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College Tour Reunion!!
Last night many of the students and parents that participated with our 2012 Y College Tour came out to our Reunion Dinner and undoubtedly left with more than they probably anticipated. Catered by Pollo Tropical, with music by DJ Lerue (artist formally known as Champion Sarvis), the night was definitely one of good, family vibes and lessons learned to last a lifetime.
As the families feasted on salad, white rice, black beans, plantains and dinner rolls, they were entertained with a video presentation that captured the 5-day College Tour in 30 minutes. The video consisted of many of the photos seen on this blog, with additional photos, as well as video footage of students sharing their experiences and thoughts about the tour.
After dinner, Director Jocelyn Boyd spoke to the families about our continued mission to foster an earnest desire for furthered education within our students. Utilizing a slide show presentation, Director Boyd first gave quick tips on “How to Survive in College” and then gave a touch of history of the early African-American fight for education. “We owe it to our ancestors- whose knees bled, whose hands bled, who shed tears, and fought a good fight for you all– people they didn’t even know.” The room was silent with revelation as students and parents alike absorbed the powerful message of Ms. Boyd’s presentation. Following her charge, Ms. Boyd thanked each Champion individually and presented them with a momento for their hard work and dedication to the students and the Lauderhill Community YMCA.
Following the thank you’s, everyone received a link and was told to think about something they wanted to pledge to everyone that night. Getting all the students, parents, and Champions in a circle, Ms. Boyd started off with a pledge to make herself better so that she can be better for the students. Linking her piece of the chain with the student next to her, everyone took their turn stating their pledge and connecting their link piece until everyone was done and we were left with a long chain. “Everyone is going to get their link back. When you look at it, I want you all to remember that you are a part of something greater. It has been said that ‘we are only as strong as our weakest link’, don’t let that weak link be you. This doesn’t all just end here.”
A few more songs, and cake and ice-cream later, the night definietly ended on a very special note =)
SAVE THE DATE: College Tour Reunion!
Greetings Parents, Students, Families and Champions!
We had such an amazing time together during the Y College Tour and we want to celebrate!!! Please save the date for our college tour reunion:
Tuesday, April 3rd at 6pm at the Lauderhill Community YMCA!
This is opportunity to:
Thank our parents for trusting us with their young people
Thank our students for such wonderful attitudes, professionalism, and laughs
Thank our champions for their time, effort, energy and commitment and
Thank our sponsors who so graciously provided funding to allow us to even take this journey
Please mark your calendars and plan to attend. We have great stories, pictures, and food to share. Formal invitations will be mailed out this week:-)
Make it a great day,
Ms. Boyd – Tour Champion!!!
A Special Thank You =)
Family and Friends,
We would like to extend our deepest thanks and gratitude to you all! Thank you for supporting the tour, following us on Twitter, keeping up with the blog, sending words of encouragement through the blog and keeping us in your prayers as we journeyed for a week to broaden our horizons and encourage our young people to continue thinking about their future. A special thank you goes out to our sponsors:
Margarette Damas
The Crawford Family
Children’s Services Council
United Way
and the City of Lauderhill
Without you all this tour would not have been able to reach the level of success it achieved. We are truly grateful to you all! =)
~Your friends at the Lauderhill Community YMCA
Busch Gardens!!
Sadly we have reached the last day of our adventurous College Tour! The morning was bittersweet as some students ranted and raved about the trip to Busch Gardens while others expressed their dread of going home so soon. While waiting to load the bus, students and champions reminisced on the past four days of the trip. Whether it was UCF’s aesthetic appeal, UF’s prestige, FAMU’s relatability, FSU’s captivating programs and campus, CAU’s push for excellence, or Morehouse and Spelman’s quaint family environment and historical perspective, each school had a special something that stood out to us all. Hearing the students go on and on about the week was the highlight of the morning… Until Champion Lucas’ birthday shout outs on the ride to Busch Gardens of course!
The student’s could be contained no longer! When we arrived at Busch Gardens they were off as soon as we told them to get with their groups, be safe, and to have fun! Unfortunately we couldn’t document everyone’s adventures, but we have plenty of pictures of the Busch Gardens sites so you’ll feel like you were right there with us! =)
Around 5:00pm we boarded the bus for our next destination: Lauderhill, FL. Everyone had a GREAT time at Busch Gardens. Such a great time, we were drained! In fact, sooooo drained that quite a few people couldn’t resist a nice snore-drool-headbobbing nap! Yes. We have those photos, too!
After a restroom break and quick dinner stop, we got on the bus for the last time until we made it home. At 10:45pm we rolled onto the campus of Lauderhill Middle School into a lot full of cars and patiently waiting parents. It was such a precious thing to witness the excitement on the parents’ faces as we came closer to them! They could not hide their excitement at all! As quick as some of them were to get rid of their kids for the week, you could really tell they missed their babies! It was absolutely adorable! Even moreso when the bus stopped, the doors opened, and the parents clapped and cheered our safe return. The hugs and kisses and “oh how I’ve missed you’s” were nonstop! The night ended with students filling their parents and families in on the trip, parents thanking the champions for their hard work and keeping their children safe and sound, and everyone eventually leaving to recuperate for the weekend. We are home sweet home!
Morehouse College!!
Today was our last day touring schools and it had to have been one of the most insightful and homey tours of them all. Located right next to each other in the Atlantic University Center (AUC), Morehouse and Spelman Colleges truly stand out as Historically Black Colleges. Our “Y” group split up for the tours today- the young ladies having taken a tour of Spelman College while the young men took a tour of Morehouse College.
Morehouse College was established in 1867 as Augusta Institute and remains the only male only Historically Black College/University in the nation. Morehouse has a similar selection process to Spelman in that they are looking for promise and potential- future leaders of America and the globe.
Once you step foot on Morehouse’s campus you can quickly recognize that the campus is full of rich history and tradition due in part by the monuments on campus. One such monument is a bronze statue of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (a Morehouse graduate), located to the left of King Chapel, which depicts Dr. King pointing across the way towards the lawn used during commencement ceremonies. The graduation lawn is said to be sacred to the college because past president Hugh Gloster is buried in the lawn and his wife’s ashes were spread over the same lawn. Students are not allowed to walk across the lawn until graduation.
Another monument on the campus is a statue of Benjamin Mays which marks the grave sites of Mays and his wife. Mays is accredited as being one of the men that has made Morehouse what it is today. During his graduation, Mays refused to turn his tassel to the right because he didn’t feel that graduation was the end of his education- to Mays, expanding your education only ends with death. Today, during graduation ceremonies, the students turn their tassel to the right as they walk across the stage, but they turn it back to the left after they exit.
One of the most memorable aspects of the campus for our young men was the King Chapel. They explained with great fervor how the chapel seats 2,001 people- 2000 for the Morehouse men and 1 for them- a future Morehouse man. Another memorable aspect for our students is Morehouse’s idea of their Renaissance Men- men who are Well-Dressed, Well-Spoken, Well-Read, Well-Traveled, and Well-Balanced. This sparked great interest with our students and have hopefully taught them to yearn for a higher personal standard.
After both groups completed their tours and ate lunch on their respective campuses, we all met up outside of the Morehouse College Bookstore. The students were so full of excitement about their experiences, and inquisitive of each others separate schools, we all decided to have a mini small group discussion in which both the male and female students got to summarize their college’s history, answer questions posed by some of the Champions, and share their personal sentiments about the colleges. It was a great time and hopefully we will be able to share some video footage with you all!
Well, since then we have left Morehouse and Spelman, left Atlanta,Georgia, had dinner, have enteredFlorida, and are currently on the road toTampaBay. Enjoy the photos! We have to get back to watching Avatar!
Spelman College!!
Spelman College was founded in 1881 by Sophia B. Packard and Harriet E. Giles. The college prides itself on being “dedicated to academic excellence in the liberal arts and sciences and the intellectual, creative, ethical and leadership potential of its students. Spelman empowers the whole person to engage the many cultures of the world and inspires a commitment to positive social change.”
On the Spelman tour the ladies started off visiting the freshman dorms on the campus. 3 of the 4 freshman dorms on the campus are without air conditioning because the buildings are so old. Naturally this didn’t sit well with a lot of the girls, but on the bright side they paid special attention to how they could be one of the students living in the air conditioned dorm: by being a member of the honors college, accumulating a substantial amount of community service hours, holding a leadership position or having a high GPA, students would be eligible to apply for residence at that dorm hall. After visiting the sophomore and upperclassman dorms the tour guides went on to explain a few of the academic buildings on campus, how the institution is strictly a liberal arts college, and how Spelman is one of the top, private HBCUs in the nation.
The students expressed that what they appreciated the most about Spelman were 2 things- the first being that when it comes to its applicants, Spelman isn’t going to automatically accept those with high GPAs, nor will they dismiss those with lower GPAs. Spelman selects its students based on the “whole package”. How much potential do you have? What can you bring to the college? The second most appealing aspect of the college, according to some of the students, was the obvious family atmosphere. There are over 2,000 students currently enrolled at Spelman, so as a smaller school with a small population (and a 12:1 student-teacher ratio) the bonds are more easily formed and kept. Throughout the tour, the college students we cam across always referred to each other as “sister” and this just seemed to truly stand out to and comfort our students. Overall, the girls appeared to be very impressed by the campus!
Intelligence Plus Character– That is the Goal of True Education!
“Intelligence plus character– that is the goal of true education”
-Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
It’s Party Time!
Check out the pictures of our day! After an amazing tour of Clark Atlanta University and an empowering experience at the MLK National Historic Site, we all decided to unwind by visiting one of Atlanta’s other most popular places: The Underground Mall. “Finally!!” (as expressed by our young ones) the students, and champions, got to get their shop on! After an hour and a half or so of browsing, hanging out, shopping, and meeting the locals we made our way to our snazzy hotel and got ready to party! YMCA style of course 😉 Pizza, games, music, and good company always make for a fun night! But! It’s curfew time! Until tomorrow, folks =) Good night!
Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site!
Being that we only had one college to tour today, we had the majority of the day to take a brief look around Atlanta! Our first stop? The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site!! We were truly blessed with the opportunity to visit the National Park Service Visitor Center, The King Center, and the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Within the National Park Service Visitor Center we were able to travel from one display to another depicting the journey of Dr. King and his role in the Civil Rights Movement. The amount of material in the center was absolutely astounding! There are amazing pictures of students and champions soaking in the information and display photos and models. There were amazing discussions going on and after watching a 15 minute video presentation entitled “Children of Courage” some of the students left feeling inspired to be change agents instead of “just complaining all the time”. It was amazing to see the overall revelation many of our young people had after touring the Visitor Center.
At the King Center we were able to see the Eternal Flame and, of course, Dr. and Mrs. King’s Tomb. This, coupled with being at Dr. King’s first Ebenezer Baptist Church, and then adding the tour of the Visitor Center, truly made for an amazing, educational, and emotional experience that the students and champions alike will likely never forget. Its is definitely one thing to hear about someone incessantly in school, year after year, and another thing being able to truly see, hear, and touch a part of history. We are so grateful to have been so fortunate to do just that =)
Lauderhill Y College Tour 