Making College Dreams Reality for Phoenix Students
By Danielle Lund
At first glance, the Grand Canyon University Learning Lounge looks like any other afterschool center. Tutors, called Leads, sit at round tables in plastic, purple rolling chairs, waiting for students to arrive. The hum of the air conditioning fills the large space as kids slowly file in with their parents.
Many students know the drill, making their way to their favorite Leads in the study area. The Lounge is renowned for placing emphasis on the connections tutors forge with students.
For these students, a dedicated place to get schoolwork done with individualized help is a blessing not easily found in other places.
Large class sizes with few instructors, paired with a lack of private spaces to study, makes focusing on education a challenge for many students in the city of Phoenix. It comes as no shock when data collected from the area notes that over 60% of enrolled students in the Phoenix Union High School district are underperforming in English language arts and math.
From parents to politicians, people across the nation argue on how to improve the education system from the inside out, but GCU has taken a unique stance to make higher education accessible for local students through the Lounge.
Jenny Gastelum, a freshman at GCU, began her journey with the Lounge when she was a high school student.
“My parents didn’t go to college; I didn’t have any type of prior knowledge of what college was, how to get into colleges or anything like that.”
Gastelum experienced anxieties similar to thousands of high school seniors: not only how she would afford college, but how to start the daunting admissions process.
As important as higher education is in America, there are many limitations in accessibility that future college students are expected to intuitively know how to navigate. In the past, humanities teachers dedicated time to help students with admissions essays and scholarship applications. Now, one example shows that average student-to-teacher ratios in Phoenix Unified are reported at 19-to-1, which makes carving out time harder, especially considering many students also fall behind in testing.
Rather than let Gastelum slip through the cracks in the education system, tutors at the Lounge stepped in and walked her through the admission process for several different schools and scholarships, helping her understand her options when her teachers were unable to.
“I feel like coming here in high school changed [my mindset],” she says. “I started meeting people that were like ‘no, this is possible. This is a possibility for you.’”
Now, she finishes her first year at GCU with a full-ride scholarship she earned through the Learning Lounge. Gastelum gives back by working as a Lead, helping students the same way past Leads helped her. She sees the person she was in many of the high school students that attend, nervous about what the future may hold and reluctant to apply themselves for fear of failure. Gastelum helps break them out of their shells by getting to know them like a friend, citing it as one of the most gratifying parts of the job.
Studies show for many high schoolers, lack of non-academic support hinders them from developing the skills needed to be successful in higher education after completing high school. Students typically learn these skills, like adaptability and self-regulation, throughout their educational career. As districts place greater emphasis on testing scores, social development is pushed aside to the detriment of students during their early, formative years.
At the Lounge, Leads keep this knowledge in mind and strive to build relationships of positive mentorship. Mario Barron, a senior at GCU and fourth-year Lead, explains that he and his coworkers are more than homework help. They are friends, guides, listeners, and role models. As current college students, they have more recent knowledge of the admissions process than teachers who have been out of school for years, offering step-by-step advice on a personal level. For some high schoolers, Leads at the Lounge may represent their first positive adult role model outside of the home or classroom.
In her practicum experience, Morgan Ramseier, a sophomore Early and Special Education major at GCU, sees first-hand how students are left to fill in the gaps of their learning. Even after full days in the classroom, she exudes a patience that oftentimes draws a crowd of students waiting to be helped by her, yet she never complains.
“To a lot of people, it may just seem like a job, but to us it’s— well, the title ‘Lead’ means Learning Advocate. We’re not just tutoring them, but we’re forging those relationships that go beyond just the classroom,” Ramseier says.
The mentorship Leads provide prepares students for the transition out of high school and into the adult world. The Lounge operates as a bridge between school and college life for students, directing those who are lost with guidance and motivation to strive for the greatness that every student is capable of with enough support.
It’s no surprise to find tables still full of students as the evening approaches, even as the ten-minute warning to start finishing up sounds throughout the room. As the sounds of pencils scratching along paper is interrupted by the excited buzz of conversation about school, life, and everything in between, students at the Lounge know they are in a safe place.