MILWAUKEE (TMJ4) — College may be more than a decade away for some students at Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy, but educators there say it is never too early for children to begin imagining themselves there.
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This week, the school is celebrating HBCU Week, introducing students — including children as young as 4 — to the people, traditions and opportunities connected to historically Black colleges and universities.
The week includes an HBCU Walk of Fame, lessons about HBCU band culture and Black college history, along with classroom visits from members of Divine Nine fraternities and sororities.
For the adults participating, the goal is bigger than teaching students about college. They want children to see people who look like them and recognize what could be possible in their own lives.
Marques Hogans, a Kentucky State University graduate, said that visibility matters, particularly for young Black boys.
"Representation matters. As a Black man in our community, we don't often get to see those that are excelling in our careers and in life in general. So, so for a student to see that I can see this person as something that I can be or something I can strive to be, that's what's important to me," Hogans said.
For one Milwaukee teacher, the message is personal
Third-grade educator Ms. Carrington Ahmad knows firsthand what it means to search for that representation.
Ahmad grew up near 8th and Center in Milwaukee's 53206 ZIP code. She attended Talladega College in Alabama and later earned her master's degree from Fisk University in Nashville — both HBCUs.
But when Ahmad thinks about her own childhood education, she remembers what was missing.
"I've always felt representation was important," Ahmad said. "My schooling, I didn't have teachers that looked like me."
That experience helped shape the educator she became.
Now in her 28th year in education, Ahmad said she intentionally chose to work with children who could see themselves in her.
"And so when I had the chance to become a teacher, I always said I wanted to work with students who look like me, to give them the chance of what it feels like to excel, to have someone who values them, to have someone who loves them no matter how they come and show up each and every day," Ahmad said.
For Ahmad, the impact of that decision has stretched across generations.
She recalled recently being stopped at a Pick 'n Save by a former student she taught in first grade more than two decades ago. At first, she didn't recognize the now-grown man.
He recognized her.
"He said to me, he said, you know, Ms. Carrington, he said, I have never forgotten about you," Ahmad recalled.
She said encounters like that remind her why she continues teaching.
"They always say to me, You're the best teacher I ever had. And to me, that means something and that's always stuck with me," Ahmad said.
Planting the college seed early
Ahmad said HBCUs can provide students of color with a place where they feel comfortable being themselves.
"It's a safe space for them, and I think that safe space allows them to show up just as their authentic selves," Ahmad said. "You can come as you are and you are fully accepted, and to me that's important."
During HBCU Week, students are learning not only about individual colleges but also about the culture and history surrounding them.
Ahmad said the lessons include prominent HBCU graduates, band culture and the Divine Nine — the nine historically Black Greek-letter organizations that make up the National Pan-Hellenic Council.
"It's important to expose scholars to all of that, like what can be, what black excellence looks like, and it's been a lasting legacy with the HBCUs and the Divine Nine as well," Ahmad said.
Kimberly Ramsey, principal of Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy Elementary School, said the school deliberately includes its youngest students.
For some, college is 13 or 14 years away. Ramsey said that's exactly why educators want to begin the conversation now.
"You're 4, you're 5, but guess what, we were once 4 and 5," Ramsey said. "So you have to instill that early and you have to instill that early belief of knowing that you can do it and that's what we do every day."
Ramsey, who grew up in Milwaukee and is in her first year as principal at HFCA Elementary School, said she tells students that she once sat in the same kinds of seats they do.
She wants them to understand that where they begin does not determine where they can go.
Ramsey also wants people outside the school to see the students the way she does.
"They are children," Ramsey said. "A lot of times our community views our scholars as ... adult-like individuals, but no, they're somebody's baby."
She said the goal is to plant a seed in every child, regardless of their neighborhood or socioeconomic background, that there is a future waiting for them.
'They're kids. They have hopes and dreams.'
For Ahmad, that mission is deeply emotional.
After nearly three decades in education, she became emotional while explaining what keeps bringing her back to the classroom.
"They're kids, they're kids. They have hopes and dreams," Ahmad said. "You know, I know there's so much negativity, you know, in the news that a lot of times they see."
Ahmad said she hopes she can provide a counterweight to that negativity.
"And I feel like if I can be that, that shining star, that beacon of light for them where they can, you know, focus on something, they have hope for the future, then that's what I want to be and that's why I'm here," Ahmad said.
For students at Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy, HBCU Week may be an introduction to colleges they won't apply to for years.
For the educators standing in front of them, it's about making sure those students start believing now that college — and whatever future they imagine beyond it — is possible.
HOW TO LEARN MORE
Families interested in Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy or its programs can contact the school directly for information about enrollment, academics and future school events.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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