From: Phil deHaan (dehp@calvin.edu)
Date: Thu Jun 19 2003 - 10:09:58 EDT
June 19, 2003 == MEDIA ADVISORY
The Entrada Scholars program at Calvin College will have a record enrollment
in 2003.
Typically Entrada, a program designed to help ethnic minority high school
students prepare for college (the word is Spanish for gateway) has about 30
students. This year interest in Entrada was so overwhelming Calvin committed
to a significant expansion and will host over 50 students for four weeks this
summer.
The program begins June 22 and ends July 17 and see students coming from all
over the U.S. and Canada. The 50 students also represent a variety of ethnic
backgrounds and religious denominations.
Entrada Scholars begin move-in at 3 p.m. on Sunday. Family Orientation for
students and their parents begins at 5 p.m. in the Chapel Undercroft. At 7
p.m. the students bid farewell to their parents and officially begin their
four-week journey.
The heart of the Entrada Scholars Program is a regular three-week Calvin
College summer school course that Entrada students take with the Calvin
students. A true college immersion program, Entrada sees the high school
students not only take a regular class, but also live in the residence hall,
worship and grow spiritually together, eat in the dining hall, study in the
library, shoot hoops in the gym, order late-night pizzas, do a service project,
get a heavy dose of computer skills -- in other words, have a typical college
experience.
That, says director Rhae-Ann Booker, is the whole idea. "We want students to
get a true sense of what college -- particularly Calvin -- is all about," she
says. "At the end of Entrada, students have taken an actual Calvin class for
credit and they've lived on campus for a month. The Entrada experience gives
them a good look at what college life entails and what it takes to succeed in
college. It also gives them a taste of what Calvin's unique brand of Christian
education is all about."
All students accepted into the Entrada Scholars Program receive a full
scholarship valued at more than $2,500. This scholarship covers the cost of
Entrada, including tuition, room and board, books, supplies and activities.
Additionally, scholars who come to Calvin following high school completion
receive a $1,000 Entrada grant for up to five years.
Since its inception in 1991 over 350 students have attended Entrada. About 42
percent of those have gone on to Calvin after graduating from high school.
Most of the other Entrada graduates also have pursued higher education, going
on to attend a variety of local, state and national colleges and universities.
Contact Rhae-Ann Booker at 616-526-6749
-end-
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