October 20, 2011 — Sixth-graders from Walker Upper Elementary School will sample a day in the life of University of Virginia students on Oct. 26, participating in some of U.Va.'s academic and cultural experiences. 

Media are invited to cover the event. Please contact Marcia D. Johnson of the U.Va. Office of Community Relations at 434-924-6855 (office) or 434-825-5371 (cell) to arrange coverage. Parents have given permission for their children to be photographed. 

About 40 students in Walker's Advancement Via Individual Determination, or "AVID," program, designed to help middle-schoolers prepare for college, will spend approximately three hours at U.Va. in an outreach effort organized by Phi Sigma Pi, a co-ed national honor fraternity, and Day in the Life, a tutoring assistance program in U.Va.'s Community Relations Office.  The Walker students will be on U.Va.'s Grounds from approximately 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Following a tour of the Lawn and lunch at the Observatory Hill Dining Hall, the Walker students will be treated to science experiments in room 415 of the Chemistry Building from approximately 12:30 to 1 p.m. After the science session, the pupils will be able to ask questions about the life of a U.Va. student.

"Each semester, Phi Sigma Pi and Day in the Life bring a group from Charlottesville or Albemarle County schools to sample the life of U.Va. students," said Johnson, community outreach coordinator in the Community Relations Office. "The goal is to encourage local youth to go to college."

Through the Day in the Life program, U.Va. students provide tutoring and homework assistance to local youths at 22 sites in Charlottesville and Albemarle County. Since the program's inception in 2002, more than 3,000 U.Va. students have provided 57,241 hours of tutoring and mentoring to 10,064 area young people.