Taking College Access on the Road
By Chelsea Jupin
Click here to see photos from these trips »
Henry Street’s Expanded Horizons program (EH)—which works to get youth into college and, more importantly, to get them through college—hit the road twice this winter!
On one trip, 43 high school juniors enrolled in the program visited snowy Boston to tour Wheaton College, Boston University and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and to speak with EH alumni who are students at those schools. At Wheaton, Joel Lopez told the students about his experiences away from home. At the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Kircys Canela (who received a Tannenbaum Scholarship at Henry Street) acted as the school’s ambassador for the group at a lunch and led an information session.
Visits to the campuses are extremely valuable, according to Sho Tolue, an EH college counselor. “The students can find information online, but nothing compares to being on campus to experience the environment, and meet students and professors,” she said.
The second trip was taken by Chris Fagan, Coordinator of Retention Services, who visited 12 EH alumni currently enrolled at Binghamton University. This newly created position allows Henry Street to check-in with students at their college campuses. Three of the students, now seniors, told Chris they were grateful for the visit, saying they felt supported to have “Henry Street family” on campus. Before this year, the staff could only interact with alumni who came back to Henry Street during school breaks.
“Expanded Horizons provides guidance to many New York City students who dream of going to college,” said Greg Rideout, Deputy Officer for Education and Employment. “In particular, the college visits give most students their first exposure to a college campus and complement their work with the program’s college counselors to select colleges that are a good fit in terms of size, culture and areas of study.”
