to learn what it takes to continue their education. By interacting with our Tulane students, they can get a feel for the path they need to stay on in order to get into college."
With approximately 400 elementary and middle school students participating, Tulane has insured that each young participant will receive more face time with their mentors and it will also allow time to develop relationships that the TIDES Business School classes intend to maintain throughout the school year.
"We want to use the day as an introduction to college life," Stineman said. "We [Tulane] are going to host these students on our college campus in the spring and likewise make trips out to their school so we can maintain these relationships and that the students feel as though they have a resource in our Tulane students."
The younger students will have a chance to experience different aspects of college life, while Tulane representatives reinforce the idea that a college education is attainable. Also included in the agenda of events will be presentations given by the business school students, covering such topics as what steps to take to continue on a collegiate path and enforcing the importance of classroom participation and grades.
Festivities for Wave Days will begin at 10am at the Superdome.
