SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY NEWS
Contact: Funda Alp, 203-396-8241, alpf@sacredheart.edu
For Immediate Release
March 27, 2007
SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY TO WELCOME AREA THIRD-GRADERS FOR SERVICE PROJECT AT FAIRFIELD CAMPUS
SHU ’Young at Heart Day’ offers opportunity for youngsters to get a glimpse of college life
FAIRFIELD, CONN.— On Friday, April 13, Sacred Heart University will open its doors to 200 third-graders from three area schools in an effort to inspire local children to strive for a higher education.
In its third consecutive year, the “Young at Heart Day” service project allows SHU freshman to serve as mentors to the visiting youngsters, leading them through group sessions that focus on educational, physical and artistic activities.
“Young at Heart Day gives our students a chance to be mentors,” said SHU Freshman Mentor Amy Ricci, who organizes the event. “And it gives the children a chance to connect with the university setting and to see what a future college education can look like. It gives them hope and desire and motivation to work hard in school if they can see our students as role models.”
Though the project calls on volunteers specifically from the freshman class, students of all levels are encouraged to contribute. The individual sessions are designed and facilitated by various SHU departments—academic, athletic and administrative—and by student-run organizations, such as the History Club, the Debate Society and Student Government.
Sessions will include a Math/Spelling Egg Hunt organized by the Zeta Iota Lambda sorority, a Read-Aloud with the library staff, a Theatre Game Workshop with the SHU Players, and sports with the Women’s Club Soccer and the Criminal Justice department.
“Young at Heart Day has been more successful each year, and each year more of our students want to get involved in it,” Ricci said. “It gives them the opportunity to connect with the youth of the community, and to really give back for the education and the mentoring that they received when they were young students.”
The event will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and will include lunch. Participating schools are Bryant, Luis Munoz Marin and John Winthrop. Each student will receive a T-shirt and a gift.
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About Sacred Heart University
Sacred Heart University, the second-largest Catholic university in New England, offers more than 40 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs. Its main campus in Fairfield, Connecticut, is complemented by satellites in Connecticut, Luxembourg and Ireland. Over 5,600 students are enrolled in its four colleges: Arts & Sciences; Education & Health Professions; University College; and the newly established John F. Welch College of Business, committed to educating students in the leadership tradition and legacy of Jack Welch. U.S. News & World Report and the Princeton Review place SHU among America’s best colleges in the Northeast, and Intel rates it #11 among the nation’s most “unwired” campuses. SHU fields 32 Division I athletic teams, and has an award-winning program of community service. www.sacredheart.edu
For additional Sacred Heart University news, please visit http://www.sacredheart.edu/pressroom.cfm.
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