By Logan Hanson
FightingIllini.com
It was a weekend the kids had prepared for since September. Ms. Santiqua Strickland's fourth-grade class at Learn Charter School adopted the University of Illinois as their college prep learning focus. And after reaching out to Illinois, they were surprised by a special invitation by Coach Lovie Smith to visit the Urbana-Champaign campus.
The weekend was finally upon them and they embarked on their trip on Friday before the Illini played Iowa at Memorial Stadium. LEARN Charter School from Chicago is one of a network of schools under the same name dedicated to providing high-quality college preparation classes.
"The school mission is to provide our scholars with the academic ambition and foundation to earn a college degree," said fourth grade teacher Santiqua Strickland, "We didn't want to just talk about it, but we actually wanted to make it a reality and see what it's like to earn a college degree and what college life was like and that in turn would encourage [the scholars] to work even harder."
Strickland and her fourth grade class were personal guests of head coach Lovie Smith and the Illini football team after Smith surprised the class with a video invitation. For the kids, it was an additional gift for an already exciting experience.
"At first I was already happy because they personally came to our classroom," said fourth grader Zryan Morgan, "Then for Lovie Smith to personally tell us we were coming to U of I, it was like wow!"
The students were given multiple unique opportunities both with the football team and the University as a whole. The class was taken to engineering and science labs to learn about STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and about the benefits that the University had to offer. It was an experience that left an impression on both kids and adults alike.
"We had introduction to engineering and the engineering department was just an awesome thing," said parent Barbara Colebrook, "When you look at the world at large it starts here construction, engineering and development so I was very impressed by the engineering department."
"I was a biology major so when I got there I was like 'Yes this is so awesome'," said LEARN Charter School assistant principle Cynthia Johnson, "And for our kids to learn about DNA and find out we all have DNA it was amazing for them to be able to experience that and for them to even talk about STEM and be interested in STEM.
The big activity was being able to interact with the football program. Students were able to meet Smith and give high fives to players as they left the stadium for Friday night team dinner, as well as go on the field to get the full Illini football experience. For the kids, it was a one of a kind opportunity to feel like a football player.
"My favorite part has been to actually go out to the football field," said Morgan, "Because I see football players on TV and I see what they're doing and to be on the football field it made me feel like I was actually on the football team and I got the real experience."
Overall, both students and their supervisors came away with a new understanding of the University of Illinois. At the end of the day, they all learned something that they didn't know about the University before they arrived in Urbana-Champaign.
"This was an awesome experience for me and my kid," said parent Barbara Colebrook, "I didn't know Illinois had so much to offer in its university and I was quite impressed with the funding, the grants, the upkeep and the upgrades I've seen in the school."
For the class as a whole the experience allowed the school to understand what college life was and to build on the mission of the school itself. The ability to show the children a potential future university and work with them to get into college is the goal and so the trip was the ultimate reward.
"It makes it all worth it. It makes it worthwhile. It makes me feel like all our hard work and effort is coming to life," said Strickland, "They're realizing why they work so hard and why we teach so hard and just want them to pursue their goals and their dreams because in the end it will all be worth it."
Thanks to the University of Illinois and the Fighting Illini football team, another group of young students were able to discover all that the school has to offer. With any luck, Ms. Strickland's class will be full of many future Illini.
