Paving the Way
A summons from the school office. The worry that they might be in trouble. Stories of being asked to join Willamette Academy’s first class resonate from student to student. But instead of being given a reprimand, they were given an opportunity — an invitation to take part in a new program that could pave the way for them to get into college if they would commit to it for five years. The school had faith in them, and they discovered their parents and siblings did as well. But these young students wondered whether they could turn that faith into a belief in themselves strong enough to carry them through high school and on to college and success in life.
Willamette University formed Willamette Academy in 2002 to cultivate confidence, leadership and a love of learning in middle-school students. It specifically sought economically disadvantaged and ethnically diverse students, who are typically underrepresented on college campuses. By committing to these young people for five years — from the summer after their seventh-grade year until they finished high school — University leaders hoped to inspire them to go to college, knowing many would be the first in their immediate families to do so.
“I never imagined myself going this far and graduating from high school, but because of Willamette Academy, I did it.”
Five years and countless struggles later, those first students — Willamette Academy’s inaugural graduating class — are finishing high school. A few dropped out of the program along the way. Others have the grades and ability to get into college, but the circumstances of their lives prevent them from going this year. Still, about 90 percent will finally realize that dream as they head to college in the fall — some starting at two-year schools, most going to four-year schools including Willamette, Western Oregon University, Linfield College and Oregon State University.
“Willamette Academy is a once-in-a-lifetime thing for me,” says Delyla Sablan-Bernard, one of the seniors heading to college. “I never imagined myself going this far and graduating from high school, but because of Willamette Academy, I did it.”
Roadblocks to Success
Maya Ramsey
Ask Maya Ramsey what she’s done during her senior year of high school, and be prepared to listen for awhile.
As an academic enrichment program that supplements students’ regular education, Willamette Academy seeks to remove barriers that might otherwise impede these students from finishing high school or pursuing higher education. Some are intelligent and hard-working but think they can’t afford college. Others are surrounded by less academically inclined peers, who make it difficult for them to focus on their studies. Some come from cultures and backgrounds that don’t value a college education, and still others just need extra support to show them they can achieve. The academy addresses each of these hurdles and has a high retention rate: Of the 114 students who have been admitted to date, 104 remain in the program.
Every spring, each of the 12 middle schools in the Salem-Keizer School District nominates up to 10 students to join the program. Only 20–22 of the best are ultimately chosen. The students undergo interviews — a scary prospect for any 13-year-old — and their parents or guardians are also interviewed. Willamette Academy is as much about building family support as it is about meeting students’ needs. Parents learn about financial aid, the college application process and how to support their students along the way.
Funded mostly by grants and donations, the academy is completely free to the students. What’s more, Willamette University makes the students a promise: If they honor their commitment to Willamette Academy and graduate from high school with a high enough GPA, they are assured admission to the University and are guaranteed a financial aid package that will meet 100 percent of their need.
The First Summer
“The biggest effect after that first summer is attitudinal, knowing that they’re part of a group that’s college-bound.”
Every year starts with a 7- to 10-day summer camp on the Willamette campus, where academy students live like their college counterparts — staying overnight in residence halls, eating at Goudy Commons, going to classes, learning from Willamette student mentors. During the school year, they attend monthly Saturday programs with academic enrichment activities. Several times weekly, they visit the academy office to do homework or get help from Willamette student tutors.
To understand the program’s effect, organizers say, just watch the transformation as new students go through their first summer camp. Many come in not knowing what to expect, some have a chip on their shoulder, others are shy about their potential or put up a tough exterior. But by the end of that 10 days, they have begun to believe in themselves — and it shows.
“The biggest effect after that first summer is attitudinal, knowing that they’re part of a group that’s college-bound,” says Elaine Green, Willamette Academy’s former executive director. “After that summer, their teachers say, ‘What happened? They have more confidence and are more engaged.’”
Many of the seniors have powerful memories of their first summer. “I was shy. Around new people, I could only say ‘Hi’ and that was it,” says Sablan-Bernard, who attends Silverton High School. “But as we started doing activities together, I was more confident.”
“I remember making a website,” McKay High School senior Lupe Jeronimo says. “I’d never done that before. Soon I learned how to do PowerPoint, email, how to browse the Internet, how to do photography.”
During the first two years of camps, students do science-related projects and learn creative writing, photography and theatre performance. They create a magazine their third summer and make movies their fourth. During their final summer, they explore the college application process, from how to write an admission essay to developing skills for interviewing with a college counselor.
On the July morning that opened last summer’s camp, the first-timers, with their families’ help, moved into the residence halls where they would stay for the next 10 days. It wasn’t much different than college freshmen moving in — lugging suitcases and pillows, putting sheets on their new beds, searching for the rest rooms, adorning their rooms.
Like many of the other eighth-graders, Morhgan Kirk hadn’t been away from home for this length of time before. She silently unpacked her bag as her father, Martin Varela, talked about his hopes for the academy. “This is a good start for kids who want to be somebody someday,” he said, his daughter quiet in response.
Halfway through the camp, the parents visited their children at an ice cream social. Kirk seemed happy to see her father, although like most middle-schoolers, she didn’t make too big a fuss. “She called me on Saturday and said, ‘I want to come home. I want my own bed,’” Varela confided when his daughter was out of earshot. “I told her, ‘You’ve only got seven more days.’”
Learning to Serve
The first-year students listened carefully as Nathan Kenyon ’05 explained the task of the day: removing ivy. It was a sunny morning, late in the camp, and they had trekked to the nearby Historic Deepwood Estate. “Invasive species are any plants, animals or other organisms that are not native to an area,” Kenyon told them. “Ivy was once brought to this area as an ornamental garden plant because people thought it was beautiful. Its growth is so rampant that it’s now all over the place.”
Kenyon was one of a crew of City of Salem interns doing stream restoration projects. These college interns led academy students in the day’s project. “Isn’t this like free labor?” eighth-grader Phillip Van Ginkle joked. “Consider it a learning experience,” Kenyon answered.
“The academy really has changed my life. All the people I met are just like me.”
Soon the only sound was the rustling of ivy and dry leaves. The students moved quickly, and it wasn’t long before ivy piled up near their worksites. Besides a few minor complaints about sore hands, most of the students seemed to enjoy their time outdoors, doing something that made a difference for the environment.
The lesson on community service and involvement is one the academy wants students to learn early on, one reflected in the older students. The seniors’ duties in the program include acting as mentors to the younger students, a leadership role they seem to relish.
Varsity sports, debate, marching band, mentoring organizations, orchestra — the seniors’ resumes detail the variety and depth of their involvement. Ask them about their activities, and they’ll tell you they’ve learned about hard work and responsibility — and about how to have fun in positive ways. “High school is just once in a lifetime,” says Jeronimo, who joined his school’s track and field team at the urging of one of his Willamette student mentors. “You might as well enjoy it. And it’s not just about winning and losing games. It’s about the memories you’re going to have.”
A Chance to Shine
After more than a week of creating art and science projects and becoming a cohesive, academically oriented group, the younger students hosted a display in the Montag Den to share their work with the community.
“When I first came here, I thought I knew everything. I learned that you need the help of others to get through challenges.”
Wesley Heredia, an eighth-grader who had moved to Salem from south central Los Angeles a year earlier, had perfected his tough face on the first day of camp, refusing to smile for his ID photo. But on this day, he was outgoing and excited. “The academy really has changed my life. All the people I met are just like me. They want to go to college. The teachers and staff here have taught me like no one else has. They’ve showed me that I can go to college and pay for it through scholarships.”
Ninth-grader Aaron Rojas, in his second year of the program, knows just what Heredia means. Pointing out his camp art project, he says the painted wood piece shows two faces to reflect diversity and how everyone is different. “When I first came here, I thought I knew everything. I learned that you need the help of others to get through challenges.”
Kirk was eager to read the limerick she’d written during camp, a funny piece about a donkey that tries to give birth to a monkey. “The hardest thing about writing them is getting the right number of syllables,” she gushed. “I like limericks the best because you can make them funny and they don’t have to make sense.”
Her shyness was almost imperceptible, and her smiles came more quickly as she showed off her other projects. “I thought this was going to be more of a thing where you sit at a desk and listen to people talk and talk, but it wasn’t,” she said. “The teachers here are really cool. You can call them by their first name, so they’re more like friends than teachers.
“I like it here. I don’t want to go home now.”
To read more about the students’ experiences in the past year, check out Sarah Evans’ online blog.
