Entrada Is In Full Swing at Calvin

July 1, 2005 == MEDIA ADVISORY

Calvin College will host a graduation ceremony for its Entrada Scholars
Program on Friday, July 15 at 11 am in Gezon Auditorium on its campus.

There 205 Entrada Scholars will be recognized for the completion of the
program, senior Entrada scholars coming to Calvin in the fall will be inducted
into the Tapestry Leadership Program, a scholarship will be given to an
entering freshman and the Entrada Distinguished Alumni award will be given.

The Entrada Scholars Program at Calvin College offers ethnic minority high
school students a "gateway" to the future: the opportunity to experience
college learning and living while earning college credit.

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.

This year there are 43 students at Entrada representing 17 different states
and three different continents!

Entrada students also live in a residence hall setting during the program,
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.

"We want students to get a true sense of what college -- particularly Calvin
-- is all about," says Entrada director Rhae-Ann Booker. "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."

Entrada is supported by grants from the Maryland-based VanLunen Foundation and
the locally based Meijer Foundation.

Booker says Entrada has had strong success in terms of getting high schools
students to move on to college with a 96% success rate, something both Meijer
and VanLunen resonated with in deciding to make their gifts.

In fact, since its inception in 1991, about 400 students have completed
Entrada. Some have gone on to Calvin (about 70 Entrada alumni are currently at
Calvin) and some attended other colleges. Almost all have pursued some sort of
post high school education.

For the full story see
http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2004_05/entrada.htm
Contact Rhae-Ann Booker at 616-526-6749

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Received on Fri Jul 1 09:14:17 2005