Southwestern College recently hosted 600 sixth graders from USD 260 Derby.  Students from Derby Middle School and Derby North Middle School visited SC.

Dawn Pleas, vice president for special projects and planning, along with SC junior Andrew Burgos, and several other SC students hosted the middle school students inside Stewart Field House.  They were welcomed to Southwestern, watched a virtual tour of the college, asked questions of the current SC students, and enjoyed some activities including a dance off contest with the Jinx mascot.

Michelle Sweat, a middle school 101 teacher for sixth grade at Derby Middle School, says this was a great opportunity for the students to experience the college life.  Sweat has taught for 27 years.

“We work with the program Zello which assists students and makes them knowledgeable about their interests and how it fits in with careers,” Sweat says.  “So giving them the opportunity to see something like this, to have this enjoyment with their classmates, is very infectious.  Southwestern provided a fun morning for us that I think will have them all very intrigued.”

Norah Johnson, a sixth grade student at Derby Middle School, enjoyed her first visit to Southwestern.

“I have heard of Southwestern before and I thought it would be a really exciting and I have had a really good time.  We played a lot of fun games and learned a lot about the college.  I was impressed with the community and how big this place is; there are so many things you can do here.”

Johnson has also been thinking about what career she would like to embark on.

“I have thought about being a teacher because I like to work with little kids and I think it would be cool to help kids learn and understand the world around them,” Johnson says.

According to Pleas, the college has hosted more than 1,000 students this year.  Along with the students from Derby, SC has hosted students from Augusta Middle School and Wichita South High School.