Experience UGA Field trip program brings Clarke County kids to campus for a look at what’s beyond high school by Allyson Mann (MA ’92) photos by Dot Paul
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bright orange ball shoots up in the air under a clear blue sky. Below, about two dozen kids track its movements, prepared to lob it back up if it comes their way. The air is more than a little crisp—about 38 degrees on this February morning—but the kids don’t complain about the cold. They’re focused on keeping that ball from touching the ground. It might look like recess, but these sixth-graders from W.R. Coile Middle School in Athens are enjoying a field trip to the UGA campus. This is Experience UGA, a new program that brings students from the Clarke County School District to campus for activities that reinforce what they’re learning at school while exposing them to college life. Brendan Leahy, a public service associate at UGA’s Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, leads the ball game. He talks the kids through the process of setting goals: How many times can they hit it without letting it touch the ground? They settle on 24, but early attempts yield only three or four hits. “You guys are doing great. You’re improving,” he says. “What are some things we need to work on?” The kids strategize with Leahy and gradually improve, reaching 15 hits and eventually a high of 29. From the sideline, Coile teacher LaToya Lewis takes note of who’s stepping up to help with organization. “I’m seeing who the leaders are,” she says.
The students will split their time today between programs hosted by the Department of Entomology, part of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and the School of Forestry and Natural Resources. They’ve begun the day by getting up close and personal with insects including a Madagascar hissing cockroach and a rose hair tarantula named Rosie. Naturally cell phones are out, and pictures are being taken. Alexandra Saupe, 15, holds an Australian spiny stick insect. She and other 10th-grade AP biology students from Clarke Central High School visited UGA to take part in programs sponsored by the Department of Entomology and the School of Forestry and Natural Resources.
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an I hold that one again?” asks 15-year-old Alexandra Saupe on a January day. “Its eyes are so weird.” She’s referring to an Australian spiny stick insect, which looks a bit like a praying mantis but is brown and much larger. Its front legs, when held up, make the shape of goalposts. Saupe and 25 10th-grade AP biology students from Clarke Central High School are visiting Whitehall Forest, a UGA property about four miles from downtown Athens. JUNE 2014 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE
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