This past fall, through PEF’s Fostering College Readiness Program, three staff chaperones and 27 guests boarded a coach bus heading to Kutztown University for an immersive campus visit on a cool, crisp, and sunny day. The visit included a guided admissions tour, lunch in the cafeteria that was generously provided by the KU Admissions team, plus a student panel discussion, with a focus on KU’s PROFS program: Providing Resources And Opportunities For Future Standouts.
In partnership with ChildPromise, Inc., the PROFS program at Kutztown University offers a robust support program for students who have experience in the foster care system who are current or students who are homeless/unaccompanied youth, including stipends, mentorship, exclusive group activities and free on-campus housing during summer and winter breaks.
Following the PROFS presentation, the group from PEF enjoyed a planetarium presentation of “Solar Superstorms” narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch, followed by an astronomy lesson about the solar cycle with Dr. Phillip Reed, Professor of Physics & Astronomy.
An initiative of the Philadelphia Education Fund and the Brook J. Lenfest Foundation, Fostering College Readiness (FCR) helps students, who are or were in foster or kinship care, apply to and succeed in college. Thank you to PEF Senior Manager of Persistence and College Partnerships, Madeline Birkner, along with College Access Coordinators Sara Walker Adedeji, Héctor Colón and Dennis Villacorta for accompanying the FCR students on this trip.
