Twenty-six black and Hispanic high school students from Washington, D.C., will learn that a university education is within their reach when they are hosted by Cornell University urban planning students and professors this Aug. 9-13. In turn, they will share with their hosts their own very real perspective on what it's like to live in a rough-and-tumble urban neighborhood.

The students are from Cesar Chavez Charter High School for Public Policy in the nation's capital, an inner-city school that encourages young people to excel academically, attend college, then go on to play a role in shaping public policy to improve their communities. They are being hosted by students and faculty in Cornell's Department of City and Regional Planning (CRP) in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning. Their visit is the second in what the college hopes will be an ongoing, mutually beneficial friendship.

"I don't have words to explain how powerful the partnership between Cesar Chavez and Cornell can be and how it can impact the lives of the students," said Irasema Salcido, principal and founder of Cesar Chavez charter school. "These are students who would otherwise not have an opportunity to visit a place like Cornell." And without such exposure, "they are not going to aspire to or get the quality education they should have," she said.

The good news is that some of the Chavez students who visited last August have since applied and gotten into Cornell and other high-caliber universities, Salcido reported. What's more, three applied to be part of Telluride House, a residence for outstanding Cornell students, and one was invited to live there. Telluride is providing free room and board to the Chavez high schoolers for the second August in a row.

This year's group of Chavez students, accompanied by parents and teachers, will attend special sessions on admission and financial aid to learn more about what it takes to get into an Ivy League university and perhaps discover that it's a lot more accessible than they may have imagined.

While at Cornell, the Chavez students will attend lectures, workshops and discussions in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning, among them Visiting Associate Professor Ken Reardon's class on participatory planning. They also will join the Cornell planning students for social and recreational activities, including a barbecue and dance party at Telluride House.

The experience will give the Cornell students a rare glimpse into the lives of inner city residents, explained Nate Jonjevic, a graduate student in the Department of City and Regional Planning who is helping to organize the visit. The exposure may help them better understand the challenges they are likely to face as professional urban planners after they graduate, he said.

Tracy Neumann, another CRP graduate student, added: "The Cornell students will get a chance to interact with young adults who face a different set of challenges than they may have experienced themselves. Conversely, the Chavez students will be able to glean information from older students who have benefited from more, and possibly different, life experiences."

Also on the four-day agenda for the Chavez students are visits to the Ithaca Commons and Treman state park and a ropes course challenge in Varna with the Cornell Outdoor Education program.