No glass slippers were lost during last week’s Cinderella Project Leadership Academy — instead, its participants gained valuable insight into applying for and attending college.
The Cinderella Project was founded seven years ago to provide underprivileged high school girls with prom dresses. Cinderella Project Academic Director Tierra Clemmons said the leadership academy, which takes place at the University, began last year as a way to support those girls when they begin considering college.
This year’s academy included 28 girls from 21 Louisiana high schools in nine parishes. Each girl in the academy received a stipend to take the ACT and a $500 scholarship for any college or university in Louisiana.
The academy began Wednesday night and ended with a graduation ceremony Saturday. The students audited history and psychology classes, talked to counselors in the University Center for Freshman Year, took Residential Life tours and met with Greek Life representatives. On Friday, they were able to visit Mike the Tiger, eat in the Student Union and tour the Quad — in other words, be an LSU student for a day.
Clemmons said many of the girls either have never had the chance to visit a college campus, need help navigating the application process or are just unsure of what to expect. People know the concept of college, but seeing what it is actually like during their time in the academy helps inspire the girls to attend, graduate and be successful, she said.
“It already puts you in that mindset of ‘I can see myself here. I can see myself making it and being like one of these students,’” Clemmons said.
The Cinderella Project publicizes applications for the leadership academy in the spring at its dress giveaway and on visits to high schools. The application asks about what obstacles students have faced and how the academy would help them reach their goals.
Clemmons said most applicants have high GPAs and are involved in school and civic clubs, but because many will be first-generation college students, it is important to show them what life on campus looks like. The academy makes the transition from high school to college less intimidating, she said.
Tarsha Fabre, a junior at Scotlandville Magnet High School, said the academy demonstrated the importance of “staying on top of your game to be where you want to be.” Learning about student resources and getting to explore the University firsthand was valuable, she said.
“I like how I was able to see the real life of college,” Fabre said. “I’ve never seen how it is to actually sit in a classroom with a professor, how the students react with the professor and how the environment is socially.”
Shelton Jones, co-founder of the Cinderella Project, said the idea of a leadership academy stemmed from the fact that many girls at the dress giveaways are thinking of college. High school counselors often have too much on their plate and cannot provide sufficient details on attending college, she said.
Giving the girls a chance to interact with professors and counselors helps demystify college life — but perhaps most inspiring is the experience of physically being on the University’s campus, Jones said.
“It excites them,” Jones said. “It’s not something far off or abstract. Once they’re sitting in the Quad and once they’re in the library and they see the energy of the college campus, there’s nothing that can replace that.”