Findley Students Looking Ahead … to College!
Representatives from Drake, Grand View, AIB and DMACC took part in the College Madness Breakfast at Findley Elementary School.
While Findley 4th grader Johnny Castro was eating his breakfast in the gym/cafeteria before school this morning he was also completing the following prompt: When I grow up I want to be…
Someone sat down while he was writing and told him Johnny Castro sounds like the name of a great shortstop. He grinned, then took a bite of breakfast pizza and finished writing. He doesn’t plan to be a shortstop. Maybe a soccer player – after he finishes college.
Today was the College Madness Breakfast at Findley Elementary School. Instead of dropping their kids off for school, parents came inside and joined them for breakfast. Every student received a new book appropriate to their grade level about dreaming and planning for the future. Casey’s donated about three dozen breakfast pizzas. Herff-Jones donated some graduation robes for photo opps. They’re a little big right now but it was easy to imagine the kids growing up and filling them out. All of the Findley staff was dressed in college gear and pennants adorned the halls. E.O. the Eagle mascot from AIB was there and so was Spike the Bulldog from Drake. “We Are Family,” the iconic 70’s dance tune, was playing in the background of the excited breakfast din, the perfect mood music for everything that’s going on at Findley these days.
“We have three big breakfast events per year,” said Findley teacher Emily Wieser. “The idea behind this one is just to reinforce the expectation that college is a realistic goal and that’s it never too early to start planning for it.”
Findley’s partner this morning was the I Have a Dream Foundation. Their representative, Heather Isaacson, has been struck by the positive climate and energy at Findley. “Everyone here knows every student by name,” she said. “Plus, they know their families! I just love being around this place.”
Besides Johnny Castro and his soccer dreams there were some others whose sights are set on the bright lights of athletics and show business. But there were also plenty of other ambitions. Johnny’s buddy, Cristobal Oviedo, wants to be a policeman, “so I can stop crime.” One first grade girl said she plans to become a firefighter and who would doubt her? Her name is Destiny. There was a pair of boys posing together in the green robes, one of whom expects to be a football player after he finishes his college education. His little brother’s sheet read “own Embassy Suites and pilot…” One shy girl intends to be a vet and you could tell she means it because she had painstakingly and correctly spelled out v-e-t-e-r-i-n-a-r-i-a-n on her form.
As usual, Findley also got help from its corporate partner, John Deere, this morning. And DMACC women’s basketball coach Steve Krafcisin was there along with some of his players. There were more than enough volunteers. Like Isaacson said, Findley is an environment that people are drawn to.
While Wieser manned the impromptu photo booth in the hallway the line kept growing behind her of kids and their parents waiting their turns for a sneak-peek graduation snapshot. One by one they’d set their coats and backpacks down and zip into the oversized, for now, dark green (Findley’s a tributary of North HS) gowns that looked really smart with the smiles they all wore. She didn’t really need to but still, before every picture, Wieser said, “Say college.” And everybody did.
