LONG BRANCH – On Sunday March 24 at 12pm, 17 Shore Conference boys basketball players will come together to raise money for the “Get On The Bus” College Tour hosted by the Long Branch Department of Recreation and the Long Branch Housing Authority. The Future All Stars will consist of eight freshman and nine sophomores from Monmouth and Ocean counties.
Team Black will be coached by Coach John “JJ” Rogers. The team includes Jason Carpenter (So.) Freehold Boro, Mike White (So.) CBA, Ryan Mabrey (Fr.) CBA, Elijah Perkins (Fr.) Ranney, Luke Albrecht (So.) Middletown South, Ben Roy (Fr.) Manasquan, Jackson Patton (So.) Rumson-Fair Haven and Malik Fields (Fr.) Neptune.
Team Gold will be coached by Coach Weise. The team includes Corey Miller (Fr.) Ocean Township, Justin Sorrano (So.) Central Regional, Kyle Rhoden (So.) Central Regional, Zach Oricho (So.) Freehold Township, Jeff Schroeder (Fr.) Rumson-Fair Haven, Ryan Ruein (So.) Rumson-Fair Haven, Amari Petty (Fr.) Donovan Catholic, Dante Weise (Fr.) Allentown and
The “Get On The Bus” College Tour to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) was created for minority high school students to visit institutions of higher learning. At the schools, the students witness students that they can relate to furthering their education at the college level.
For the past 27 years, the City of Long Branch’s Department of Recreation, in conjunction with the Long Branch Housing Authority, has hosted the “Get On The Bus” College Tour to HBCUs. Many of the students that attend the college tour don’t have the financial resources to visit numerous colleges than the student whose family has those resources. Several students attending the tour have little to no knowledge of what college life is about and some have no plans to further their education after high school.
There have been past participants that were the first of their family to not only attend college, but to set foot on a college campus. All high school students in grades 9-12 are eligible to attend the college tour. We encourage the high school seniors to bring their SAT and ACT scores along with report cards to present to the colleges’ administrators. If they meet the requirements, they can get accepted at that time and have the application fee waived.
Through the years, the “Get On The Bus” College Tour has toured HBCUs along the eastern seaboard from Delaware to Georgia, as well as Pennsylvania. We book rooms at local Embassy Suites Hotels for security and room accommodations. Our stay at a quality hotel we feel will instill in the students that by furthering their education, a stay at a similar or better hotel will be the norm as adults.
Chaperones are chosen and screened by the Long Branch Recreation Department and Long Branch Housing Authority. The college tour is taken during the local high schools’ spring break.
The students attending the college tour could not afford the total cost of the tour. The fee charged per student does not reflect the actual cost to send a student on the “Get On The Bus” College Tour. The fee per student is offset by the generous donations from individuals, organizations, local businesses and corporations. Each year it is increasingly difficult to raise funds for the tour. There are fundraisers throughout the year to request an affordable fee per student.
Support of this life-changing experience is much appreciated and rewarding. Each year the “Get On The Bus” College Tour consists of four pre-tour student/parent meetings with refreshments, a minimum of seven college campus informational tours, round-trip transportation on a 55-passenger coach bus, four-star hotel stay, pre-tour dinner/get-together, three meals per day, snacks on the bus, positive movies during the bus ride, visit to a historical, educational or entertainment venue, tour back pack, tour college information binder, tour tee-shirt, tour windbreaker, a dress-up night and dinner during the tour and prizes during activities on the bus.
Tours of each college consist of an overview of the college by an administrator, followed by a student ambassador-led walking tour of the campus while answering questions.
To support the “Get On The Bus” College Tour, please make your-tax deductible contribution to “Maestro Development Corporation,” c/o Long Branch Housing Authority, 2 Hope Lane, Long Branch, NJ 07740. In the memo line, please put “College Tour donation.”
For more information, contact Carl F. Jennings, Director of Recreation and Human Services, at
[email protected] or (732) 571-6545.
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