ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – On Friday, more than 400 fifth-grade students visited Bay College’s Escanaba campus to explore potential career paths.
In partnership with the Delta Schoolcraft Intermediate School District, Bay College hosted Fifth Grade Friday. The event gave students from area school districts firsthand experience in a college classroom, where Bay faculty and students taught them about fields like healthcare and chemistry.
“Today is really about getting to enjoy campus and seeing students, seeing faculty,” said Bay College Admissions Director Jessica Beaver, “but we hope that something kind of just sparks inside of them and that they see something that maybe they’ve never been exposed to before. It’s a day for them to have some fun and pair it with learning, and then hopefully it’s a memory that they have forever.”
Beaver says encouraging kids to think about the future at a young age can have a big impact on their lives.
“This is probably the first time they’ve ever been on a college campus,” she said. “Some students don’t feel like school’s for them, they don’t think college is for them, or they maybe just don’t know what’s out there. They think of more traditional jobs—which are great—but some people don’t think about being a data analyst or the president of a college. Our students and faculty want to get the students engaged and show them that learning can be fun.”
Students enjoyed hands-on activities like building a structure with dry pasta and marshmallows and creating colorful flames in a science lab.
