Ivy League Connection Gives Hercules High Schoolers a Taste of College

There’s really nothing like it.

Two to three weeks of intensive studies at one of the premier universities in the nation, all expenses—travel, food, lodging—included, extensive training and first-hand accounts of other success stories with just one catch: To learn and give back to your community upon successful completion of your program.

“We tell them this is a job,” said Don Gosney, one of three principal administrators of the Ivy League Connection. “We pay students about $12,000 for a month’s worth of studies, and all they have to do is attend class and do the best they can while at the class.”

The Ivy League Connection is a philanthropic venture that sends 11th and 12th graders from West Contra Costa County schools to Ivy League Universities for summer classes. This year’s contingent includes eight representatives from Hercules, seven of whom attend Hercules Middle High School.

Beilul Naizghi will head to Manhattan for the Columbia University program, "American Presidential Power at Home And Abroad: From George Washington to Barack Obama" program, while Eric Wang will study constitutional law at Columbia.

Kevin Buensuceso, Jobel Vecino, Kelly Xi and Terilyn Chen will travel to New York for the Cornell University's seminar, "Hotel Operations Management: Tactics For Profitability."

Erinne Kuehne will study "Techniques in DNA-Based Biology" at Brown University in Rhode Island. Kathleen He will participate in Brown’s "How A Nation’s Economy Works: An Introduction To Macroeconomics."

The Ivy League Connection is largely privately funded, although the school district pays the salaries for its employees who accompany students to their respective universities as chaperons.

Students must maintain a 3.7 grade point average to be eligible for the Ivy League Connection program. Once accepted—after an application process that includes high school recommendations, interviews and an essay—they have access to to classes to prepare for their summer studies, college visits, college fairs and, in some cases, college admissions counseling.

“The goal of the program is to provide our local students with options and opportunities other than U.C. and Cal State schools,” Gosney said. “There’s a lot more options than just 10 U.C.s and 23 state schools.”