It’s hard to know what college is actually like until you’re on campus, living the college student life. (This truth applies to parents back at home!) But each summer, about 100 charter high school students spend an entire week at Grand Valley State University, living, learning — and transforming into future college kids.
This summer at College Prep Week, 101 students from charter schools authorized by GVSU gathered on campus to experience college life through robust classes and enrichment activities. They also shared dorms with roommates and ate in campus cafeterias. About 90 of these students attend charter high schools in metro Detroit.
At week’s end, students returned home with new skills, new perspectives and a better understanding of what it means to be a college student.
Gaining tools to use today and in the future
As well as experiencing full immersion in campus life, at College Prep Week, students build skills they can utilize immediately, says Barry Hall, Director of Charter Through College Programs.
“We’re giving them the tools and resources to be great college students, and they can implement these as soon as they get back,” Hall says, adding that members of his Charter Through College team teach courses during the week. “My course was about understanding how to connect your goal to your ‘why’ to be a successful student.”
In small groups, students cycled through additional courses on understanding mental health, professionalism and interviewing, and resume building. “Students leave with an actual resume, and that’s a prime example of tools and resources we’re providing for students,” he says.
Learning the many resources campus life offers
College Prep Week students also experienced interactive tours of university resources at GVSU. They visited the Allied Health Sciences building and simulation lab and learned about sustainable farming and beekeeping through the Sustainable Agriculture Project.
“The kids got to plant and pick vegetables and learn about how to farm using sustainable techniques so they can start their own gardens and farms,” says Shelby Powell, the Charter Through College Specialist and director of this year’s College Prep Week.
Students also visited the Laker Esports Center and learned about how gaming can become an eventual career.
They also visited some of the GVSU social justice centers, including the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Center for Women and Gender Equity and the LGBT Resource Center. “When we tour the campus we make sure we go into those offices so students can hear about all the targeted support and resources those centers offer,” Powell says.
Students also ventured off campus in groups to experience what Grand Rapids has to offer, including the Ferris Coffee Lab, the Grand Rapids Public Museum and Brush Studio, also known as BrushGR. “The students are still learning a lot about themselves and about their interests and hobbies,” Powell says. “They’re also learning that college isn’t only about classes. It’s also about doing these things for themselves that are new or sparks curiosities. These activities have an educational component, but they are also just fun to try.”
Powell relates the many benefits of College Prep Week from her own lived experience. She first attended the camp as a rising junior at Michigan Mathematics and Science Academy. After graduation, she attended GVSU, serving as a Campus Navigator, then as a graduate assistant, and now as the Charter Through College Specialist with the GVSU Charter Schools Office.
The chance to be yourself in a safe, non-judgmental environment
One reason College Prep Week is so successful is the welcoming and supportive vibe, says Charter Scholars Specialist Genevieve Reside, who has been working with the camp since 2017.
“Time and time again, students say, ‘I have never been this version of myself. Here, I feel so comfortable to step outside of my zone and try different things,’” she says, sharing that it’s gratifying to see kids thrive in a new environment.
“The second the students come to campus, we make it very clear that this is a place where they can be themselves and they are accepted and that we’re not going to judge them for who they are, what they like or what they do,” Powell says. “That’s our main purpose, to make sure these kids are welcomed, valued and seen when they get here on campus. That’s what really makes them feel safe.”
Supported by college students they can connect with
In addition to the Charter Through College team, students interact with Campus Navigators, who are college students, many of whom graduated from a GVSU charter school.
“We specifically try to get very different types of students, different majors, so the high school students are able to interact with people going through the (college) process right now who may have been from similar areas as them, who are interested in the same kinds of things as them,” explains Reside. “Once they realize these are college students who may have come from the same place as them and can identify with their challenges, they are able to see someone succeeding and thriving and that’s so important for them moving forward.”
The application process for attending College Prep Week is rigorous, in many ways similar to a real college application, but students can attend multiple years. Many participants go on to attend GVSU, and others do not. But for most students, the experience is “transformative,” says Hall.
“By the end of the week the students are in tears, the navigators are in tears. There’s such a sense of belonging. They don’t want to leave,” he says.
“On Friday, when they get back on the bus and head to the southeast side of the state, what they take with them they can start to implement immediately in everyday action,” Hall says. “The tools we’re giving them, the experiences, the activities, the navigators, the people they interact with are all designed to make them a better person. And that starts now. Students leave, and they go back home with something.”
Learn more about how your child can attend a GVSU-authorized charter school, and discover charter public schools near you. Visit gvsu.edu/cso.
Find more content like this at Metro Parent’s Guide to Michigan Charter Schools.
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