WARSAW — While it is common for college campuses to swarm with students who are thinking about their futures, it is not so common for those students to be elementary school age.

Friday morning, Sept. 25, Warsaw’s Ivy Tech campus hosted kindergarten through second-grade students from throughout Kosciusko County for “Walk Into My Future,” an event Ivy Tech sponsored in collaboration with the Kosciusko Community YMCA, Parkview Health and the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce. A number of other local businesses also contributed to making the event possible.

“Walk Into My Future” caps off an initiative known as Kosciusko County Promise, a program that teaches kids and their parents about planning for college. Kosciusko Community YMCA CEO, Chad Zaucha, said that the goal is to have each participant start a college fund, which they will continue to add to as they grow up.

“Statistically, they’re more likely to attend college or other post-secondary education if they have a college account,” Zaucha said.

The first school to arrive was Warsaw Christian Academy. Students gathered at 13 stations for an introduction to some of their many future career options. They played word games, emotion Pictionary and tried their hand at Operation. They also had the chance to race cars made on a 3D printer, feel a real-life brain and learn how a potato can turn into a battery.

Students from schools throughout the county will continue visiting all day Friday. A second event is set for Friday, Oct. 2.

More information about Kosciusko County Promise is available here.