Tar Heel Preview Provides Peek At College

On November 3, the Richard A. Baddour Carolina Leadership Academy led a break-out session as part of the fourth-annual Tar Heel Preview Day (THPD) engagement. Hosted by the University Office for Diversity & Inclusion, the event offered a one-day campus visit for 242 middle school boys (grades 6-8) from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds along with 39 chaperones. THPD seeks to provide the young men with the opportunity to meet college students from diverse backgrounds, see the campus, experience aspects of college life, get information to help plan for college, and become excited about high school and college.

During the day, participants engaged with faculty, staff, and students in innovative, creative ways via interactive 90-minute sessions targeting specific academic disciplines, leadership development, critical thinking, public speaking, etc... As one of several break-out sessions on the day, the Leadership Academy welcomed seventh graders from East Millbrook Academy of the Visual and Performing Arts from the Wake County Public School System. Chaperones Shane Murphy (Basketball Coach) and Marcell Lindsey (Success Counselor) escorted their 18 students to UNC's campus.

A classroom on the 2nd floor of the Loudermilk Center housed the activities. Members of the UNC men's lacrosse team made up the majority of the student-athlete participants, with student-athletes from gymnastics, football, and baseball present as well. "Their presence made a significant difference in the level of participant engagement," said Shelley Johnson, Director of the Richard A. Baddour Carolina Leadership Academy. "It's another example of how awesome our student-athletes are – succeeding in the classroom, on the playing field, and in the community. That can't be stressed enough. It was very gratifying to see them connecting and impacting our visitors from East Millbrook."

Compliments of a fire alarm, the student-athletes and visitors mingled on the North Tar Heel Terrace as they engaged in an ice-breaker. Back inside the building and with the ice sufficiently broken, the seventh-graders contemplated their own understanding of effective leadership. They did so through with the aid of images to spur their thoughts, then shared those thoughts in small groups coordinated by the Tar Heel student-athletes. Next, the 18 young men identified the risks, rewards, and responsibilities of leadership.

They then attempted to master the struggle to juggle the risks, rewards, and responsibilities through an experiential activity. In effect, learning to literally juggle three tennis balls would help to inform learning to figuratively juggle the three R's of leadership. Valiant efforts and strides were made in the progression to juggle three balls. With that, the groups reconvened and reflected on the transferable lessons between the two contexts of the struggle to juggle. Finally, groups shared keys take-aways and next steps through an experiential activity.

"The visit provided them with a better understanding of what college has to offer," Lindsey said. "I especially enjoyed the team-building activities and the message that it sent to our students. The volunteer athletes did a great job interacting and keeping our students engaged. The students enjoyed the juggling activity and learning more about how to work together to accomplish a common goal in a team setting. The information shared was very enlightening and fun for our students."

"It was a privilege to host the students and offer them a preview of what it's like to be a Carolina student-athlete," said Patrick Lyons, a junior on the men's lacrosse team. "Their desire to learn and their willingness to participate in the activities was inspiring. It was a special opportunity to meet such energetic and passionate students."

Participation was by invitation only, and attendance was by group only. In addition to the University Office for Diversity & Inclusion, the 2017 sponsors for Tar Heel Preview Day were the Carolina Parents' Council Grant Program and the Division of Finance and Administration.

The UNC Athletic Department's participation proved to be a hit with the Millbrook students, as reported after the event by Rachel Tates, Recruitment Programs Specialist for UNC Diversity and Inclusion, in a note to Johnson: "Your support is invaluable to the success of the program, and we received raved reviews from students and chaperones," she wrote. "Thank you for your commitment to diversity and inclusion!"

Here are some thoughts from two of the student participants:
"My experience was extraordinary – I had a great time the whole time. The games we played were good. It taught me how to be patient and how to juggle as well. My favorite part was when we met the student-athletes. They had some of the same hobbies I did. The food was great also, I ate all I can eat and it was good and fulfilling. The trip gave me a better understanding what I want to do when I get older in life. The trip taught me that I will have to work hard and never give up if I want to go there and that's just what I plan to do. M dream is to go to this college one day and if I do I will make the most of it."
– Jaylen Donaldson 8th grade

"My experience at UNC-Chapel Hill was amazing. The tour of the campus was beautiful and there were many sights to see. For me it was a great experience because it showed me the many things that were offered there and how people got around and I got to learn and talk about the different types of programs and other sports that they play at UNC, I also really enjoyed it because I got to see how happy everybody was when they were walking around talking and just trying to get people to join their clubs. It was an extremely wonderful experience and I hope we get to do something like that again."
– Jarien Martinez, 8th grade

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