Nearly 35 pre-teens received their acceptance letters to the University of Pennsylvania -- at least for one day.

On Friday, Nov. 21, eighth-graders from the Henry C. Lea Elementary School in West Philadelphia became honorary college students at Penn during College Day 2014.

As a part of the Social Justice Committee of the Undergraduate Assembly, sophomore Ray Clark, a political science major from Washington, D.C., helped to organize the event.

It’s his first time on the job, he says, but it won’t be his last, adding that planning this year’s College Day involved a lot of work, collaboration and research.

“The most important part of College Day is making sure that we provide Lea students with an experience where they are looking forward to higher education,” Clark says. “This first-hand exposure to academia has the potential to be a driving force for them to apply to college, and hopefully Penn as well.”

Designed to excite students about the college experience in the hopes that they will become motivated to strive for an undergraduate education, College Day has grown since its inception a decade ago.

“The Office of Government and Community Affairs initiated College Days in 2004 as a part of the Penn Compact to provide area youth with opportunities and access to Penn, as well as to provide them with an understanding of college life and the many resources on campus,” says Glenn Bryan, assistant vice president of community relations in the Office of Government and Community Affairs. “I started the program based on the personal experiences I had growing up in West Philadelphia, visiting and subsequently attending Penn.”

Caroline Watts, a member of the faculty in Penn’s Graduate School of Education who serves as the director for the Lea School University Partnership, says programs like College Day provide an introduction that can be a crucial step toward the young students’ reaching their full potential in life.

“It’s so important to us and to our students that they see themselves at Penn, that they see Penn as a part of their future,” Watts says. “Being on campus is one way we try to help Lea students experience the world outside school walls.”

Penn students will volunteer as mentors throughout the day, sharing their college experiences and escorting groups of Lea students on a campus tour, including the Quad, Locust Walk, College Green and Van Pelt Library.

After lunch, Lea students participated in a mock Management 100 class, working in teams to design and market products that college students would want to purchase.

Later that afternoon, at a panel discussion, they talked about what they’ve learned about college life and the many opportunities to participate in athletic clubs, student government, performing arts and cultural groups.

Wrapping up their day at Penn, the students from Lea decorated composition notebooks and engaged in a journal activity, documenting College Day and their immediate and long-term goals.

“College Days at Penn is a collaboration between student organizations such as the Undergraduate Assembly and the Office of Government and Community Affairs working with area schools and community organizations,” Bryan says.

“My hope is that College Day sparks students at Penn to engage with our West Philadelphia neighbors and immerse themselves in the community around them,” says Clark. “If we accomplish that, College Day will impact the students here at Penn just as much as the ones from Lea.”

The event is co-sponsored by the Office of Government and Community Affairs, the Office of Admissions, the Undergraduate Assembly, the United Minorities Council and Kite and Key: Opportunity and Access Team.