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Harding parents urged to talk college and careers with children
SEE ALSO: Youngstown officers honored for work in schools
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
To prepare for college or career, children and their parents have to start thinking about it early.
That was the idea behind the first College and Career Readiness Luncheon on Tuesday at Harding Elementary School.
“We’re hoping it becomes an annual event,” said Mary Boyd, school guidance counselor.
Representatives from Youngstown State University, Eastern Gateway Community College and Choffin Career and Technical Center attended, providing information about their respective institutions and programs. Choffin, part of the city school system, offers courses and certifications for both high-school students and adults.
Boyd said the school wants parents to take the information back to their children to talk about it at an early age. Some students wait to think about what they want to do after high school until their senior year. That’s too late, she said.
Irene Ferraro, assistant principal, said it’s part of a collaborative effort at the school involving teachers, administrators, the librarian, guidance counselor and parents to help students get an early jump on college and career readiness.
About 35 people attended the luncheon.
Christopher Falconer, the guest speaker, is a guidance counselor at STEAM Academy in both Warren and Akron. STEAM, or science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics, Academy is a community school.
He talked about how parents provide the foundation for their children.
“You don’t have to come from a whole lot to give kids encouragement,” Falconer said.
One of the parents who attended, Debbie Little, has three children at Harding, two girls in second and third grade and a boy in kindergarten. The family moved to Youngstown about two months ago from Philadelphia.
The third-grader wants to be a doctor, the second-grader a veterinarian.
“We’re not sure what the 5-year-old wants to do, but he loves cars and trains — maybe a mechanic,” Little said.
She said the family talks about college and careers at home. She also has three older daughters. One is studying to be an anesthesiologist. One wants to work in a coroner’s office, and the third is in art school.
The family’s medical aspirations stem from Little.
“I wanted to be a surgeon,” she said.
Tamekia Merriwether encourages her three daughters to have a plan and a back-up. That includes talk about college and career goals.
“There’s not always going to be someone to look out for you,” the single mother said.
Her oldest daughter, Lanay, is a freshman at Youngstown Early College. Of the younger girls, one attends Rayen Early College Middle School and the youngest is a first-grader at Harding. They all do well in school, Merriwether said.
Lanay wants to major in mathematics with plans to be a math teacher. If those plans fall through, she wants to be a sales agent.
“She’s a good role model for her younger sisters,” Merriwether said.
Lanay says her mother is a role model for all three girls.