Rollins College and Fern Creek Elementary School Celebrate Educational Partnership

February 1, 2006

A Chinese proverb states, “Tell me and I’ll forget, show me and I might remember, involve me and I’ll understand.” The benefit of involvement was the theme of the celebration dinner attended by more than 50 people on Monday, January 30 in the Galloway Room at Rollins College.

The dinner, hosted by the Office of Community Engagement, brought together members of the Rollins College community, Fern Creek Elementary School faculty and staff and representatives from the Orange County Public Schools Foundation. Throughout the evening, Rollins and Fern Creek faculty and staff shared their stories of the power which results from partnership in education.

“You’ve helped us move from a D school to an A school,” said Kim Whitney, principal of Fern Creek Elementary. “Our partnership is special. Rollins always comes to us with open arms…ready to fill any need.”

Results of the long-term partnership between Rollins and Fern Creek Elementary include a drop in mobility rate (the number of students who do not remain in the same class for the entire school year) among students with mentors.

“At a school like ours, a large percentage of students that start the year with us are not normally around in the spring,” said Holly Vanture, community and mentor coordinator at Fern Creek Elementary. The mobility rate drops from more than 60 percent to 10 percent for students involved in mentoring programs.”

Rollins’ partnership with Fern Creek will continue to grow this spring with the Pathways to College program. The Pathways program pairs Rollins and Fern Creek students in five interactive lessons. The lessons introduce kindergarteners through fifth graders to college awareness, goal-setting and leadership through service. The culmination of the program is the Pathways to College Day, when students from Fern Creek will experience a half-day college immersion at Rollins.

“This is an incredible partnership,” said Michelle “Micki” Meyer, director of community engagement at Rollins College. “The power that comes from partnership in education is inspirational. We have accomplished some incredible things for the students of both schools and realize it is just the tip of the iceberg. As Rollins grows to become an even more engaged campus, the sky is the limit.”