For most of the 325 teens taking part, this is the first time they’ve ever set foot on a college campus.
“If kids don’t visit colleges they have no real chasing drive to want to be here.”
Olivia Contreras is a 17-year-old student from Grant Union High School. She’s one of the older teens helping to run the three-day camp’s various workshops with titles like: “Designing Your Future” and “Changing Yourself.”
But on the first day it’s all about fun…including a running game called “Avalanche.”
“This is a get to know you day, get to know the campus. Tomorrow is really workshops. We work the kids really hard all day long.”
Sacramento City Councilman Jay Schenirer launched this camp – part of his “WayUp” program to help kids in the Sacramento City Unified School District who live in low-income neighborhoods like Oak Park and Meadowview.
“In Sac City Unified the majority of the kids are on free and reduced lunch, that come from poor neighborhoods and maybe they don’t have the role models who’ve done higher education.”
The latest state numbers show the district’s dropout rate is 11.5%.
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