Focus Forward program welcomes local students to campus

SUNY Oswego's Focus Forward program recently welcomed more than 60 students from Oswego City School District for the program's annual campus visit.

Over the course of two days, Oswego Middle School and Oswego High School students from the Focus Forward program and their mentors from the college participated in workshops and activities tailored to their interests.

The students from Oswego High School began their campus visit with a presentation from Allison Macey of the college's Admissions Office. Macey spoke about what a traditional college application process looks like and gave an overview of college life.

Morgan Barker, a mentor at Oswego Middle School, then gave the students a walk-and-talk presentation on Greek life and student involvement. Barker brought students to The Point, the hub of all student organizations on campus, and spoke about the diverse organizations available for students to join.

The tour provided a behind-the-scenes look at the newly renovated Tyler Hall arts building. Cadi Hannold of SUNY Oswego's Blackfriars theatre organization spoke to the students about Blackfriars and put into perspective what it means to be a part of an organization in college and what can get accomplished when students work together.

Andrew Buchmann, assistant coordinator for the Focus Forward program, led the high school students on their tour of campus. "Exploring campus with the high school students was a fun experience," he said. "I got the chance to share stories with the kids from my time as an undergraduate and graduate student here at SUNY Oswego."

Oswego Middle School's campus tour began with a Virtual Reality Lab activity facilitated by human-computer interaction graduate student Jordan Hermann. This hands-on experience let students paint in 3D via HTC's Vive Virtual Reality System.

Students then participated in a STEM competition facilitated by Natalie Smith, assistant coordinator for the STEM mentoring program. Students were placed in small groups and raced the clock as they attempted to build small "nests" using a variety of materials, including pipe cleaners and straws, to see which team could support the most marbles before their projects collapsed. "Students are great and innovative thinkers," Smith said. "They designed great solutions to the engineering challenge presented."

When the tour concluded, the students were brought to Cooper Dining Hall for dinner, where they talked with their peers and mentors about the day's campus visit.

The Focus Forward program is a school-based mentoring program that strives to enrich the lives of students in the surrounding community. It matches middle school and high school students in Oswego County school districts with trained and supported undergraduate mentors from SUNY Oswego who help provide the academic and social support necessary for each student to achieve her or his full potential.

For more information, contact program coordinator Scott Ball at 315-312-3812.