North Atlanta

These days "giving back" is a common catch phrase, as seen with Oprah launching a new television show entitled "The Big Give."  Many people give "lip service" to giving back to their communities, while far fewer take action.  Skip Gillon is one person who gives his time and talents to NAHS students, in ways more valuable than gold.  Skip is both a NAHS dad and he runs THE COLLEGE ZONE, the college resource center for students, found in the NAHS Media Center.

     Let me begin by giving you a little history on Skip.  He grew up poor living housing project in Atlanta and was determined to change his fate.  He graduated from Brown high school as class Valedictorian and Star Student.  Anyone that's ever met Skip would not be surprised to learn that he was a gifted athlete and football player.  He received numerous Athletic Scholarships to well-respected southern schools and was advised by his high school counselors to accept one of them.  However, Skip had set his sights even higher.  He applied to 22 schools across the country, including all eight of the Ivy League colleges.  He received 22 letters of acceptance and ended up choosing Harvard, where he was awarded a full academic scholarship, and guess what...he played football too!

A couple of years ago Skip’s daughter, Alex Gillon, was a junior at NAHS.  Many of you remember Alex, class of 2007, as Student Council President and also a gifted athlete.  When Spring Break of her junior year came around, Skip and his daughter planned a trip to visit many universities in the northeast.  Soon Alex invited a friend or two along, and then a couple of other girls heard about the trip and wanted to join them. The next thing you know Skip had 6 young high school juniors in tow, touring colleges in the northeastern states.  What Skip wanted to pass along to these students, is that many wealthier schools, with large endowments, are able to offer 'full' scholarships to students who excel. These 6 girls qualified for the HOPE Scholarship and had earned themselves an education at any school within the Georgia University System.  What they learned, was that those very same qualifications would make them eligible for full scholarships to many schools across the U.S. By going on this tour, they opened up more options for themselves.

April 6^th, 2008, marked the "Second Annual Spring Break College Tour."  Five students and four parents made the trek.  These included William Wagstaff, a senior who was awarded the Bill Gates Scholarship. (covers all college expenses to the school of your choice from undergraduate through PhD.)  William was accepted to Brown University, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Duke and Columbia.  He came along on this trip to take a closer look, in hopes of narrowing down his decision.  The juniors on this trip were Donald Duff, Jeneese Greenwood, Sonia Kikeri and Annelise Mackinnon.  Parent chaperones were Skip and Tangelea Gillon, Roopa Bhandari and Leslie Mackinnon.

The first stop along the way was Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.  The small town of Hanover is located in a rural part of the state, and was compared to downtown, Decatur, Ga. The bus pulled onto the snow covered Dartmouth campus and the students were given information and a tour of the campus.  One highlight of the tour was finding out that Dr. Suess graduated from Dartmouth.  All incoming freshman are treated to a meal of green eggs and ham on the day of their arrival. 

Day two found the group up early and eagerly listening to an information session about Harvard University and then taking a tour of the Harvard campus in Cambridge, Mass.  This is a lively and stimulating town that is home to many highly regarded colleges, including Radcliff, M.I.T., and Lesley University, to name just a few.  That afternoon the group saw Boston University and then ended the day at Boston College, a Jesuit run school, laid out on a rolling campus.  By now, our students were picking up on the questions they needed to ask about the transfer of their I.B. credits, opportunities for travel abroad, and specific majors available to them.

Our trip to Boston was capped by some of the best seafood available in the city.  Anyone who has ever dined at Legal Seafood, will be salivating at the mere mention of it.  By the way, did I mention earlier that Tangelea and Skip obtained a grant which paid for the majority of the trip and all the food?  Each participant paid four hundred dollars which was unbelievable, when you consider what a trip like this would cost an individual family!

Leaving Boston on day three, the group traveled to Providence, Rhode Island and the campus of Brown University.  Though many thought the admissions counselor’s presentation was a bit dry and boring, the tour of the campus certainly was not!  On this chilly, spring day we were shown around by Josh, who shared many funny stories about the history of Brown.  The campus itself, backed up to the Rhode Island School of Design, commonly referred to as RISD.  Students were encouraged to take classes offered through RISD, as well as the Brown curriculum. The rolling hills of campus were bordered on all sides by lovely New England mansions.  The group enjoyed lunch with Julie Mohammed, another 2007 graduate of NAHS, who is at Brown on a full scholarship.  Julie is a perfect example of someone who had never considered college outside of Georgia, until Spring Break 2006.

By late afternoon the van rolled into New Haven, Conn. and onto the Yale campus.  After dinner with freshman Alex Gillon, and a trip to the Yale Bookstore, both students and the parents enjoyed their separate evenings. The students spent the night in the dorms with “Yalies” and the parents enjoyed a quiet rest in a sumptuous hotel with all the amenities.  Seeing the Yale campus for the first time is amazing.  The architecture is Collegiate Gothic, and is not easily forgotten.  Our teenagers were probably most impressed with the student gymnasium, which covered nine floors. 

After breakfast in one of the Yale dining halls, we loaded up again and headed to New York City for an early tour of Columbia University.  Parking on one of Manhattan’s busy streets.  The group was surprised when we slipped down a narrow alley and there in the midst of the city, we found a spacious and green campus that was totally unexpected. The campus takes up six city blocks, and for those familiar with the city, those are very large blocks. The warmest day we had encountered since leaving Atlanta, we agreed with the tour guide who described the campus as “New York’s largest urban beach.’  There were students and faculty spread across the greens, soaking up the sun.  It is hard to imagine that any of the classes were well attended that day.  The steps of the Low Library (admission hall) have been designated as one of the best meeting spots in the world.  It certainly proved true on this day and contrary to their reputation, these New Yorkers were very friendly.  Columbia’s campus had a very international feel to it. Fifty percent of the student body is comprised of students of color.  With no classes on Friday, the opportunities for college internships in NYC are limitless.  Coming back out to the teeming traffic, we noticed Barnard College just across the street.

Next stop on the map was Princeton, New Jersey for an early tour of Princeton University Friday morning.  Approximately 5000 students inhabit the Princeton campus, and are described as receiving a ‘world class education.’  Every student at Princeton is required to write a thesis prior to graduation.  While there was no Greek life on campus, ten Eating Clubs are available to students.  Though Princeton resists the comparison to sororities or fraternities, our group could not help but notice the parallels.  Sunday brunch on campus was described as quite lavish and we were disappointed to have missed that treat.  Out of twenty one thousand applications last year, Princeton admitted 1,950.

Leaving Princeton, the rush was on to make it to Washington, D.C. for an afternoon tour of Georgetown University.  A three hour drive, turned into five hours, due to Friday afternoon D.C. traffic.  Luckily the admissions staff was kind enough to wait and provide us with information about the University.  In the heart of our nation’s capitol, the opportunities to get involved in politics or international affairs, were exceptional.  We were told that many students did internships on Capitol Hill. This Catholic campus on the edge of Georgetown was just cranking up for Friday evening activities, and the air was filled with the sounds of live bands.

We saw a lot on our seven day tour and I’m not sure we could have done it without the aid of Starbucks.  You must be sure to put this trip on your calendar right now, for Spring Break 2009.  It was a great trip, in which new friends were made and already existing friendships were deepened.  Thanks so very much to our PTA president Tangelea Gillon and Skip Gillon, who gave their Spring Break week to the students of North Atlanta High School.  This is truly what is meant by ‘giving back’, to our wonderful NAHS student community.   They are our future!