We gathered along the staircase waiting for the children to arrive. It was the Fourth Annual Day of Action, and over 350 elementary school students and their families were on their way to spend the day on campus. We double-checked, triple-checked the streamers and balloons to make sure they were on point. Our balloon arch was oddly placed, but we weren't going to let the snowstorm outside ruin what was going to be an awesome day. Then suddenly, they appeared. Hundreds of children peered inside the doors of the student center, bundled in scarfs and winter coats despite it being the middle of April. They were a tad nervous, as they began to walk up the stairs to the ballroom, but as soon as they began to warm up with their families, they started to come alive again.
Day of Action started four years ago as the brainchild of a University of Denver alumnus, Julio Alas. At the time, Alas was a teacher at one of the local elementary schools. Often, he would try to get them excited for college and plant that seed early, but for many of the students, college was a mystical place that was too abstract. The school that he worked in was predominately students of color, specifically Latino students, and had a high percentage of students on school and reduced lunch. If those students ever were to attend college in the future, they would likely be first-generation college students. Through a collaboration with his alma mater's Center for Multicultural Excellence (CME), Center for Community Engagement & Service Learning (CCESL), and student organization DU Service & Change (DUSC), Day of Action was born. Students from local elementary schools would come to campus for the day and learn about college, with the hope that college would seem possible, and much less mystical. But it wasn't enough to merely expose the students to college; parents are a huge piece of college access, and there needed to be support for them as well. While the students explore campus and attend fun demonstrations from campus departments and student organizations, parents attend informational sessions, providing them with the resources and knowledge they need to get their students to college, making college more accessible.
The day opened with a stroll by the Epsilon chapter of Pi Lamda Chi Latina Sorority, Inc., some class cheers, and division into the students' animal groups. The students and their families were led to fun demonstrations by DU student organizations and campus departments. The content of the demonstrations varied, from learning about books, to making fairy bread, to learning how to wobble, to practicing improvisation skills.
After two sections of demonstrations, parents and students parted from one another for lunch. For the students, the DU Programming Board (DUPB) sponsored lunch from a food truck serving arepas and chicken tacos and an awesome carnival featuring activities like face painting, coloring, fishing for rubber ducks, a photo booth, and other fun things. Shout out to the volunteers who made runs to the food truck outside to bring in individual plates of food for the children! While their children were having a ton of fun with student volunteers, parents attended informational sessions about college. This year, we offered three sessions according to language and relevance: one in English (that also had a Vietnamese translator), one in Spanish, and another in Spanish that was DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) specific.
One of the highlights of the day was the virtual tour. Because it was snowing, slick, and cold outside, we were not about to herd hundreds of students outside. Two of our coordinators braved the weather and gave a tour on their iPhones that was then displayed via a projector in the ballroom. The children were so excited, even showing worry for the coordinators when FaceTime froze!
As the day came to an end, students hugged the volunteers that stuck with them throughout the day, not wanting to leave their sides, families became reunited, and all was well.
Thank you to CME, CCESL, DUSC, DUPB, and the Day of Action planning team for hosting the event, the hundreds of students and families from Johnson Elementary, Trevista at Horace Mann, and Stein Elementary for braving the weather, the hundred or so volunteers that made the day awesome, and everyone that attended for making this the biggest Day of Action yet!
To learn more about Day of Action, click here!
