NACOGDOCHES, TX (KTRE) -
Nacogdoches fifth graders made
a significant commitment today. They
said they'll continue their education after they finish high school.
It's all part of "Commitment
2020" - a clever way of pointing students toward a college education. Adults
should be so lucky as these 500 or so fifth graders. They have the next 11
years all planned out.
"We're going to prepare them
academically, socially, and emotionally to be successful in college," Keri
Launius, the Nacogdoches ISD college and career coordinator, said.
In unison, the fifth graders
cheered, "After high school comes college."
The students' yellow Commitment
2020 cards were signed, sealed, and delivered to a holding box. The students
will get the reminders back when they become the graduating class of 2020.
Yellow commitment 2020 cards
are signed, sealed and delivered to a holding box.
The students will get the
reminders back when they become the graduating class of 2020.
During Friday's event, the students
listened intently as adults told them about the benefits of higher learning.
Mayor Roger Van Horn told them that knowledge opens up a world of
opportunities.
"Knowledge and information open
up the whole world to you," Van Horn said.
Some children said there is a
person even more persuasive than the mayor. Several students said their moms
are urging them to go to college, and one student said, "She says I need to get
a good degree."
After today, students are more
aware of their local university. They now have new Future Jack T-shirts and
exposure to the cooler parts of campus.
"And we call him Surfin' Steve because
if you look at it from a side angle it kinda looks like he's on a surf board,"
one student tour guide said of the statue of Stephen F. Austin and fountain in
the middle of the Stephen F. Austin State University campus.
The time will come to research
the academic offerings of SFA and other colleges or technical schools. But then
again, some students may be searching already.
"I'm going to college and
become a scientist," one student said.
"I want to be an accountant,"
another student said.
They've made the commitment.
It's up to adults to help them keep it.
Copyright 2012 KTRE. All rights reserved.
