Over nine million children in the U.S. live are depleted of their educational and physical resources, according to a United Way NCA article written on Oct. 2024 by United Way National Command Authority. Thus, programs such as the Campbell Scholars are created to help provide overachieving and under-resourced students with ample opportunities to help them excel with the same resources as the rest.
The Campbell Hall Scholars Program is a costless program that provides public school students the opportunities and resources to excel academically in middle school, high school and college. John Rue, the Executive Director of the Campbell Scholars Program, designed the program to guide scholars from middle school to college graduation. The program groups the scholars into cohorts, each guided by their mentor.
Dianna Barrios, the Academic Enrichment Coordinator for the Campbell Hall Scholars Program, believes that giving back and enriching the lives of students she sees herself in makes it fulfilling. As a first-generation college graduate and having a familial tie to the program—with her sister being a scholar during high school— being a part of the community spoke to her. Therefore, she appreciates that Campbell Hall actively provides their own resources to students who lack them.
“[The program is] just a great way to give back to the community and really help out students who were once in my own shoes,” Barrios said. “That, for me, is the biggest gift I can ask for. I see myself and my community in these students, and I’m very happy that Campbell Hall has made the space for them as well.”
Max Longoria ‘27 knows first-hand the impact of the support the Campbell Scholars program provides. Because his middle school years as a scholar were during the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the program’s support that helped Longoria transition into in-person high school, both academically and socially. For Longoria, Saturday sessions that the program organized allow him to bond with his cohort.
The summer before his freshman year, Longoria’s cohort visited a local science museum. Longoria reflects on this excursion as one of the most memorable. It allowed him to dive into his interests and bond with other scholars who share the same interests. Longoria hopes to go to college to get a degree in the science field, and feels that through the support of his mentors and the hands-on learning provided by the excursions, the Campbell Scholars program is preparing him socially and academically for his future.
“Being able to bond with my cohort and talk to them and have these different experiences with them helped me transition to high school and become more social, [which helped me ] make friends in high school,” Longoria said. “Although I didn’t really know them beforehand, I was able to bond with my cohort through the science center, and they ended up being really good people that I still talk to to this day.”
Similarly to Longoria, Saul Rosas ‘25 was supported by his mentors both academically and socially. A primary part of the Campbell Scholars Program are the mentors provided to each scholar, one of the most impactful parts of the program for Rosas. These mentors are typically students or staff at Campbell Hall.
Going into the Campbell Scholars program, Rosas already had a strong ambition to get to college, which the program strengthened. Rosas credits his mentors in helping him feel less insecure about what he tries to achieve academically.
“I was always and still am very doubtful and not very confident,” Rosas said. “One of my mentors, Ray, always reminds me that my work doesn’t always have to be perfect. He once even took the eraser off my pencil to keep me from erasing what I had written.”
Now, Barrios believes that in volunteering and helping her first-generation community, others with a similar background to her will be able to build a career like she did. She understands that navigating the college process and life as a first-generation student is difficult, as she had to figure things out independently. This experience incentivized her to work with Campbell Scholars.
“I felt really inspired, [since] I went through the college process by myself as [a] first-generation student without any guidance, [which was hard for me],” Barrios said. “So, being able to help students in the same positions [makes it worth it.]”
