Woodbridge school's students, family get lesson in planning the future

A few days ago, Oretha Bumbeh posed a question to her mother that very few parents would mind answering.

Bumbeh, a straight-A fifth-grade student at Vaughan Elementary School in Woodbridge, asked whether it was all right if she became a lawyer instead of a doctor.

“I think that would be OK,” said Elizabeth Bumbeh, who brought her family over from Liberia when Oretha was just 2-years-old and always bugged her about becoming a doctor.

Oretha informed her classmates, parents and staff of her career goals during the school’s first-ever “Kindergarten to College Day” on Friday.

The goal was to educate the children about the importance of good grades, taking tough classes and passing their Standards of Learning tests, so they might be eligible to attend college. To illustrate the point, the kindergarten class was dressed in caps and stoles emblazoned with “Graduating Class of 2021.”

The event also served as a tool for parents to learn how to go about paying for college. After the afternoon assembly, parents were invited to peruse literature from various organizations, including the United Negro College Fund, Scholarships America, Northern Virginia Community College, The College Place and Today’s Students, Tomorrow’s Teachers.

Renee Campbell was one such parent looking for a head start. After struggling and ultimately failing to find a way to get her daughter into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point 12 years ago, the single mother is now seeking ways to pay for 10-year-old daughter Sonje to attend college.

“I got to start early for her to go to college,” Campbell said. “The world doesn’t stop for anybody.”

And with such a large age gap between her daughters, Campbell said she feels like she’s “basically starting this thing all over again.”

Army Chief Warrant Officer Jose Rodriguez, who was a guest speaker during the morning session, was impressed with the event and said it’s something you typically see in high schools, not elementary schools.

“Regardless of the economy, it’s important to think about where you’re going from the beginning,” Rodriguez, whose daughters Leonora, 6, and Giovanna, 7, want to be a nurse and zoologist, respectively.

The importance of parents involving themselves in their children’s academics was also emphasized during Friday’s event, especially by Prince William resident and United Negro College Fund Special Programs Corporation president Aaron Andrews.

“Remember, your kids will do as you do, not what you said,” Andrews told the crowd. “...You want to instill in them the desire and will to go to college. If you don’t show the way, they won’t go.”

Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-878-8062.