Kinder to College Initiative Inspires Young Minds to Dream Big at ECC

Elgin Community College’s inaugural Kinder to College event last month brought big dreams to life for some of the community’s youngest learners. The early childhood college and career awareness initiative is designed to introduce children to the idea of college in a fun, age-appropriate way — and spark their imaginations about what they can become. 

Elizabeth Herrera, director of student recruitment and outreach at ECC, helped lead the initiative and explained its purpose. 

 “We want to plant the seed at a young age so that students in our community are dreaming big and are introduced to college early on,” she said. 

The young participants explored ECC’s campus during the event, many accompanied by their families. Children received t-shirts and goodie bags, interacted with ECC staff, and learned more about college in a way tailored to their growing minds. 

Rodrigo Lopez attended with his five-year-old son, Wallace, affectionately known as Ace, who just finished pre-K at ECC’s Early Childhood Lab School and will start kindergarten this fall. 

“He was so excited to show us his ‘goody’ bag,” Lopez said. “He told us that he decided that he wanted to be a dentist, and of course, that’s after he said if scuba diving didn’t work out for him. He wore his shirt all evening and explained to us what the checkboxes meant — ‘after this checkbox, that’s when I go to college.’” 

Lopez, who works at Northern Illinois University, shared that the family had already been discussing jobs and learning, but the Kinder to College event gave his son a memorable and meaningful college experience. 

“He talked about the experience with everyone at home and would not let go of his shirt and goody bag,” Lopez said. “The ECC staff truly did a remarkable job, not only in the teaching and messaging, but in connecting with the kiddos.” 

ECC parent Katy Ro also enrolled her five-year-old daughter Lynette, who attends preschool at the college’s child lab. 

“Since Lynette comes to ECC with me daily, we have had many conversations about what you can learn to do when you go to community college,” Ro said. “She was enthusiastic about her experience at the event and loved getting some swag. Her big takeaway after participating, in her own words, was that college/ECC can help you learn to get a good job when you are grown up.” 

Lynette came home from the event filled with excitement and dreams. 

“She aspires to be a teacher, veterinarian, firefighter, artist, and dental hygienist. She wants to do it all,” Ro said. 

Ro emphasized the importance of exposing children to college environments early. 

“It lays the foundation of the pathways of integrating life-long learning practices into their lives and community. It’s a tangible and real connection for children/youth and their families to see their passions and interests as a trajectory that has direct steps to have an impact on our community and their professional livelihoods.” 

Both parents encourage others to take part in future Kinder to College events.   

“Embrace it. Lean in and make it an opportunity for exploration,” Lopez said. “It’s never enough to talk to our kiddos about ‘jobs’ and ‘careers.’ They are fascinated with learning and curious about what we do as adults. This is a phenomenal opportunity to connect careers to college and education.” 

ECC’s Kinder to College initiative is one of many ways the college is working to build bridges from early childhood to higher education, reinforcing the message that college is not only possible but exciting and open to all.