409 DALEWOOD STUDENTS ‘BUILD A BRIDGE TO COLLEGE’ AT MTSU

Release date: June 21, 2007


Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Dalewood Middle School contacts: Buddy Sullivan, 423-503-8198, and Danni Morris

DALEWOOD STUDENTS ‘BUILD A BRIDGE TO COLLEGE’ AT MTSU


(MURFREESBORO) — Fifteen students from Chattanooga’s Dalewood Middle School gained a glimpse of college and university life during the four-day Building a Bridge to College visit to Middle Tennessee State University June 19-22.
Led by Dalewood faculty members Buddy Sullivan and Danni Morris, the students, all of whom will be high-school freshmen this fall, took part in math- and science-related activities, toured three Nashville-area college campuses, visited the Tennessee State Museum, enjoyed dinner at Nashville’s Hard Rock Café and attended a Nashville Sounds Triple-A baseball game.
“The class activities have been great,” said Quiana Roberson, who will be a ninth-grader at Brainerd High School this fall and said she wants to be an attorney some day. “The teachers are cool. They’re good teachers.”
Roberson, who said she is an A student with three sisters and two brothers, said what she enjoyed most was “living on my own for four days. I liked the road trips, going back and forth to Nashville.”
Incoming Brainerd freshman Terrance Sturdivant said what he found “exciting” about the trip was that he “got to live in a dorm like a college student. I really enjoyed it.”
Sturdivant said he enjoyed the egg drop class session.
“You build a house for an egg and you drop it to see if it (egg) would break,” said Sturdivant, who added that he would like to be a music producer or an automobile engineer one day.
This marks the ninth year Sullivan and Morris have brought students to MTSU. They said more than 150 students have participated in Building a Bridge to College.
“We try to plant the seed (for college),” Sullivan said. “We want to get them excited and show them it (college) is doable.”
“We’ve got a good group of students,” Morris said. “It’s a new experience and growing-up time for them.”
Other trip attendees included Starlexis Belcher, Chalsea Greene, Robert Kelley, Joshualyn Woods, Derrick Butts, Jalisa Jones, Quintana Nance, April Cross, Danielle Jackson, Autumn Smith, Cameron Walton, Michael Greene and Brishayla Greene.
Participating MTSU faculty included Dr. Sid Sridhara (engineering technology and industrial studies), Angela Golden (information technology), Dr. Daniel Erenso (physics and astronomy) and Laura Clippard (Student Support Services).
The group will return to Chattanooga by bus around 1 p.m. EDT Friday.
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Note: Student photos may be available Friday afternoon. Call Buddy Sullivan to obtain.