Tours hope to bring kids closer to college life

Christinga Littlefield

Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2006 | 7:26 a.m.

Nine-year-old Aurora Gallegos "really, really" wants to go to college and become a veterinarian.

The Cahlan Elementary School fourth grader oohed and awed with her classmates as she took a tour Wednesday of the Community College of Southern Nevada's Cheyenne Campus, taking in the college's culinary institute, hotel management mock casino, planetarium and computer lab and library.

But even as Aurora gaped at everything with wide-eyed excitement, she also became overwhelmed by the hurdles standing between her and a college degree.

"I'm worried that I'm not going to go to college because maybe my mom and dad can't afford it," Aurora said.

Nevada System of Higher Education officials want to debunk that kind of thinking and help students such as Aurora see college as a necessary and natural extension of their educations, Chancellor Jim Rogers and CCSN President Richard Carpenter said.

Last week's tour was the first of several system initiatives to expose elementary school students to the college culture. The system is working on several partnerships with the state's kindergarten through 12th grade leaders to increase college attendance rates and to better prepare students for college.

"We want to plant in their minds early on that they have some choices in life and that education is the key," Carpenter said.

Cahlan Elementary, part of the northeast region of the Clark County School District, already has been working with its students to take the "mystery out of college," Principal Jean Jackson said. Each classroom has "adopted" a college to get students thinking about their own futures.

"To actually come see a college -- priceless," Jackson said.

Paying for college was the chief worry expressed by fourth and fifth graders on the tour. Students asked question after question about the costs associated with going to college and the scholarships available.

Most students at Cahlan, an Edison school located just a few miles from the Cheyenne campus, are Hispanic and from low-income families.

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Starting as soon as March, Nevada State College in Henderson will be offering its upper division classes on CCSN's campus.

The move allows Nevada State College to expand without having to build physical buildings, and permits the college to "fulfill its mission" to help students statewide obtain bachelor's degrees, President Fred Maryanski said.

"I think it's is the most efficient way for the (state college) system to develop," Maryanski said.

The arrangement will allow students to take their first two years at CCSN and then "migrate right into the state college without ever leaving the campus," Carpenter said.

Both presidents said they believe the pact will improve student retention and encourage more students to pursue a bachelor's degree.

Students will not have the inconvenience of driving to Henderson for classes -- a particular problem for many lower income students without cars -- and they will be able to stay in the "comfort zone" that they have developed at the community college, Carpenter said.

The state college has signed similar agreements with Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno and Western Nevada Community College in Carson City, Maryanski said.

Christina Littlefield can be reached at 259-8813 or at clittle@ lasvegassun.com.