The annual event brought Pepperdine University alumni and a local middle school in Los Angeles together.
By Brian W. Carter, Contributing Writer
The word of the day was “head start” at Step Forward Day with Watts Learning Center Charter Middle School (WLCCMS) and Pepperdine University.
“How many of you guys want to go to college?” asked Dr. Shanetta Weatherspoon, executive director of Foster Grandparent Program at Pepperdine University to an auditorium full of WLCCMS students.
“College is important to help your family, your economic growth for your family. That’s why college is important and don’t think that you’re too young, you’re never too young to think about college, you want to start thinking about it now.
“We’re trying to give you a head start.”
This was Step Forward Day, a special day established in 1988 by two Pepperdine University Seaver College students. Every year, Pepperdine alumni and faculty come together to serve nonprofits and the community-at-large on Step Forward Day in September.
“We have Step Forward Day events all over the country,” said Dr. Renee Dorn, director of alumni relations for the graduate school of education in psychology at Pepperdine University.
“The event today is at Watts Learning Center Charter Middle School, that’s one of our community partners with the foster grandparent program that we work with on a regular basis.
“We have over 400 students that are here today along with parents and faculty members and members of the Pepperdine community.”
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Students packed the Green Meadows Park Recreation Center in South Los Angeles holding colored folders filled with information about applying to college and the requirements. There was also information in the folders that would help parents track their child’s college admission requirements with examples of questions from college admission. Students were later presented with awards certificates for performance in school and treated to a performance from the WLCCMS cheer squad.
Pepperdine alumni along with other college students attended Step Forward Day to talk to the youth. Students were invited to ask questions about college and more.
“It’s a moment in time that I’m grateful for because we’re living in an economy where this is not being valued at this time, pushing the agenda of education, but more so, pushing monetary quickness is what I’m seeing,” said Shelbi Chandler, a PhD student at Pepperdine University studying philosophy specializing in global leadership and change.”
“To be able to come back to these kids and have a conversation and know that we can speak to them about furthering your education—you can do it.”
“Feels good,” said Cordaro Davis, a 2nd year EdD in organizational leadership at Pepperdine University about being at Step Forward Day.
Describing his upbringing on the east coast, Davis added, “I had a great counselor, phenomenal parents and a great family and friends that supported me. They got my mind sparked to go to college.”
“I really like to volunteer with kids because kids are very impressionable and I really want them to see that they can go out and do things especially because I came from a low-income background,” said Ja’Nea James, a UC Irvine School of Medicine student studying to get her medical degree.
“You have to have that motivation and that drive to be self-sufficient and it’s very possible for you to do it.”
Co-founders of WLCCMS, Eugene Fisher and his wife, Sandra Fisher watched the festivities of Step Forward Day. They shared about how proud they are of how far the school has come since its inception in September 1997 and seeing their students engaged.
“It’s absolutely wonderful,” said Eugene. “We started with two children and now we have about 750, that’s the elementary and the middle school.
“It was a joy and a delight to see that kind of award ceremony with the kids moving forward. Today is the first day of the beginning of their lives so, hopefully they’ll have a bright future.
“Anything that they can dream, they can make happen.”
“I’m excited this is wonderful,” said Sandra. “I’m glad to see the progress and how many students we have now. I remember when we started, we just had a little bungalow, but look at it now.”
“I never saw a PhD student, a D1 basketball player, a Stanford woman’s basketball college coach, final four ring holder, Google employee for five years and resigned—all of that is in me as a Black woman,” said Chandler. “I’ve never seen that so, I had to make sure I was here today to show these kids.
“We exist and we’re actually cool, we’re not stuck up, snobby tech people, we’re not. I’ve seen it, I’ve lived that life, and I just want to let these kids know that we can be here, we can grow and we can give back to our people.”
