High Fives and Hugs

 Lawrence “Mr. Bain” Manley (Junior English Education major), Elvio Diaz (Senior Accounting major), Elise Jackson (Senior English Education major) and Teresita Mariano (Senior English Education major) reconnected with students from Bayard Middle School, during the 54th Annual College Night at UD’s Bob Carpenter Center on Tuesday October 25, 2011.  Bain, Elvio, Elise, and Teresita have spent summer semesters involved in research and experiential learning projects at the Wilmington school.  As the Bayard 7th and 8th grade students entered the Carpenter Center prepared to meet their “college guides” for the evening, several ran gleefully forward giving “high fives” and hugs to the ASPIRE students whom they now view as friends and mentors.     ASPIRE members Tyemah Bell (Junior Early Childhood Education major), Kevin Nai (Sophomore English Education major), and Karl Fomundan (Junior Medical Technology major) joined the veteran ASPIRE members in chaperoning the middle school students as they visited college representatives and worked to complete their college planning assignment.      The middle school students worked diligently to identify colleges that were represented at the fair from Delaware and all the surrounding states.  They had also interviewed some of their teachers before coming to the fair and the students were anxious to find representatives of colleges that their teachers attended.  All of the Bayard students succeeded in getting literature from at least 3 schools that offer majors that lead to careers that the students might be interested in pursuing, and the ASPIRE members succeeded in reinforcing messages that encourage the younger students to continue to work hard and pursue their dreams of going to college.  During the drive back to campus, the ASPIRE members noted that several of their middle school students asked very pointed questions about what it is like to study to become a teacher. . .