by Elise Goitia '18

College 4 Kids offers students in grades 3-8 from Galesburg and the surrounding communities the opportunity to spend two weeks exploring new topics on the Knox campus, while Knox students explore education as a career.

"This is a really great opportunity to get more hands-on experience for what I want to do as a future teacher," said Sarah Carter '20, who assisted with the class Everything is Awesome—Learning with Legos, which used Legos to tell stories. "It's a fun way to develop more skills."

The aim of College 4 Kids is to provide young students a glimpse into college life. Courses are taught by Knox faculty, staff, alumni, and area educators. The program teaches subjects not generally taught in the traditional classroom, with titles like African Drumming, Astronomy, The Martian Chronicles, and Digital Storytelling. More than 170 students enrolled in 32 classes.

"This gives us the chance to really engage with the youth of the Galesburg community," said Brandon Perez '18. "It benefits the kids because it gives them a chance to explore both their extracurricular and academic interests with college-aged role models."

This is the second year that Julia Porter '18 has worked with College 4 Kids. 

"The younger students are excited about continuing their education," Porter commented. "They're working with great teachers, and they're learning things they wouldn't in regular school, which shows them they can look forward to cool things educationally."

Kaleb Trone was a student in the class Make a Movie, where students wrote their own scripts, cast each other as actors, and shot short films to present at the end of the program. He said that College 4 Kids was "awesome."

"Writing the scripts, getting to make new friends, and helping other people with film-making are my favorite parts," said the 13-year-old. "It's all really fun."

Elise Smith, an eighth-grader, added that College 4 Kids influenced her consideration of a future career.

"From this, I feel like I gained the knowledge that I can do anything," she said. "Even though there are a lot of boys you can look up to, girls can be anything they want. Girls can be basketball players or astronauts. I want to be a marine biologist."

College 4 Kids 2017 was supported in part by a grant of $15,000 from The Verizon Foundation.