In its first year, the Pre-College Program at Trinity Christian College brought over 200 at-risk middle and high school students to visit Trinity’s campus, and participate in college access and readiness events. The Pre-College Program has additionally impacted over 400 different young people with Trinity student, faculty and staff visits to their respective afterschool programs and schools.

Started in September 2011, the Pre-College Program was developed through the efforts of Pre-College Coordinator Tabitha Matthews and AmeriCorps VISTA member Carrie Timmermans. These two began working with 2 local afterschool programs to address college access and readiness for low-income, at-risk youth. By April 2012, the program has grown to working with 5 different partners who all serve young people from low-performing schools and disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Trinity’s Pre-College Program takes a holistic approach to young people’s academic and personal success by exposing them to campus life and spiritual awareness. Many of these young people who had never been on a college campus before were able to take campus tours, attend financial aid workshops, learn about choosing a major, and even sit-in during college classes. Trinity Resident Director Cat Filmore led several Pre-College Workshops and had this to say about her experiences with the young people: “The students all appeared to be very engaged and had some really great questions. I hope I challenged them to think carefully about the choices they make.”

Beyond academic experiences, the Pre-College Program has provided tickets to sporting events, musicals and plays on Trinity’s campus to expand the cultural experiences of our partners’ young people and their families. Additionally, Trinity’s Theatre Department hosted a theatre workshop for 20 middle school students and Trinity’s varsity soccer team hosted a soccer scrimmage and pre-college workshop for 22 high school students.

By working with several academic and student life departments, the Pre-College Program has sought to involve a variety of members from the Trinity community.
Over the 2011-2012 academic year, 4 different Trinity courses- all from unique academic departments- completed service-learning courses through the Pre-College Program. One exciting example were the fourteen students in Social Work 225: Values and Ethics in Social Work who acted as academic and personal mentors to the youth at Roseland Christian Ministries’ Afterschool Program.

Through the Pre-College Program, over 150 Trinity students, faculty and staff have participated in a variety of service events-both on campus and at partner sites. Trinity student Jackie Sanchez, who volunteered repeatedly at Circle Urban Ministries, said: “The kids were so well behaved. They taught me lessons!” One Pre-College partnership between Trinity’s Tibstra Residence Hall (providing housing for over 150 students) and community partner Roseland Christian Ministries hosted a youth rally providing Trinity students with exciting mentoring opportunities for the following school year.

The response from our pre-college partners has been equally encouraging and positive. Dan Hogan, the Pre-College Programmer for Circle Urban Ministries in Austin said: “I felt a little nervous dropping them (Circle Urban afterschool program youth) off, and I got a call from one of them at 8:30, Thursday night…I thought he was going to tell me he was homesick and wanted me to pick him up, but it turns out he had pocket dialed me and I could hear him laughing and having a positive time in the background. Awesome experience.”

Just wrapping up its first year, the Pre-College Program has grown immensely already and is now looking forward to another year of supporting our partners’ young people toward college access, personal success, and beyond!