Bryant fifth-graders celebrated as honorary Helena College students
About 50 Bryant fifth-graders were honored at Helena College after a year of monthly campus visits that brought college life into reach.
About 50 Bryant Elementary fifth-graders were celebrated at Helena College after spending the school year as honorary students, a partnership that gave local children repeated, hands-on exposure to higher education instead of a single campus tour.
The students visited Helena College once a month and moved through activities in different subject areas, including art, science, math, library services, Native American studies and career technical programs. Their time on campus included tours at the Helena College Airport Campus and learning tied to the Donaldson Campus, giving the fifth-graders a closer look at spaces where college students train for jobs and build skills.
The program was in its third year and grew out of a connection between Helena College and Bryant Elementary School. Robin Kiesling, Helena College’s executive director of general education and transfer, reached out to Bryant fifth-grade teacher Taylor Hassler after Hassler started teaching fifth grade at Bryant. Because Bryant Elementary sits right across the road from Helena College, the partnership has been practical to sustain and easy for young students to experience throughout the school year.
That repeated contact matters because it does more than create a memorable field trip. By returning to campus month after month, the Bryant students had time to get comfortable with college buildings, staff and learning environments. The structure of the program helped connect classroom lessons to real-world careers while showing students that college is not reserved for someone else’s future.
The celebration at the end of the school year marked more than a ceremony. It recognized a local education pipeline that began with elementary students and aimed to shape how they think about middle school, college and the years beyond. In a community where Bryant Elementary, Helena College and Helena Public Schools are all part of the same daily landscape, the program offered a simple but important message: higher education can be familiar, reachable and part of a child’s life long before graduation day.
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