More than 100 students from Lea Elementary School in West Philadelphia will become honorary college students at the University of Pennsylvania tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 1 during College Day 2012.

The goal of these events, held three times each year, is to excite students about the college experience, so they will be motivated to work hard in middle and high school and strive for a college education. 

Penn students will be mentors throughout the day, sharing their college experiences and escorting groups of Lea students on tours of campus with stops at the Quad, Franklin Field and Van Pelt Library, giving students a sample of what college life is like.

New this year, as the Lea students have lunch in Houston Hall, a lunch for their parents will take place in the Terrace Room of Claudia Cohen Hall. The two-part discussion will first focus on pathways to college and parents’ best practices to ensure their child’s access to higher education. The second part will be on college affordability -- grants, scholarships, loans and work-study options. The guest speaker will be Albert Pak, chief operating officer of the education non-profit 12+.

After lunch, College Day participants will take a mock Wharton Management 100 course and complete a class project.  Working in teams, they’ll design products that college students would want to purchase.  

Later that afternoon they’ll participate in a question-and-answer session about the endless extracurricular opportunities in college with a panel of Penn students.

The Lea students will wrap up their day at a performance of Penn student dance and singing groups in Houston Hall of Flags, ending their day at Penn in “recess” with student athletes at Penn Park.

College Day is sponsored by the Undergraduate Assembly at Penn, in collaboration with the Office of Government and Community Affairs, which initiated College Days in 2004. The Office of Admissions and the United Minorities Council are co-sponsors.