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Tuesday, June 25, 2002
Contact: Alison R. McGaughey
news@knox.edu
309-341-7650
GALESBURG --It's 11 a.m. on a Tuesday in June, the time Kailyn Hogue of Galesburg usually gets out of bed in the summer. But on this day, she's been working on math and English exercises since 8 a.m.
Photo: Gale Scholar Ashley Smith (left) of Galesburg has her English homework checked over by Knox College student Dorothy Longbrake (right), a senior from Seattle, Wash., while math instructor Sarah Wolfinsohn, (background), a 2002 Knox graduate, prepares a lesson. (Download photo for publication)
Hogue is one of 15 students in the George Washington Gale Scholars Program spending four weeks of her summer vacation working with Knox College students in a new "pre-start" component of the Gale Scholars Program. Hogue and the other Scholars, who recently completed the eighth grade at Lombard Middle School or Churchill Junior High School in Galesburg, are working with Knox College students on math, writing, critical thinking skills and study skills in preparation for entering Galesburg High School in the fall. The program runs from 8 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday until July 3 at Galesburg High School.
"It's a good experience," Hogue said. "If I was home I'd be jumping on my trampoline or swimming or hanging out with someone. But I can't complain. When we start in the fall, all of us will have a big advantage over people who were only jumping on the trampoline or just hanging out all summer."
And that's a goal of the program, according to John Haslem, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Knox College and a Gale Scholars advisor.
"We want these kids to be leaders when they start high school in the fall," he said. "And being a leader requires a love of learning and a willingness to work hard. We want to give them a boost and make sure they feel confident when school starts."
Photo: Dorothy Longbrake (left), a Knox College senior from Seattle, Wash., tutors Gale Scholars Shalane Worden (center) and Karla Dudman (right), both of Galesburg, on English homework during a "pre-start" summer program for Gale Scholars at Galesburg High School. (Download for publication)
The Scholars work on math problems as a team and have English homework each night. Haslem and Sarah Wolfinsohn, a June 2002 Knox graduate, teach English and math in the pre-start program. Five other Knox students and recent graduates tutor the students in groups and provide one-on-one instruction.
"The Knox students are great role models for these kids," Haslem said. "And they're important influences, considering we want the Scholars to graduate from Knox someday."
In September of 2001, the Higher Education Cooperation Act of the Illinois State Board of Education granted the Gale Scholars Program $70,000 to support the new pre-start program as well as an after-school program in which Knox students provided help with homework. The grant also supports a summer component of the Gale Scholars Program that allows seniors to live at Knox for a week and work on projects to get a feel for college life.
Gale Scholars in the pre-start program are: Roger Anderson, Dean Cliff, Karla Dudman, Kailyn Hogue, Jake Monzo, Jess Monzo, Samantha Poteet, Jeff Rodriquez, Elvith Santoyo, Ashley Smith, Cory Sullivan, Aaron Thomas, Alex Vaassen, Chanda Wade, and Shalane Worden. The Knox tutors are: Norman Golar, a 2002 graduate from Chicago; Suzanne Heller, a junior from Oak Lawn; Martha Brislen, a 2002 graduate from Albuquerque, N.M.; Dorothy Longbrake, a junior from Seattle, Wash.; and Kim Ferguson, a 2002 graduate from Blantyre, Malawi. Math instructor Sarah Wolfinsohn is a 2002 graduate from Schaumburg.
Formed in 1997 as a collaborative effort between Galesburg District 205, Carl Sandburg College, and Knox College, the Gale Scholars program identifies students in the eighth grade who would be first-generation college students and offers them full-tuition scholarships to Carl Sandburg College and then Knox College. The students receive the scholarships if they stay in school, maintain a high grade point average, and participate in extracurricular activities and community service throughout high school.
"Normally I would play sports in the summer and be with friends, so at first I wasn't very happy about going to school in the summer," said Gale Scholar Roger Anderson. "Now I like it. There's a lot of laughing and joking and learning, which is something I never usually do in the summer."
Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 47 states and 42 nations. Knox's "Old Main" is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.
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