Neinas Elementary Students Visit Campus posted 3/17/08

ADRIAN, Mich. – The partnership between Adrian College/Mortar Board and Neinas Elementary will be formally established on Wednesday, March 19 when 66 fifth graders visit the College’s campus.

During their visit, the students will tour the College, sit through a mini-class session, eat lunch in Ritchie Marketplace, and experience a real college atmosphere.

“The children will be able to see what college is like,” says Idalí Feliciano, director of multicultural programs at the College. “We want the experience to give these young students hope so they can see that they too can go to college some day.”

Neinas Elementary, which is located in inner-city Detroit, is very representative of Latino and African American students. The school has no library and after finding this out, the Mortar Board, which focuses its help on literacy, took a special interest with the school.

The Mortar Board, with the help of the Adrian College community, collected over 200 books for the fifth graders and the books were delivered to the students back in January.

An “email pals” project is also in the works between the youngsters and the College students. This will keep the fifth graders in touch with the College students as well as help them practice their reading and writing skills.

More information about the visit can be obtained by contacting Idalí Feliciano in the multicultural programs office at 517-264-3728 or via e-mail at ifeliciano@adrian.edu.