Team
Ochoco, one of McMinnville High School’s Smaller Learning Communities,
traveled to Corvallis on Friday, April 24, to explore Oregon State
University. Headed by ninth-grade teachers Francesca Morrison and Audrey
Wright, the students spent the day touring the campus, asking questions
of current OSU students and learning about life as a college student.
Funded by a grant from the McMinnville Education Foundation,
the trip was a culminating activity of the MHS freshman seminar that
focuses on college readiness, college planning, and college aspirations
and expectations.
“This is the final part of our college project,” said Morrison. “The
students learn how to prepare and start saving for college. They
research colleges and what it takes to get in, what classes they should
be taking for the schools they’re looking at, and they look into trade
schools, too.” A valuable part of that preparation is visiting a school
and having students imagine attending there, she said.
One of the big surprises for students, according to Morrison, is how
much college costs. “They look into scholarships and work programs,” she
said. “It’s important to start planning.”
MHS student Sydney Bissonette-Barger was impressed by the “huge” size
of the campus, as well as the 400 clubs available to students. She
thinks she would like to enroll and study culinary arts because that’s
the pathway she’s chosen at MHS.
Another MHS student on the trip was Taylor Coburn, a first-time
visitor to the Corvallis campus. While the students were nice, she says,
she doesn’t plan to attend the university. “I want to be a cop, so I
need to go to a school that has Criminal Justice,” she said.
On the way home, the buses took a detour through the Western Oregon
University campus. “We didn’t stop and visit,” said Morrison. “But it
gave them an idea of the difference between a big school like Oregon
State and a smaller one. It’s all about getting them thinking.”