Sixth-grade students to visit WMU to get glimpse of college life

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—More than 1,000 sixth-grade students in the Kalamazoo Public Schools' Class of 2022 will tour Western Michigan University for a day on a school-by-school basis and participate in free activities on campus beginning Wednesday, March 16, and continuing into April. 

For the seventh year in a row, students will get a first-hand look at college life and the opportunities available with a college education through a program called Bronco BUDS—Building Unique Dynamic Students. Through the initiative, the University partners with KPS to encourage early middle school students to set their sights on college and take advantage of the Kalamazoo Promise tuition scholarship program.

During March and April, KPS will transport all of the district's sixth graders to WMU for a day to engage in hands-on activities related to choosing a college career and to take a University tour. The latter includes visits to a classroom and residence hall. Students also eat lunch at a campus dining hall. KPS students are guided through their college experience by WMU students and staff. Many of the college-student guides are Kalamazoo Promise scholarship recipients themselves.

The Bronco BUDS is reinforced with programs each year that continue as students move toward high school graduation.

For more information, contact Siobhan Williams, graduate assistant for the WMU Office of Diversity and Inclusion, at @email or (269) 387-6325.

For more news, arts and events, visit wmich.edu/news.