Middle Schools Use 'March Madness' to Ready Students for College

At just 13 years old Kellen Young has a five-year plan.

Young, an eighth grade student at , dreams of going to Syracuse University to study broadcast journalism, cheer on one of the top basketball teams on the east coast and one day become a broadcaster for the NBA.

"It's just calling me," he told Patch. "This is going to be me in a couple of years."

Young, along with a select group of reading students at Liberty, has spent weeks researching colleges as part of the school's "March Madness" project.

March Madness is the NCAA college basketball tournament held every spring in the U.S.

The school project builds on the buzz surrounding the national tournament to get students excited about pursuing higher education.

"It opens up the doors to the kids who don't have any inclination to go to college," said William O'Toole, an eighth grade reading teacher at Liberty. He said the project was created six years ago by Sean Devore, now a teacher at , and takes place every spring on both campuses.

Students are tasked with researching colleges participating in the NCAA tournament and eventually choose one that fits their interests.

"When you watch basketball, it doesn't tell you about architecture," said Anthony Gordon, 13. Gordon wants to become an architect and attend North Carolina State University.

O'Toole said basketball is just a hook for the project — many students end up selecting schools not participating in the tournament.

"They are being realistic," he said, adding that many want to go to vocation schools such as beauty school. "This really gets them focused on their goals."

As part of the assignment, students spend several weeks doing online research and are often bewildered by the information they find.

During O'Toole's second period class last week, one student, taken aback by a college's $40,000 tuition, exclaimed, "I'd have to sell my house to go to school!"

"It's a real life lesson for them," said Chris Todd, an eighth grade social studies teacher at Liberty. "It's really opening their eyes."

Once students settle on the college or vocational school of their choice, they write a hand-written letter to the dean, introducing themselves and detailing their interests.

"There's nothing wrong with applying now, why not start going through the procedure,"O'Toole said. "We want (the school) to know, 'I'm only in eighth grade but I'm going to stay in contact.'"

And the personalized notes seem to be working.

Last year, out of 69 letters sent out, 48 students received responses. Many were even mailed packets, shirts and pens, too.

Both a teacher and a cartoonist, O'Toole has also incorporated art into the project and has his students redesign the school's logo and send the re-vamped logos along with their letters.

Though a champion has yet to be declared in this year's tournament, the March Madness project, at least, has been a slam dunk for the students.