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In this issue:
On April 21, 2017, eight students from A. Mario Loiederman Middle School visited Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland via the Brian K. Betts Foundation sponsored College Connection Program.
The day started with a presentation from the admissions department. They spoke about academic choices, research opportunities and student life. The students were also able to hear about experiences in these areas from the student athlete hosts. After the presentation, the students were taken on a tour of the campus. The tour included stops in the library and some academic buildings, highlighted by a view of a robotic surgery lab and the university’s archaeological museum.
The students had the opportunity to have lunch in the JHU dining hall which always seems to be a highlight of the day for them. After lunch, the students took a tour of a dorm room of one of the JHU hosts. After the tour, the students got a great opportunity to observe JHU students taking part in a Protein Engineering and Biochemistry Lab. The professor welcomed the students into the lab as she described the experiment to take place and some of the JHU students even explained the steps in the experiment to the Loiederman students as they conducted the experiment.
The students were then given a tour of the athletic facilities at JHU, including locker rooms and training rooms. The JHU Athletic Director was kind enough to stop by and meet with the students as well. The students received Johns Hopkins t-shirts and posters before heading off to watch the Baseball team take on Franklin & Marshall. After the baseball game, the students came back to the athlete’s lounge for pizza and to sum up the day.
Hart Middle School Students Enjoy Duke Experience
On February 2nd and 3rd, eight students from Hart Middle School in Washington, DC visited Duke’s campus via an educational enrichment program provided by the Brian K. Betts Foundation (BKB). The BKB Foundation continues the legacy of Brian K. Betts, a passionate advocate for children’s education, through its College Connection Program. BKB’s College Connection Program brings middle school students from underprivileged communities to visit university campuses across the east coast. This program is designed to inspire students to strive for excellence and to better appreciate the importance of education. The 5th annual BKB College Connection program included a campus visit to Duke.
The eight Hart Middle School students were Albert, Steffen , Miracle, Tyler, Melody, Jasmine, Antawan, and Wayne. They traveled to Durham on Thursday morning with two counselors from Hart Middle School, Lisa Aleshire and Barrington Brown. They began the trip with tours of the K Center and the Duke Hall Of Fame to learn about the history of Duke Athletics. They made their way across campus to the Duke Immersive Virtual Environment (DiVE), located in the Engineering Quad, for a visit to the virtual reality room. Antawan, who is interested in Robotics and Computer Engineering, stated that he, “Enjoyed the virtual reality room although it felt weird being in there and feeling like you are flying around—it was fun”.
After the visit to the DiVE, the Hart Middle School students met with their student-athlete mentors: Alyssa Chillano (Field Hockey), Keyston Fuller (Football), Sarah Furey (Field Hockey), Quentin Harris (Football), Tracey Jander (Track), Jaylen Miller (Football), Chris Taylor (Football), and Jordan Tucker (Volleyball) for dinner in the new Blue Devil Tower, where all student-athletes are hosted for training table Monday through Thursday. Tracy Jander, a freshman on the Duke track team, remarked, “I loved getting to see the excitement the kids had on their visit. It reminded me of how excited I was when I came to visit Duke and how privileged I am to be at one of the best universities.” The day came to a conclusion after the group and their mentors cheered on the Duke Women’s basketball team to a victory over Clemson in Cameron Indoor Stadium (65-37).
The next day began bright and early on Friday morning as they kicked off the day with a meeting with Sam Carpenter from the Duke University Admissions Office. Mr. Carpenter discussed with the group what the admissions process is like for prospective students, and what it would take to attend Duke University. The group then took a tour of the Yoh Football Center, where they met former Duke Football All-American, Devon Edwards. Afterwards, they received a tour of the Innovation Co-Lab Studio, where they were shown how 3D-printed models are developed and produced. Mitchell Green, the lab manager, gave the group a tour as they learned some of the practical uses of 3D-printing such as creating a light holder for your bike or developing a book bag hanger.
After the tour of the Innovation Co-Lab Studio the Hart Middle School students attended lunch with Jordan Burton (Track), Ellyse Hamlin (Women’s Tennis), Bella Miller (Rowing), Michelle Staggers (Women’s Lacrosse), and Alyssa Smith (Women’s Tennis) in the West Union Dining Hall. They finished the trip by pushing their physical and mental boundaries by climbing the Rock Wall in the Wilson Center.
After an awesome two days of exploring Duke University, the Hart Middle School students returned to their Washington, DC homes on Friday afternoon.
Nancy Hernandez
Nancy Hernandez is from Stonewall Jackson High School in Manassas, VA. She will be attending Virginia State University, planning to major in Elementary Education.
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Download our Winter 2016 Newsletter here!
We’re pleased to announce the recipients of the 2015 BKB Foundation Scholarship Award. Congratulations!
Our scholarship recipient from Watkins Mill High School this year is Elida Vasquez Serrano. Elida plans on pursing an education major and will be attending Montgomery College. She gives teachers credit for having a huge impact on her life. They taught her to reach her potential and to never give up. She wants to major in Education and become an Autism Spectrum Specialist.
Ashlyn JohnsAshlyn Johns is the BKB Scholarship recipient from Stonewall Jackson High School in Manassas, VA. Ashlyn will be attending James Madison University in the fall and her anticipated major is Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies; Elementary Education. College was never in question for Ashlyn. She always knew she would go to college. She wants to teach to change someone’s life, like some of her teachers did for her.
DURHAM – On February 1, seven students from Hart Middle School in Washington, DC visited Duke’s campus via an educational enrichment program provided by the Brian K. Betts Foundation (BKB). The BKB Foundation continues the legacy of Brian K. Betts, a passionate advocate for children’s education, through its College Connection Program. BKB’s College Connection Program brings middle school students from underprivileged communities on university visits to campuses across the east coast. This program is designed to inspire students to strive for excellence and to better appreciate the importance of education. The 4th annual College Connections program included a campus visit to Duke.
The seven Hart Middle School students were Tone’ya Cheadle, Tyray Perkins, Helen Johnson, Marcus Vick, JaQuan Blake, Reynard Alexander, and Deonte McGriff. They traveled to Durham on Sunday and met with members of the BKB Board for dinner. Their visit continued on Monday, with the day beginning with a tour of the athletic facilities. This tour included watching an offseason workout of the Duke Women’s Volleyball team in the Murray Building, followed by tours of the Yoh Football Center, Cameron Indoor Stadium, and the Krzyzewski Center. Afterwards, each student was partnered with a current Duke student-athlete to shadow for part of the day. The student-athletes who volunteered their time as mentors include: Alyssa Chillano (Field Hockey), Track and Field’s Megan Clark, Urina Harrell, and Chaz Hawkins (Track & Field), and Duke Football’s Zavier Carmichael, Cody Robinson, and Chris Taylor (Football). The mentors took their mentees to a class, toured campus, as well as ate lunch before the middle school students departed for an Admissions and Leadership enrichment session.
During the Admissions and Leadership enrichment session, Sam Carpenter from the Duke University Admissions Office discussed what the admissions process is like for prospective students and what it would take to attend Duke University. Afterwards, each middle school student created a vision board. Their vision board focused on what makes them happy and what they want to achieve in life. Their visit concluded by cheering on the Duke Women’s Basketball Team as they took on #3 ranked Notre Dame. Helen Johnson, A Hart Middle School student, whose goals include attending an Ivy League School, stated BKB’s College Connections trip helped her understand that she “needs to work hard to achieve her goals and stay focused on being herself.”
After a phenomenal day of exploring the different aspects of life as a student at Duke University, the Hart Middle School students returned to their Washington, DC homes on Tuesday morning to work toward making their visions a reality.
Go Duke!
