Volunteer for Duke’s ‘School Days’

Twenty eighth graders from James E. Shepard Magnet Middle School in Durham will visit campus in November, taking a tour of Cameron Indoor Stadium, talking with Duke students in residence halls, and trying out surgical equipment in a Duke simulation lab.School Days, an annual event that brings 300 eighth graders from Durham Public Schools to Duke campus, will immerse young students in the college experience on Nov. 6. These eighth graders would be the first in their family to attend a college or university and are picked by teachers and counselors to attend School Days.Angela Teal, the school counselor for Shepard Middle, has participated in School Days as a chaperone for 16 years, since its inception.“Afterward, we always have a conversation, a dialogue to see what they’ve learned, and it’s always positive,” Teal said. “We teach them that even in eighth grade, all the work that you do and the grades you get in your math class or your English class or how you test determine what classes you can take in high school.”To help with the campus visit, School Days organizers are looking for Duke staff and faculty members to volunteer as escorts from 8:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. on Nov. 6. Duke employees will help lead, with the assistance of Duke students, small groups of eighth graders around campus and direct them to activities. Volunteers receive breakfast, lunch and a special edition T-shirt.“Employee volunteers will learn more about Duke, you’ll get better at whatever you do, and you’ll help make Durham a better place,” said David Stein, School Days director and educational partnership coordinator with the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership. Eighth graders will visit Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke residence halls, Duke Libraries’ The Edge collaboration space, the Center for Multicultural Affairs, the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture, and more. They’ll also interact in small groups with Duke students who will help them consider college options. Students also will get to hear talks by Duke faculty members, to include dog cognition expert Brian Hare, and visit campus locations such as Duke’s Human Simulation and Patient Safety Center, the Duke immersive Virtual Environment (DiVE), and the Surgical Education and Activities Lab (SEAL). “Some of these students have never been on a college campus before,” Stein said. “If they’re on a college campus, they’re much more motivated to strive for college. It just sparks a desire and an ambition.”John Little with Duke Libraries has volunteered twice with School Days, and he said it’s a Duke initiative he feels passionate about because his wife is a second-grade teacher and his children attended Durham schools.  Last year, he and a group of eighth graders visited the Duke Free Electron Laser Laboratory, toured a residence hall, and listened to a talk by Duke behavioral economics professor Dan Ariely. “The students that we see are ones that might show up at Duke or go to any college,” Little said. “This is hopefully encouraging them to go.”