Chaminade University recently hosted students from Stevenson Middle School for a half-day as part of the College for Every Student (CFES) program. Dressed in their Chaminade-logo wear, student and faculty volunteers greeted 40 eighth graders and their escorts on the morning of November 18, as the young students climbed out of a yellow school bus in front of Clarence T. C. Ching Hall.
The youth and their escorts were divided into two groups. While one group toured the campus, the other group attended an “I am a Scientist” session hosted in the Henry Hall laboratories by Lori Shimoda, faculty member and research associate from the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Shimoda, who created the “I am a Scientist” program that has inspired thousands of students in Hawaii with science, coordinated the activities with graceful effectiveness. Cheerfully she and her colleagues encouraged critical thinking and puzzle solving for the youth in white lab coats. When done, the science group switched with the tour group.
Once everyone had completed the science session and the tour, it was lunch and reflection time. Chaminade volunteers led the Stevenson students in CFES-based activities helping the youth to reflect on the future probability of someday attending college with Chaminade as a top-of-mind possibility.