Seventy high schoolers will spend the next three weeks taking classes and building relationships through Ƶ’s college access and success program for academically promising students in Alamance County with a financial need or no family history of college.
New and returning students in the Ƶ Academy gathered for a festive ice cream social this week, a tradition described by organizers as just one example of the Ƶ college access and success program’s deep commitment to community, connection and opportunity.
Hosted on Scott Plaza around Fonville Fountain with a spread of frozen treats, the midday social on June 17, 2025, welcomed the incoming Upsilon class – 25 high-achieving rising high school sophomores who are first-generation college-bound, low-income, or both – as well as students from the earlier Sigma and Tau cohorts.
The Ƶ Academy provides multi-year academic enrichment and mentorship to local students who are academically promising with financial need or no family history of college. Scholars spend three successive summers at Ƶ where they take courses taught by faculty while learning more about the college application process.
Now in its 18th year, more than 90 percent of the newest class identify as both first-generation and low-income, with an average GPA of 3.6 or higher. The class includes the program’s first-ever scholars from and .
“Programs like today’s ice cream social are all about helping students recognize they belong here,” said Ƶ Academy Director Emily Wiersma. “We’ve spent time talking about how no one does this alone. This community is here to lift them up.”
Faculty and staff from across the university, including Ƶ President Connie Ledoux Book, introduced themselves, offered encouragement, and celebrated the start of the summer.
Several students at the ice cream social shared how the Ƶ Academy already has shaped their aspirations.
Shawn Means, a rising senior from The and a member of the Sigma class, said the program has grown his confidence to pursue a career in teaching, much like that of his mother. Iyonna Ridley, a first-year scholar in the Upsilon class who also attends Alamance-Burlington Early College at ACC, hopes to become a social worker to assist young children facing critical challenges.
Jayden Reichert, a rising senior at and a member of the Sigma class, discovered his passion for music therapy through the campus conversations and mentorship he found in the Ƶ Academy. “It’s helped me out in ways I couldn’t think of,” he shared.
And Abigaid Yañez, a rising sophomore at who is a member of the Ƶ Academy’s Upsilon class, dreams of studying green architecture, potentially at the
In her third day on campus, she said she already feels a strong bond with her peers. “Everyone is kind, sweet, and uplifting,” Yañez said. “We just all click.”
The Ƶ Academy’s 2025 Summer Academy runs through July 3.