Cleveland Students Learn The College Ropes

While on the SHSU campus, the 12 Cleveland High School students toured the campus and learned about the admissions process, financial aid and the social part of being in college.

Anthony Harris, associate professor of educational leadership and counseling, showed 12 Cleveland High School students labeled “at risk” what the college experience is all about Thursday afternoon.

Harris, who mentors to almost 40 students at the school on a weekly basis, brought the 12 males to SHSU to tour the university, as well as learn about the admissions process and financial aid, and speak with staff members and students.

“ I’m just trying to encourage them to make good decisions while they’re in school and when they graduate from high school, because for so many of them, an option is to do nothing, to walk the streets and engage in all kinds of negative behavior,” Harris said. “We want them to make better decisions, make better choices, and my bias is I want them to consider college as an option for something to do after they graduate high school.

“ Most of these kids have never been on a college campus before. College is something they just don’t think about, they don’t consider it, even though they are capable of doing college work,” he said. “The appeal of doing nothing and walking the streets is very easy and very powerful to them.

“ I’m trying to identify a small group of the kids, bring them to the campus, so they can see what we have offer, look at the dormitories, the classrooms, the rec center, the student center,” he continued. “Just being exposed to the college environment, I have no doubt will help some of them make the decision to go to college.”

Harris has been working with the students since November 2004, when he was approached by the Cleveland High School administration because of having created a similar program when he lived in Commerce.

Most of the students he works with are poor, with 90 percent coming from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and many come from single-parent families, Harris said.

Weekly meetings consist of group and individual discussions on life in general; their academic life at the high school; relationships with family, friends and members of the opposite sex; and the challenges of moving into young adulthood. He also spends time with the high school staff, who direct him in seeking out new students to talk with, and works with students of all races.

“The youngsters are at risk of not graduating from high school, some are at risk of not doing well in life,” Harris said. “As a university that is less than an hour away, I just think that we have if not an obligation we certainly have an expectation to give them outreach and try to show them that college is a viable option for them.”

Harris said the students have responded well to him, seeking him out and treating him as a father figure.

“ It’s working; I really think it’s making a difference,” he said. “It’s been gratifying for me from a professional and just a humanistic kind of perspective to know that we’re making a difference in the lives of these young people and as a professor at the university, I just want to expose the kids to the campus life and encourage them to make good choices.”

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SHSU Media Contact: Jennifer Gauntt
May 6, 2005
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