(Ashland, Ore.) — A Southern Oregon University Spanish instructor’s personal initiative has brought to campus more than 120 elementary school students from underserved backgrounds over the past month, offering the children an up-close look at college life and the opportunity to see themselves as future students in a post-secondary setting.

The “Vision to the Future” initiative – introduced this spring by Lady Vanderlip, a senior instructor of Spanish at SOU – offers campus tours and activities to primarily Latino/a/x students from various Rogue Valley elementary schools. The program is intended to inspire and motivate the students by showing them that higher education can be a realistic goal for them.

“This program has been my little ‘dream passion’ that started when my children were attending primary school and I would invite their classes to visit my classroom,” Vanderlip said. “It was and is so important to me for them to see a person that looks and sounds like them being in a position of influence – in this case, as an educator influencing the future leaders of this nation.”

The Vision to the Future initiative differs from SOU’s existing pathway programs, in that it reaches students in primary grades to plant a seed of curiosity. For example, the Pirates to Raiders program – SOU’s first pathway program for Hispanic students – focuses instead on introducing middle and high school students from the Phoenix-Talent School District to the realities of a college experience.

SOU’s more established pathway programs create partnerships between students, their families, their school districts and SOU to ensure that the students remain on track for high school graduation and college. The students take appropriate college preparatory courses, attend program-related events and sign contracts, promising to stay on track to graduate on time.

The goals of the Vision to the Future program are more fundamental.

“Many students from an underprivileged background may not have the opportunity to envision themselves attending university due to various barriers, including lack of exposure and resources,” said Vincent Smith, Ph.D., Dean of the SOU School of Science & Business. “This program seeks to bridge that gap by providing a first-hand glimpse into the world of academia, encouraging students to dream big and realize their potential.”

Primary school students for the Vision to the Future tours are drawn from local schools with high populations of Latino/a/x students, including Phoenix-Talent, Medford and eventually, the Eagle Point and White City school districts. Tours in late April and early May were held for students from Phoenix Elementary School, Talent Elementary School, Medford’s Wilson Elementary School and the Kids Unlimited Academy, a Medford charter school.

Vanderlip also gives students from her SOU Spanish classes the opportunity to participate in the tours, practicing their Spanish skills and gaining insights into their university. Student Monica Kyle, who is seeking bachelor’s degrees in Fine Arts and Spanish, said she took part in two of the recent tours.

“In doing so, I had the chance to practice my Spanish skills, earn volunteer hours and learn more about the SOU campus,” Kyle said. “However, the experience also left me asking some very important questions, like how can the SOU community be even more welcoming and inclusive to young students, specifically those learning English as a second language?”

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