Indiana University East welcomed third-grade students from Randolph County for the Promise Indiana Randolph County event, “Walk into My Future,” on May 20.

The all-day field trip brought 216 third graders to the Richmond campus from five Randolph County elementary schools. “Walk into My Future” is an event partnership with the Community Foundation of Randolph County, Randolph County School District and IU East.

Promise Indiana Randolph County brought over 200 third-grade students to IU East for the “Walk into My Future” event on May 20 for a day of interactive learning and hands-on discovery. Each student received an “I Did It” certificate and had their photo taken with Rufus the Red Wolf, IU East’s mascot.

Promise Indiana Randolph County is a program geared toward supporting every student to pursue education after high school, and by making it easy to start a CollegeChoice 529 savings account for their child’s future.

IU East hosted “Walk into My Future,” is a day of interactive learning and hands-on discovery. The third graders had a peek at what their future college experience could be like through their experiences.

IU East Chancellor Kathy Girten said she is proud of IU East’s involvement in the program.

“IU East is proud to host the Promise Indiana Randolph County event each year and to walk third graders through their first college experience,” Girten said. “This event is just one of the many ways IU East works to fulfill its mission in the region. We hope this event inspires each of these students to think about what they can be when they grow up, and just as importantly, what they and their families can do now to prepare for that future.”

Karen Dillow is the coordinator for Promise Indiana Randolph County. She presented the “Walk into My Future” awards during the event.

“Promise Indiana Randolph County is a collaboration between Indiana Youth Institute, the Community Foundation of Randolph County and the five Randolph County school corporations to provide every third-grade student has assets, experiences and support from our community to pursue education beyond their high school diploma (trade school, technical school, university or licensed apprenticeship),” Dillow said. “In order to achieve our mission, we along with IU East, provide a college campus experience called Walk Into My Future.”

Frances Yates, Campus Library director, noted the importance of welcoming youth to a college environment for positive and interactive learning experiences. Yates has helped coordinate learning sessions for Promise Indiana Randolph County since its inception in 2019.

“The variety of subject content introduces young students to diverse opportunities for future study and career exploration, as well as providing enthusiastic role models in education,” Yates said.

Wes Tobin, assistant professor of physics, lead one of the 52 learning stations for the Walk into My Future event. Sessions included a variety of fun activities in the areas of science, nursing, humanities, business, and education.

All the information about Promise Indiana Randolph County is available through the Community Foundation Randolph County website.

“The Community Foundation of Randolph County is the convener for Promise Indiana Randolph County and provides incentives for enrollment in Promise Indiana, Champions Week matches and Reading/Service Project deposits,” Dillow added.

Girten said IU East is committed to helping third graders across Randolph County achieve their dreams of one day attending college.

“I’m a big proponent of what Promise Indiana Randolph County is working to achieve,” she said. “We hope to see many of these students years from now when they return to campus as part of our incoming class of 2032,” Girten said.

The five elementary schools in Randolph County to participate in the “Walk into My Future” day at IU East were:

• Deerfield Elementary, Ridgeville
• North Side Elementary, Union City
• Randolph Southern Elementary, Lynn
• Union Elementary, Modoc
• and Willard Elementary, Winchester.

While at IU East, the third graders explored college through a series of learning stations, toured the campus, and talked with university students, faculty and staff. Faculty led fun activities in the areas of science, nursing, humanities, business, and education.

Jerry Wilde,dean of the IU East School of Education, leads a music session on writing song lyrics with a theme on attending college.

There were 52 stations led by 28 faculty, staff and students from all five academic schools and Whitewater Broadcasting Examples of included are virtual reality demonstrations, astronomy, physics, health with germ fighters, Anatomage table, science lab, manufacturing, making music and lyric writing, investigation station and detective riddles, teamwork challenges, math games, news reporting and live on set at WCTV.

Additionally, each student received an “I Did It” certificate and had their photo taken with Rufus the Red Wolf, IU East’s mascot.

Promise Randolph County Community Foundation deposits the first $25 to kick-start savings for students in third grade at Deerfield, Willard, Randolph Southern, Monroe Central, North Side, and Union. Third graders can also receive encouragement from champions and when they contribute $25 to their account, can earn $75 community matches.

Additionally, every third-grade student received a $1,000 scholarship, provided by IU East, to go toward the costs of college. The scholarship will be available to Randolph County third-grade students who attend IU East as part of the incoming class of 2032.

The Promise program is supported by Promise Indiana through the Indiana Youth Institute, the Indiana Education Savings Authority, and Lilly Endowment, Inc., as a combined effort to Increase college and career readiness around the state.