BELLINGHAM - Ten Mile Creek Elementary fifth-grader Amerdeep Singh may only be 10 years old, but he knows he wants to go to college because he "wants to get an education."
But before Tuesday, Oct. 25, he hadn't been to Western Washington University or to any other college campus.
Amerdeep was one of nearly 800 fifth-graders who descended upon WWU's campus as part of the annual Compass 2 Campus program event. Now in its third year, the program partners WWU student mentors with public schools in the region to encourage students to start thinking about higher education at an early age.
And now that Amerdeep has been to a campus, he's even more excited about the prospect of continuing his education after high school.
"It's pretty nice," he said about Western after spending Tuesday morning touring the university. "It's exciting to see a lot of things."
Compass 2 Campus, which is directed by Cyndie Shepard, starts each year with fifth-graders from participating elementary schools - nine in Whatcom County and three in Skagit County - coming to WWU for daylong tours.
During tours Tuesday, elementary students met with college students, talked with university instructors, learned about the athletic programs and clubs, toured university programs and just experienced what life as a college student is like.
"We learned what we should do," said 10-year-old Jake McKinnon, who wants to be a business owner some day. "Instead of having a normal job, if I go to college I might be able to have a better job."
The campus tours are just the start of the mentorship program. Throughout the rest of the school year, more than 300 WWU student mentors volunteer in the students' classrooms, helping them with schoolwork and serving as a young adult they can connect to.
"You're not a teacher's assistant, you're supposed to be a mentor, work with the kids on school work, go to recess, go to lunch, and be their friend," said WWU junior Kaylyn Brown, who has been with the program for all three years. "It's like, 'I'm more your age, so let's talk about other things than class.' You're there as an ally and a buddy."
Mentors continue to follow students as they move on to higher grades. The first fifth-graders are now seventh-graders, with WWU student mentors now working in the middle schools those students attend. As students reach high school, WWU student mentors will continue to support them.
Brown still sees some of her original students, now at Meridian Middle School, and they still talk about the tour day and the original mentor pairings.
"They know the program is still there and that we're working with them," said the Woodring College student. "We're not just there one time and then left them."
The program, launched with the help of a work-study grant from the Higher Education Coordinating Board, is modeled after a program in Wisconsin co-founded by Shepard, WWU President Bruce Shepard's wife. The Phuture Phoenix program now has students who have graduated from high school and are attending three Wisconsin universities.
The program targets schools with large populations of students who are considered low-income, minorities, or who may be the first student in their family to attend college. Six Whatcom County school districts, plus Lummi Nation Schools, participate in the program.
"I want to come to this college," said Patty Ortiz, 11, from Ten Mile Creek Elementary School. "It seems cool."
