Detroit students in Pathway program tour Pew, Health campuses

October 26, 2021 (Volume 45, Number 5)
Article by Michele Coffill

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During a student tour of the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health, Katie Branch, director of Simulation, points to overhead lights in the Operating Room Simulation lab. 

Photo Credit: Valerie Hendrickson

Alicia Davis, associate professor and director of allied health sciences, gives a presentation for a group of Detroit high school students who are touring the DCIH building on the Health Campus.

Photo Credit: Valerie Hendrickson

A student in the Collaborative Practice Lab touches an interactive wall programmed to look like a city at night.

Photo Credit: Valerie Hendrickson

Twenty Detroit area high school students toured Grand Valley's Pew Grand Rapids and Health campuses October 20 as part of the Pathway to GVSU program, which is designed to close equity gaps in college admissions.

As eighth graders at Detroit Achievement Academy, these students learned in June they qualified for the Grand Valley program, which encourages college enrollment for students and will assist with their success upon admission. The Pathway to GVSU program aligns with the Grand Valley Pledge, which awards full undergraduate tuition (renewable for four years) to students in six Michigan counties who are from families with incomes less than $50,000.

The former DAA students now attend various metro Detroit area high schools; DAA is a K-8 charter school authorized by Grand Valley.

At the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health, students toured various immersive lab rooms and learned how to create mock cuts and bruises from moulage, and take the pulse and breath rates of a high-fidelity mannequin.

Justin Hendon was unsure of what field he would like to study in college but said the trip to Grand Valley was very worthwhile.

"I want to get as much information about careers as I can; coming on this trip was a wonderful experience," Hendon said.

B. Donta Truss, vice president for Enrollment Development and Educational Outreach, talked with students at the end of their tour and called them part of the Grand Valley family. He initially met these students in June, when he made the surprise announcement about the pathway program during their eighth-grade promotion ceremony. 

"I want students at the Detroit Achievement Academy to know we plan to stand by our commitment," Truss said. "We want them to be properly prepared for their journey and their overall success. Their path to greatness goes through Grand Valley."

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