GREENFIELD — About 100 second graders from Oak Avenue Elementary School in Greenfield visited University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) campus Oct. 18 to take a campus tour and learn about college opportunities available to them.
“This is a great way to introduce college possibilities to our second-grade students and help cultivate a future driven mindset,” said Myra Villagomez, assistant principal at Oak Avenue Elementary. “It’s never too early to teach students about colleges and universities.”
UCSC student organization, Hermanas Unidas, provided the campus tour for the second graders.
“We love giving campus tours to students and fits with our organization’s goals of providing access to latinx students,” said Christine Pinetta of Hermanas Unidas. “We hope to inspire these young students to not only go to college but hopefully come to UCSC.”
After the campus tour, the second graders brought their lunch and ate near the college’s Quarry Amphitheater and Bookstore before departing later that afternoon.
“This is a great collaboration between UCSC and a school from the south Monterey County area,” said Raul Ebio, partnership development manager with the Educational Partnership Center and the GEAR UP grant. “I don’t think many students in the south Monterey County area visit UCSC, so this is good for them to get to know UCSC.”
