On Tuesday, March 3, the Cheyenne River Youth Project® officially kicks off its annual springtime College Night Series, which allows visiting “Alternative Spring Break” volunteer groups from schools around the country to help educate local teens about applying for and attending college. Now in its ninth year, the College Night Series will gear up next week with a presentation from the University of South Dakota.
The free evening program will take place on Tuesday at 5-6 p.m. at CRYP’s Cokata Wiconi teen center, and CRYP staff members encourage Cheyenne River middle- and high-school students to bring their parents and other family members. Attending tweens and teens will have an opportunity to earn special incentives and win door prizes, and CRYP will provide refreshments.
Wisconsin’s Viterbo University will be next, with a presentation on Thursday, March 5, and Oglala Lakota College will be on hand during the second week of March (dates were yet to be determined at press time). North Carolina’s Elon University will host its College Night event on Wednesday, March 18, and Missouri’s Lindenwood College will be at Cokata Wiconi on Friday, April 3.
In addition to the evening presentations from visiting universities and colleges, the 2015 College Night Series will give Cheyenne River teens the opportunity to attend financial aid classes that address available scholarships and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid program, also known as FAFSA. In addition, this spring’s series will incorporate the CRYP Winter Book Club’s college prep writing classes, which run from the first week of March through the second week of April.
“Young people who attend all of our College Night events and complete the book club writing activity will receive a special incentive prize,” said Tammy Eagle Hunter, CRYP’s youth programs director. “We also encourage our teens to take part in our Homework Help program each week. Between now and the end of the school year, we’ll provide regular homework assistance at Cokata Wiconi, and our staff will offer extra help with college applications, scholarship applications and financial aid if needed.”
The 26-year-old, not-for-profit youth organization started the College Night program in 2007 to help local teens become better prepared for their educational experiences after high school. The evening presentations focus on the featured schools and about college life in general, including information about the application process, degree programs, financial aid and social activities; a lengthy question-and-answer session; and distribution of college literature that guests may take home with them.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for us to engage our young people and encourage them to start actively thinking about life after graduation,” Eagle Hunter said. “There are so many options that are available to them, and through the College Night Series, they get to learn more about different schools and ask questions about whatever issues concern them. We do encourage them to bring their family members, so parents and guardians can learn more about how to best support these children as they face the application process and the prospect of leaving home for the first time.”
Julie Garreau, CRYP’s executive director, also observed that the College Night program serves as a meaningful exchange program that benefits everyone involved. Volunteers have a chance to become ambassadors for their schools and local communities, while local youth have an opportunity to share Lakota culture and the realities of life on South Dakota’s 2.8-million-acre Cheyenne River reservation.
“The youth project has always been dedicated to reconciliation and healing,” she noted. “The best way to achieve those things is to engage in programs that lead to real understanding — and to friendship.”
CRYP will post any additional College Night events on its website and social media sites as soon as details are available. Interested parents and teens also may call the youth project’s offices at (605) 964-8200.
The Cheyenne River Youth Project, founded in 1988, is a grassroots, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing the youth of the Cheyenne River reservation with access to a vibrant and secure future through a wide variety of culturally sensitive and enduring programs, projects and facilities that ensure strong, self-sufficient families and communities.