Thanks in part to the generosity of UCF’s campus shuttle bus provider, Burnett Honors College students can mentor and prepare for college over 10,000 of at-risk elementary school children every fall for the next five years.
Veolia Transportation has donated 90 bus trips annually to the service-learning sites visited by Honors students during the fall Honors Symposium. The symposium is a required course that combines lectures and service-learning for Honors students, who visit Orange County public schools and teach five hands-on student success lessons to children in grades one through five.
The company has also donated 13 bus trips for the “ACE: Achieve a College Education Day” event that takes place annually in the spring. The ACE program brings 500 local fifth-graders to campus, where they become college students for a day. Nearly 180 Burnett Honors College and LEAD Scholars students participate.
The ACE Day event has been called a game-changer by many. “The ACE program plants the seed. If you set goals and work hard to achieve them, you too can have the opportunity to attend college,” says UCF parent and donor Sandra Jackson, who has supported the program.
Veolia Transportation’s gift represents a commitment of $306,000 over five years.