SANTA ANA : Children Get Preview of College

Smiling and clutching his friend’s hand, Atyah Hadaddin, 6, marched and skipped through Rancho Santiago College along with 2,000 other gleeful kindergarten students as part of a fair promoting higher education.

During his tour Thursday, Atyah said he looked forward to attending Rancho Santiago some day in preparation for a career as a police officer.

College “makes you study hard. It makes you be something,” he said.

Atyah and other students from dozens of local schools visited the campus for “KinderCaminata,” an event designed to encourage children and their parents to plan for a college education.

Sponsored by Los Amigos of Orange County, the Santa Ana Unified School District and the Rancho Santiago College District, the fair also emphasized that college is within everyone’s reach, said Galal Kernahan, who helped organize the event.

“Whether (the children) remember this or not, the very fact that they’re here sends a message to their parents, their families and the community” that higher education is available for them, he said.

“We’re planting a seed today that in 12 years is going to flourish and we’ll see them back here at Rancho,” said Enriqueta Ramos, a member of the college Board of Trustees.

During the event, children wore colorful shirts that said, “Si, se puede,” Spanish for “Yes, it can be done,” as well as paper tags stating what career they would like to pursue.

They also watched folk dancers perform in brightly hued costumes and talked with firefighters, doctors, teachers, police officers and representatives of other professions who stressed the importance of higher education.

Clutching colored helium balloons, the children later marched and skipped through the campus to a musical performance and lunch. Several students said the visit made them think more about continuing education and about possible careers.

Tanya Guerrero, 5, said she wants to become a nurse “because I like nurses.”

She also said that college would be fun because “you can learn and then you can do things good.”

“It’s nice to see they really want to do something when they grow up,” said Alma Buis, minority affairs officer for the Fullerton Police Department.

She added: “We should do more of these, because they’re really going to remember this. It’s going to have an impact.”