High schoolers spend day at U.

Over 100 Philadelphia high school students flooded the campus yesterday with screams and shouts of enthusiasm. The students were spending the day at the University as part of the Program for Student Community Involvement's "This is College Day," but most were simply happy to be missing a day of school. Many students were eager to explore the campus while others were curious about other things. "I am curious as to what you do on lunch breaks and what college men look like," Megan Carvalho, a student from West Philadelphia High School said. The main goal of the event was to teach the West Philadelphia high school students that going to a higher learning institution is an important thing. Organizers of the event feel the real experience on a university campus is more beneficial than just talking about the subject. The program is part of the West Philadelphia Tutoring Project, and according to Program Director Todd Waller, the idea was that since University students go to the high schools to tutor, it would be a great idea if the high school students had the opportunity to come to where their tutors study. The morning started out at 8:30 a.m., when all the high school and University students gathered in Bodek Lounge to hear James Gray, staff member of the Annenberg School for Communication, give the opening address. He talked about the variety of things the University has to offer and the importance of higher education. "I strongly urge you to make the best of this while you can," Gray said, as he looked around the student-filled lounge. After the speech, the high school and University students were off to classes, campus tours, the library, the dormitories, the University Museum and other areas of interest. "I'll be like many of the hosts," College sophomore Yu Na Choi, one of the host said. "I'll show them around campus. But more important for them is to show them the importance of higher education and to help them out." The event ended with lunch at the University dining halls, where the students got a good taste of what college food is like. Organizers were not able to achieve their goal of one-on-one interaction between high school and University students, as there were only 72 University students to host 131 high school students. According to the event's sponsors, the day's goal was not to attract students to the University in particular, but only to expose them to education after high school. "The goal of the day is for students to spend the day at a college campus, said Linda Hansell, a member of the Collaborative for West Philadelphia Public Schools who organized last year's event. "The idea is not to recruit them, but to give them experience." Marisa Harris was one of the visiting students who was excited to be at the University. "I think it gives you a bit more background on college," the student from Bartram High School said. "I think it gives information on fees and grades that you have to have and the programs."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.