By MIKE JAMES - The Independent
ASHLAND — Not even out of the sixth grade, Makenna Ryan already knows she wants to go to college.
“I started thinking about college when I was 6. I’m going to grow up and be a lawyer and take care of my mom,” Makenna said Wednesday.
She was in just the right place to be thinking about college. Makenna and her classmates, the entire Hatcher Elementary School sixth grade, spent the day at Ashland Community and Technical College, touring all three campuses to find out what they can learn after they graduate from high school.
The children started their day at ACTC’s newest campus at EastPark and then swung by the Roberts Drive campus — what used to be Ashland Technical College —before ending their visit at College Drive, the former Ashland Community College.
College visits are commonplace for high school students, said Hatcher counselor Kevin Smith, whose previous position was at Paul Blazer High, but the career exploration excursion was a first for Hatcher sixth-graders. Smith sees the visit as a natural outgrowth of the school’s teaching. “We always push the concept that good grades equal success. This connects it with the real world,” he said.
Sixth grade also is the stage at which students begin to compile individual graduation plans, required of all Kentucky public school students for graduation.
Practically speaking, the visit shows the students the post-secondary choices they have in their own community and introduces them to some of their options and the mechanics of going to college. So in addition to seeing academic and career paths, they learned about paying for college and financial aid.
During a stop at ACTC’s Mansbach library, librarian Sara Brown showed them some research tools they can use right now and also showed them how to access library information on the web.
At the J.B. Sowards Theater, they learned about ACTC’s active theater program and the productions they are eligible to audition for.
The EastPark campus was a hit, especially with some of the boys, said teacher Kim Wilbur. “The boys were amazed with the welding and electrical and machine shops,” she said.
Some of the girls were, too. “I liked seeing welding, how the process is done,” said Elizabeth Ellison. Elizabeth said she’d consider becoming a welder, but she is keeping her options open — she also was intrigued by the culinary and cosmetology programs and was impressed by the library.
Smith, who meets with the students every week, told them to think about what they saw Wednesday. “We’ve seen a lot we’re going to talk about for the next 12 weeks of school,” he said.
