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Volunteer to Explore Duke with Durham Students

Annual 'School Days' aims to excite eighth-graders about college

Staff escorts needed to help Durham middle school students explore Duke during Nov. 1
Staff escorts needed to help Durham middle school students explore Duke during Nov. 1 "School Days" event. Photo by Duke Photography.

For the 14th year, Duke is inviting 300 eighth-graders to campus on Nov. 1 to give them a taste of college life, and organizers are looking for staff and faculty volunteers to assist with activities during the day.

School Days is a cooperative effort by Duke University and Durham Public Schools to introduce local eighth-graders to college. The day involves visiting a class, touring dorms, libraries and other campus buildings, and talking with students and administrators about the value of a college education. This year's tours will include, among other buildings, visits to the Penn Pavilion and the Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans Center for Health Education. Faculty and staff can volunteer here.

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"We are looking for staff members who can escort small groups of students to classes, tours of buildings, and performances, and perhaps answer some of their questions," said David Stein, senior educational partnership coordinator with the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership. "It's a great way for staff to reach out to the community and also to experience parts of Duke they don't always see."

The program works with students identified as having a strong academic record but who come from families where college attendance is not the norm. By introducing them to what life on campus is like - both academically and socially - School Days hopes to move the idea of attending college from impossible to probable, Stein said.

"We know that if a student isn't already considering college by the time they enter ninth grade, it is unlikely that they will switch tracks later," he said.

Each volunteer is needed from 8:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 1. Volunteers receive breakfast, lunch and a free School Days T-shirt.  Two staff escorts will assist each group of 10 students together with a public school teacher or chaperone. A Duke student tour guide leads each group.