Spring Break
Aggies mentor children to stay in school
By: Ali Finney
Issue date: 9/13/07 Section: News
Although mentoring programs exist all over the United States, perhaps none accompanies the Aggie ideals better than C.A.M.P.
C.A.M.P., which stands for Caring Aggies Mentoring Program, was started by Freddie Wong, class of 1969. Wong was inspired by Eugene Lang, a wealthy New York businessman. Lang promised a group of sixth-graders from his alma mater in New York payment for college tuition if they graduated high school.
Lang then started a Saturday mentoring program to keep the kids in school. When the class reached the twelfth grade, 90 percent graduated, and of those, 70 percent prepared to enter college.
Lang followed through with his tuition assistance, which Wong said ended up being only $500, because all of the students qualified for financial aid.
Wong also let published stories in major city newspapers about Texas A&M being unfriendly to minority groups fuel his fire, and in November 2005 a group of five Aggies began meeting to create what would become C.A.M.P.
The program is somewhat unconventional in that it does not involve tutoring.
"Tutoring typically requires heavy commitment to work with the students one on one for at least once a week," Wong said.
"The volunteers typically work 50 to 60 hours a week and they would not have time to do tutoring."
In lieu of tutoring, the program has evolved into a monthly meeting - mainly on Saturdays - in which volunteers will spend a few hours with underprivileged children.
Houston-based Aggies picked a class of third-graders from the North Forest Independent School District to begin the program - a group of students Wong was told live in foster homes instead of with their parents.
"The volunteers provide a sense of stability for these students," Wong said.
C.A.M.P. volunteers and students have gone to professional sports games, the zoo, the beach and a ranch, along with many other learning-filled environments since the program's conception. The group even took a trip to Wong's ranch outside of Navasota, where several A&M students on the Student Engineering Council had science and math activities for the kids to participate in.
C.A.M.P., which stands for Caring Aggies Mentoring Program, was started by Freddie Wong, class of 1969. Wong was inspired by Eugene Lang, a wealthy New York businessman. Lang promised a group of sixth-graders from his alma mater in New York payment for college tuition if they graduated high school.
Lang then started a Saturday mentoring program to keep the kids in school. When the class reached the twelfth grade, 90 percent graduated, and of those, 70 percent prepared to enter college.
Lang followed through with his tuition assistance, which Wong said ended up being only $500, because all of the students qualified for financial aid.
Wong also let published stories in major city newspapers about Texas A&M being unfriendly to minority groups fuel his fire, and in November 2005 a group of five Aggies began meeting to create what would become C.A.M.P.
The program is somewhat unconventional in that it does not involve tutoring.
"Tutoring typically requires heavy commitment to work with the students one on one for at least once a week," Wong said.
"The volunteers typically work 50 to 60 hours a week and they would not have time to do tutoring."
In lieu of tutoring, the program has evolved into a monthly meeting - mainly on Saturdays - in which volunteers will spend a few hours with underprivileged children.
Houston-based Aggies picked a class of third-graders from the North Forest Independent School District to begin the program - a group of students Wong was told live in foster homes instead of with their parents.
"The volunteers provide a sense of stability for these students," Wong said.
C.A.M.P. volunteers and students have gone to professional sports games, the zoo, the beach and a ranch, along with many other learning-filled environments since the program's conception. The group even took a trip to Wong's ranch outside of Navasota, where several A&M students on the Student Engineering Council had science and math activities for the kids to participate in.
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