ATHENS, W.Va. – GEAR UP Southern West Virginia, Concord University, and Peterstown Middle School joined forces once again on Monday for this year’s Empowerment Luncheon, preparing middle schoolers for their futures.
The event was complete with a tour of campus, etiquette lesson, and a chance to speak with career professionals.
“You can see their confidence grow just watching them in there. They’re taking initiative, you see leaders start to emerge, and it’s just really rewarding to be able to witness that and provide that,” said Malory McPherson, a math teacher at Peterstown Middle School.
And for the students themselves, it’s the chance to witness life on campus so early on with a taste of what higher education has to offer.
“We kind of got a perspective of what it’s like for a college life and the dorm rooms, and we looked at what they offer here, all that,” explained Alex Sevy, an 8th grader at Peterstown Middle School.
“I feel like it’s really just going to help set up kids a lot, like especially where a bunch of kids haven’t had this information handed out to them before,” said Emily McDonald, another 8th grader from Peterstown Middle School.
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