Addison Trail students participate in new ‘College-Bound Buddy’ program with Army Trail Elementary School kindergartners

On April 7, Addison Trail students who are Blazer Ambassadors met with kindergarten students from Army Trail Elementary School as part of the new “College-Bound Buddy” program that was implemented this year.

“District 88 and Addison Elementary School District 4 have a great collaboration and meet frequently, and during one of our meetings, we discussed the diversity of the families in our districts and how college isn’t always a focus,” said Debra Martello, Principal of Army Trail. “We wanted to create a program that would expose the younger students to the idea that college is an obtainable goal.”

About 90 students from each school are involved in the program, and they will meet three times during this school year. The first session took place this past fall at Army Trail, and the “buddies” participated in a get-to-know-you activity and toured the school. Since that meeting, the students have stayed in touch as pen pals. On April 7, the students toured Addison Trail and drew pictures of what they want to do when they grow up.