The state of Nevada has one of the highest high school drop-out rates in the nation.  This did not happen overnight so we cannot expect any immediate changes. But there are some causes worth pursuing, and certainly higher education for our youth is one I strongly believe in and will pursue in some capacity my entire life.

Campus Kids experiencing Legacy Hall at UNR

I am one of a couple thousand employees at the University of Nevada, Reno. It has been my business home for almost 20 years. Like any large institution, there are flaws, but I choose to keep my focus on the value of education.  UNR is a significant landmark in my community. I have always considered it a privilege to work here and my job is nothing short of a blessing. In my younger years I would never have imagined myself at the same job for more than 5 years, yet I love this place more and more each year despite the troubling economic times.

I believe that now is the time to spread passion about education – after all, a solid education is the foundation of a solid economy, wouldn’t you think? So how do we get our youth to realize this, and how do we get them to value education on their own?

I wrote a successful stimulus grant last year that brought close to 300 youths to our campus (40 per week) for a one-week experience of campus life, college students, clubs, play, writing, photography, a little entrepreneurship, and lunch daily on the Quad. This program had well-planned structure that allowed them to “do” what college students do. They toured Legacy Hall, Mackay Stadium, Engineering, the Knowledge Center, Planetarium, Center for Cultural Diversity and listened daily to a new college student’s 7-minute presentation about why they chose college, what they gave up, and what they expected to do in their world when they graduated.

These kids collectively took over 2,000 photographs, currently posted on www.unrcampuskids.org. They wrote daily into their journals about what they saw, who they met, what they learned, and how they felt about being on the campus of UNR. Each team of 10 created marketing posters for their lemonade sales, and collectively raised over $1,000 that funded a 200+ student “graduation” on the university’s famous Quad last summer.

Campus Kids was born last year, and our mottos include Knowledge is Power and Education Beats Vegetation.  These kids did not go into an academic environment because they already knew what that’s like. What they didn’t know they experienced as a Campus Kid at an age in which they can choose to learn, and learn to value education by bonding with our beautiful campus, its people and places.

Campus Kids group photo with 35 kids from Boys & Girls Club

Our program continues this summer, with literally zero dollars. With the passion of a few Boys & Girls Club directors and my personal love of showing kids my university, we have trimmed the program to a one-day field trip. But with full support from our College of Business Dean Greg Mosier and NSBDC Director Sam Males, I have the privilege of coordinating with other campus people to try our hardest to demonstrate a value of education. People on our campus care about our youth, and they care about our campus. We need to spread the value of education as often as possible, and to as many youth as possible. If you see us roaming on Tuesdays this summer please say hello and get yourself photographed as a Campus Kids fan!