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Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The University Star - 7
Camp provides high school credit, leadership skills to eighth graders Mayra Mejia Features Reporter Caminos camp is helping local junior high students prepare for high school and college life. Jaime Chahin, Texas State dean of the College of Applied Arts, founded the sixweek-long program in 2004. The Greater Texas Foundation funds the program. His inspiration to start the program was to give students an opportunity to prepare for college and a foundation in ar areas that he says are critical to determine whether one will go to college. “It was an academic intervention that was designed to do the math, English, technology and leadership skills of eighth graders,” Chahin said. The program is still operated by Cha Chahin and is only for eighth grade students who attend Goodnight or Miller junior high schools. Counselors and teachers choose 75 students to attend the six-week program to earn three high school credits. Once the program starts, camp-goers are split into three groups, each having their own public school teacher and two college student tutors. “They are eighth graders with potential. We give them the opportunity to spend three weeks at the high school and three Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Mello weeks at the university,” Chahin said. “It’s COLLLEGE PREP: Michael Bolanos, English freshman, Jaime Chahin, Alexia Guti- a six-week program that is intensive.” errez, undecided health professions freshman, and Marissa Garcia, biology freshThe students go to class from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Classes for each subject last for two man, are all part of the Caminos program that helps local junior high students .
Games, food will be at Concho Green for student carnival Brittany Bemis Features Reporter The Under the Big Top Carnival will take over the Concho Green May 3. Texas State students will have an opportunity to take a study break on the Concho Green from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Students will be able to enjoy typical carnival fare such as lemonade, cotton candy, nachos and snow cones, as well as a live performance from Southside Union. Gillian Amaro, Lantana residence hall director, said she is ex excited about the upcoming event. “(The resident assistants) really wanted to do a bigger program — end with a bang so to speak,” Amaro said. “They really wanted to take it an extra step.” Denim Pittman, co-coordinator, said the carnival is a collaboration of ideas and hard work. “You can usually get up to $200 in petty cash for a program,” said Pittman, mass communication senior. “We wanted to open it up (for everyone), not just Lantana hall. We got (a grant) approved and we are pretty excited about it.” The carnival refreshments are free because of the grant that the Lantana resident assistants petitioned for and received. Pittman explained the carnival is both educational and fun, with the games geared toward helping students get ahead. “For intellectual we have a duck pond that will have little SLAC study tips,” Pittman said. “Occupational is going to be a coke toss, where there will be fun facts about how to get a job for the summer. The San Marcos Athletic Center is going to have a football toss and the cakewalk will talk about how to eat healthy through finals and avoid stress eating.” Throughout the year, Lantana Hall has put on different programs educating residents about everything from safe sex practice to the dangers of drunk driving. Amaro said the carnival is designed to be a fun break for cam-
pus residents. “We want to incorporate all of the things we tried to do with programs,” Amaro said. “We want (the carnival) to be both interactive and informative.” Kinzy Patton, co-coordinator, said the carnival will feature a moon bounce, dunking booth and a caricature artist through Three Ring Circus, located in Austin. “The residents will get a chance to see the fun side of their resident directors, resident assistants, hall council members and other residents participating in the dunking booth,” she said. Patton, journalism sophomore, said students who attend can look forward to making their own keepsakes. “Throughout the year we have found that Lantana residents enjoy doing crafts, so we plan to provide different shapes of containers to allow residents to use their creativity and decorate the inside of the container with colored sand, similar to a craft sta station at a fair,” Patton said. The Network, a Texas State organization that aims to educate students on wellness and healthy attitudes and behavior, is sponsoring a kissing booth. “It is designed to give students information on sexual health,” Amaro said. Amaro said she feels the carnival is also a good way for students to have closure on the school year. “I think it will be a really great way for them to let off some steam, learn about new study tips before finals and everything can come full circle,” Amaro said. Pittman said having the Concho Green gave them a reason to organize a bigger event. “We figured it is easiest for residents to get to, instead of going to Sewell Park,” Pittman said. “(Residents) will see it from their rooms and they can just walk down. It is there for a reason. They want us to use it, and we figured a good way for us to use it is to have programs out on it.”
hours and include a leadership skills class, and every night they have instructional sessions with the tutors. The students watch a movie Friday evenings, but they are responsible for waking at 7 a.m. to get ready for a Saturday morning field trip. Two tutors, Marissa Garcia, biology freshman, and Alexia Gutierrez, undecided health professions freshman, will return to the program this summer as volunteers, five years after entering the program as students. Garcia and Gutierrez credit Chahin and Caminos camp for continuing their educa education and want to give to eighth graders what they received from the program. “I really enjoyed the atmosphere, the workers and the opportunity to be a part of what I hoped and dreamed for my future to be like,” Gutierrez said. “The ex experience is great, and I would love to give back to the new students who are going to participate in Caminos this year, and give them a good understanding of what the college environment is like, as well as the many memories to come.” Garcia said she learned about more than academics while at Caminos camp. “I know I learned a lot of skills that helped me be more independent,” Gar Garcia said. “When I was in the program it was like the first time you kind of just had to do your own work by yourself and get up in the morning by yourself; just being on your own and making yourself do that stuff by yourself without your parents.”
Gutierrez said her life is not the only one impacted by her involvement with the program. “As a student, I have come to realize I am a part of a small number of Hispanic students who further their education,” Gutierrez said. “Dr. Chahin has helped me increase that number and be a prime example for my brothers and sisters, and teach them to value their education, as well as other Hispanic students. Dr. Chahin embraced the importance of an education and opportunities and created a healthy environment for students to learn and grasp these measures as they come their way.” Garcia remembers her tutors being role models to her and wants to do the same for eighth graders. “I remember my tutors back then,” she said. “They were just really nice girls and you look up to them. You (realize) they are in college and they are doing something for themselves. It makes you want to be that influence for a younger person.” Chahin said being enrolled in the program is not enough to guarantee future achievement, because that responsibility rests with the students. “I think we only provide opportunity and hope, but students have to work hard and stay focused so they can succeed,” Chahin said. Contact Jaime Chahin at 512-245-3333 for more information on Caminos camp or to volunteer.