Entrada Students Await Graduation

For the past four weeks, 64 high school students from Grand Rapids and across the continent have lived at Calvin College as part of the 2008 Entrada Scholars Program. On Friday, those students will be part of an Entrada graduation ceremony.

"Entrada graduation always brings a lot of joy and a lot of tears," said associate director of pre-college programs Tasha Paul. "The students really bond over the four weeks and because Entrada is such a rigorous program academically, they work very hard. When it's done there is a sense of achievement and accomplishment, a sense of sadness and probably even a sense of relief."

Spanish for "gateway," Entrada immerses high school juniors and seniors of color in a total college experience. The Entrada scholars are high-achieving students nominated for the program by their pastors, guidance counselors, teachers and community leaders. Each Entrada scholar receives a $4,000 scholarship to attend the program.

The core of the Entrada program is academic excellence, said Paul, and the program is a demanding one. "From the application process until the moment they come on campus," she said, "we communicate that this is a scholars program and that we expect excellence of anyone who is admitted to it."

Entrada scholars enroll in a Calvin summer class of their choice. "In the eyes of their professors, they are college students," said Paul. "They are given no special accommodation."

In the more than 20 years of its existence, the Entrada Scholars Program has become a model for other institutions. Last year, through a $25,000 Lilly Network Exchange grant, administrators from 13 peer colleges and universities came to Calvin to study Entrada firsthand.

Full story see http://www.calvin.edu/news/2007-08/entrada/

Contact Tasha Paul at 616-526-6888