Brent Quam/Winonan

101 fifth-grade students from Winona Middle School spent the day at Winona State University March 6.

The event was called March to College, and NSCS, the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, led by Penny Warner of Winona State’s education department, hosted the event.

Ashley Beaird, an NSCS volunteer for the event, said, “The objective of the event is to get kids to understand that anyone can go to college. It’s important to get them interested in college.”

Warner agreed. “We want to plant the seeds of going to college early,” Warner said.  “Often, by high school, when students are faced with these decisions, they’ve already made them, one way or another. We want everyone to be successful.”

Participating students already seemed excited at the prospect of college. Joshawn Covington, one of the participating students, said, “Yes, I plan to go to college. Y-E-S.”

For another student, Adeline Matthews, it was just a question of which school to go to.  “I’m keeping my options open,” she said. “I haven’t decided yet.”

The fifth-graders were divided into five teams and cycled through five stations, each representing a different aspect or area of study at Winona State.

At the science-themed station, students learned to make soap and calculated the number of germs they were killing by washing their hands.

At another, art-themed station, students made friendship bracelets.  Each station took place in a different building on campus.

The students’ favorite activity appears to have been the College Relay. The purpose of the activity was to provide the students with a sense of the fullness of a typical Winona State student’s daily schedule.

Participating students began the race by laying down on a mat, simulating the need for a full eight hours’ rest before the day.  “Do we have to actually lay here for eight hours?” asked one boy.

The next stations involved students paying their ‘tuition,’ going to ‘class,’ exercising at the gym, then going to work at the book store, which meant sorting piles of books by size, and then running back to the mats to do it all over again.

“You know how I know it’s not really like that?” asked Covington. “You couldn’t do this every day.”

Sue Eckerson of admissions closed out the day’s events with a speech to the students, who also received for their efforts an honorary Certificate of Completion and a bag with the products of all their day’s activities and a Winona State T-shirt.

“We want everyone here to feel successful,” Warner said.

Funding for the event was secured from the Winona State Student Senate.  “They accepted our grant proposal,” Warner said, “and for that I can’t give them enough credit.”

Winona State’s NSCS chapter’s proposal for the March to College also gained the attention of NSCS leadership. “Out of approximately 250 proposals for the event nationwide, Winona State NSCS members’ proposal has been chosen as the ideal,” Warner said.

NSCS officers from Winona State will present their proposal at a conference the organization is holding in Houston, Texas, next month.

Contact Brent at [email protected]