Bradford Academy’s students are getting college ready through various opportunities. College tours, AP classes and SAT/ACT prep are just a few of the things offered to students at Bradford Academy.
However, the most sought out and exciting opportunity offered to students have been the college tours. This year, 15 students left January 27 for a 4 day / 3 night stay in Atlanta, GA where they visited Georgia Tech, Morris Brown, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse College.
Tyolaha Parker, District Title One Coordinator and High School Parent Liaison, has planned Bradford’s college tours for the past three years.
“The initial motivation behind creating the college tour was to provide an opportunity for students to see what colleges and universities are available for them outside of Michigan. Then, it turned into something bigger and they have been able to connect what they have been learning in the classroom to the different things they get to experience while on the college tour. Things such as visiting the MLK museum and going to CNN national headquarters.”
Many of these colleges and universities were chosen due to the relationships that have been formed with the chaperones and Bradford’s administration throughout the years. There are also graduates from Bradford who attend some of the schools who were able to give personal tours and talk very candidly about college life with the students.
For Nya Sneed-Burt, a ninth grader at Bradford, it was her first time being on a college campus and she loved every minute of it.
“I like the lifestyle of being a college student. There is no beef between people and everyone treats each other like family – especially at the historically black colleges.”
“I didn’t think that I wanted to go to college, but then I saw Morris Brown and changed my mind. Everything was so new and great. They have music and psychology, which is what I would love to do,” said Javier Taylor, a 12th grader at Bradford. Since the college tour, she has been accepted to Morris Brown and is planning on attending this upcoming Fall 2019.
Campus visits are very critical to the process of choosing which college or university is the right fit. While a student can find out basically all he or she needs to know about a campus via the Internet, until a student takes a trip to that campus, the actual experience is just theoretical.
A campus visit also allows the student to experience the trip involved to get to the school, the people who are there, and the actual learning environment on campus. Seeing the dorms and dorm rooms, tasting the food, walking the campus–all these elements are critical to understanding if a student will actually be happy once he/she is a student there.