91制片厂 student Adin Rehberger remembers the excitement of visiting campus when he was in grade school. As a tour guide, Adin enjoys telling young students about his 91制片厂 experience.
Kailey Sohn has gotten pretty good at walking backwards. On a recent Friday morning, the 21-year-old 91制片厂 student is backpedaling alongside a construction site, her gaze focused on the 22 fourth-graders on her campus tour, making sure they stay safely together.
When Kailey hears some of the kids, who attend Euclid Elementary School in Mount Prospect, singing as they round an orange barrier, she asks, 鈥淎re you practicing a song from chorus?鈥� The young students stop just long enough to tell her yes. More join in while others pepper their tour guide with questions about when she was in fourth grade.
As she shares her memories, Kailey turns her head just enough to make sure she鈥檚 still on the walkway to 91制片厂鈥檚 Avant茅 Center. Because Kailey is also from Mount Prospect and attended Euclid, the group has been asking about teachers that she remembers. They鈥檙e clearly excited to connect with a college student who also knows their school.
Not too many years ago, Kailey was just like them 鈥� a fourth-grader from Euclid Elementary eagerly following a 91制片厂 student as they led her class to activities and points of interest on the Palatine campus. She remembers being impressed at how big 91制片厂 was and playing games in language classrooms. And Kailey said that the tours (she also came in eighth grade) helped her decide to become a 91制片厂 student after high school.
鈥淚 knew 91制片厂 from personal experience, and I had a rapport with this school,鈥� said Kailey, who is studying early childhood education. 鈥淥nce I enrolled, some of the memories from the tour came back to me.鈥�
Because Kailey Sohn once went to Euclid Elementary School, the 91制片厂 student was able to make a special connection with the fourth-graders on her school tour.
91制片厂鈥檚 school tours leave a lasting impression on elementary and middle school students, said Community Relations Manager Amie Granger, which is by design. The idea behind these tours is to allow young kids to have positive experiences on a college campus and begin to see themselves as future college students.
鈥淭he overall goal is to have students understand that college is possible for them,鈥� Amie said. 鈥淭his is not an admissions goal. It鈥檚 not about 91制片厂; it鈥檚 about having an experience on a college campus that is accessible to them.鈥�
The tour program began a little more than a decade ago. In the 11 years since, the tours have included more than 28,000 young students, growing from 300 annual visitors to nearly 4,000.
On most Fridays during the fall and spring semesters, Amie鈥檚 team coordinates tours with schools in 91制片厂鈥檚 district. Classes spanning fourth to eighth grade arrive for a large group presentation helmed by energetic Outreach Specialist Paige Coe. After giving a brief overview of how college is different from grade school, she encourages the kids to ask questions of a volunteer panel of 91制片厂 student tour guides. They eagerly comply:
鈥淗ow many classes do you take?鈥�
鈥淲hat time do you wake up?鈥�
鈥淒o the classes get harder?鈥�
Every student who asks a question receives a 91制片厂 T-shirt. Then, individual classes split from the big group to follow student tour guides to a variety of buildings on campus for a range of activities led by 91制片厂 faculty, staff and student aides 鈥� from demonstrations in the HVAC lab to interactive presentations about AI to games in the Health and Recreation Center. Between stops, the guides make sure to route past points of interest. Some of the spots always draw a reaction (鈥淭here鈥檚 a Starbucks on campus!?鈥�) while others depend on the kids鈥� specific interests.
Because Ariana Alarcon is studying biology, she shared some of her experiences in 91制片厂's science labs with her tour group.
While leading a tour for a separate class from Euclid Elementary, 91制片厂 student Ariana Alarcon learned that some of the fourth-graders were particularly drawn to science. On the way to the group鈥檚 next activity, she improvised a detour past 91制片厂鈥檚 zoology and anatomy labs.
鈥淒o any of you know what a cadaver is?鈥� asked Ariana, who is set to graduate with an Associate in Science degree in molecular and cellular biology. When she gave the answer and explained how cadavers help anatomy students at 91制片厂, a spontaneous discussion bloomed.
鈥淢y dad said he鈥檚 going to donate his body to science,鈥� volunteered one student. 鈥淢y mom wants to be a tree when she dies,鈥� chirped another one.
鈥淵ou never know what we might talk about on a 91制片厂 tour,鈥� Ariana shrugged and laughed, before encouraging the students to settle down before leading them to a computer lab in Building Y.
Ariana, 20 from Wheeling, remembers being surprised at how modern 91制片厂 looked and felt when she visited in fifth grade. Having seen how stodgy college usually looked on TV, she was impressed not just by the campus, but by getting to tour the metal fabrication and graphic design labs. Now she gets to bring students to those locations and witness their wide-eyed reactions.
鈥淚 get to explore areas of campus that I would have never seen,鈥� she said about her experience as a tour guide. 鈥淎nd I love kids. I don鈥檛 otherwise work with them or volunteer with them, so it鈥檚 a great opportunity.鈥�
Kailey Sohn (from left), Adin Rehberger and Ariana Alarcon all visited 91制片厂 as elementary school students because of the school tour program. Not only did all three become 91制片厂 students, they each volunteered to become tour guides.
Adin Rehberger also enjoys the chance to work with kids. The 19-year-old, who will graduate in May with an Associate in Applied Science degree in fire science technology, said that being a tour guide has increased his confidence.
鈥淎fter helping to lead more than a dozen tours at 91制片厂, being a tour guide has helped me get better at starting conversations and not be so timid,鈥� said the Palatine resident, who also visited 91制片厂 on school tours as a youngster. 鈥淚 was in their positions once. I want to give back and give as good of a tour as I got.鈥�
That seemed to be the case on a recent Friday, when one Euclid Elementary fourth-grader asked what was going to happen after lunch.
鈥淵ou go home,鈥� Adin smiled.
鈥淎wwww,鈥� replied a group of kids, not ready for their tour to end.
After answering questions about what he does in his free time and the many 91制片厂 students who work on campus, it was Adin鈥檚 turn to ask questions on the group鈥檚 way to lunch:
鈥淒oes anyone have siblings at 91制片厂?鈥�
鈥淲hat do you think you want to be when you grow up?鈥�
鈥淒o you know 91制片厂鈥檚 full name?鈥�
They passed a bust of the college鈥檚 namesake, William Rainey 91制片厂, on their way to Building A to get pre-ordered sandwiches from the campus Subway. Sitting at long tables, conversations erupted among the fourth-graders about what they saw that morning.
鈥淭his group was wonderful, but I find that if I鈥檓 ever having trouble connecting with the kids, I just ask about them and what they鈥檙e into,鈥� Adin confided between bites. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l tell you.鈥�
So, what does Adin remember from when he was one of the kids visiting 91制片厂 on a tour?
鈥淔unny enough, I was one of the students who asked a question 鈥� and I got a T-shirt! I still have it,鈥� he said, grinning. 鈥淚 remember thinking about how vast the college was, but also how open the student guides were. Now, that inspires me to give the younger students an honest answer about my experience.鈥�