Summer Bridge program available for recent high school graduates

Robeson Community College will launch its first Summer Bridge program in July, which aims to make the transition from high school to college smoother.

The camp is for recent high school graduates from the Class of 2022 that will be heading off to college in the fall, as well as students who may have delayed starting college from the Class of 2020 and 2021.

“After talking with some of our part-time teachers who teach at the high schools, we know that some of recent graduates are coming off some tough years with online learning due to COVID, and there may have been some learning loss,” said James Mitchell, Education Coordinator for Career and College Readiness program at RCC. “Knowing that these students are about to head off to college, we just wanted to provide an opportunity to get them ready and prepared for what their future holds.”

Mitchell says the idea for the bridge program stems back to college prep work he did earlier in his career, prior to coming to Robeson Community College.

“There are some things that people need in order to get prepared for college,” said Mitchell. “We wanted to replicate that here and provide this service and support for students to give them that extra push before they begin the next step of their academic journey.”

Mitchell says that he’s already heard from a few high school graduates interested in attending.

“One of the kids called me, he was a football player, and he said, ‘I know I’m not ready and I’ve got some teammates that are not ready,’ so they are planning on signing up and attending, and I’ve talked with some other students and they also recognize that there are some just a few things they want to go over before that first day of college.”

Mitchell says the program is open to recent graduates regardless of where they may attend college.

“It’s for students going anywhere, not just for students coming to RCC,” said Mitchell, who hopes this becomes a staple item offered for graduates in the future.  

“We hope this will become an annual service camp, a service where we can provide college prep before high school graduates.”

The Summer Bridge program is completely free and will begin July 11 and run until August 11.

Mitchell says that if students need to leave prior to August 11, they will work with students’ schedule.

“I know some may have to move into dorms before the camp is over. We just want to give them tools to work with before they get out the door.”

To register for the camp, please contact James Mitchell at 910-272-3608 or send him an email at jmitchell@robeson.edu.