On March 25, 2015, Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in Baltimore, Maryland was host to a group of students from A. Mario Loiederman Middle School in Silver Spring, Maryland.  The students were on a College Connection trip sponsored by the Brian K. Betts Foundation for Educational Enrichment.

Upon arrival at JHU, the students were greeted by Kelsie Gory, Assistant Athletics Director/SWA-Game Operations, Mike Cosgrove, representative from the BKB Foundation, and Doris Betts, Chairperson of the Foundation. They also met the student-athlete mentors who would be with them throughout the day.   After enjoying a continental breakfast in the Student-Athlete Lounge, the Athletics Director of JHU, Mr. Calder, welcomed the students and spoke with them for a few minutes.

Then, off to Mason Hall where they met with an Admissions Officer and had an opportunity to learn about the admission process and ask questions regarding attending college.  We were happy to see there was a lot of interest and many questions asked by the students. Following the admissions overview, the students were treated to a campus tour that was conducted by two students from Johns Hopkins and was quite informative.

The students attended their first college class – Psychopharmacology – at Mudd Hall.  After class they had lunch in the dining hall with the student-athletes and then a residence hall tour.  Lots of questions were asked during this tour.

The Facilities Tour was next at Homewood/Athletic Center.  After the tour, the students watched some of the baseball game before heading to the Lacrosse field to watch Johns Hopkins win over Vanderbilt.

The day is coming to a close and it’s time to head back to the Student-Athlete Lounge for a pizza dinner, debriefing and departing for home.  It was a full and exciting day for the students.  This experience will help them become more focused on what they need to do academically in the upcoming years so they will be prepared for college.  The middle school students can continue to remain in contact with the student-athlete assigned to them during the trip.  This communication may be via phone, email, texting, Facebook or another form of social media.

This was the first BKB Foundation sponsored College Connection trip to Johns Hopkins University, and we are looking forward to partnering with JHU for many more trips.

Thanks to everyone at JHU who gave of their time for the middle school students.

A very special thanks to Kelsie Gory, Mike Cosgrove, Shannon Cosgrove and the student-athlete mentors for making this first College Connection Trip to JHU a successful and memorable one.