This Friday, October 1, at about 3 p.m. two busloads of West Michigan residents -- 60 students and 30 adults -- will leave from in front of Calvin College's Spoelhof Center for a trip to Indianapolis for the Circle City Classic. But this will be more than a mere "road trip." 
This, says Calvin College's Rhae-Ann Booker (left), is a trip with a purpose. "The entire atmosphere of the Circle City Classic," she says, "sends a strong message about how exciting and important higher education is. And a major part of that message is about black academic excellence. The students, and their parents, will leave that setting excited about going to college. It's just in the air." 
The group will attend the annual Classic parade (the second largest African American street parade in the country), the annual Battle of the Bands and the football game between historically black colleges Hampton University and Southern University. 
They also will have a chance to soak in the flavor of the Classic - listening to speakers, looking at exhibits and meeting college-age leaders from historically black colleges. 
The trip is just one event in a busy year of programming aimed at not just high school students, but also students in 4th through 6th grades and 7th and 8th grade. 
All the programming comes as a result of an innovative partnership called "Pathways to Possibilities" (P2P for short) which links Calvin College with urban churches in Grand Rapids and Muskegon. P2P was sparked by several teen murders in Grand Rapids in 1994. Calvin College invited leaders from 18 central city churches to come and talk together. The leaders agreed that city kids needed healthy alternatives to the violence of the street. Church leaders saw education as a pathway to productive lives. 
And Pathways to Possibilities was born, funded initially by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to the tune of $600,000. Calvin College joined forces with 10 urban churches in Grand Rapids and two Muskegon churches. The Grand Rapids churches are Messiah, New Hope and True Light Baptist, Eastern Avenue, First, Grace, Neland, Oakdale Park and Sherman Street CRCs and Westminster Presbyterian. 
Each church serves a central-city parish; each church already is committed to the young people of its congregation and neighborhood. Those two factors made the churches natural partners for Calvin in the initiative. In addition to the Grand Rapids effort, Calvin partner in Muskegon with Holy Trinity Church of God in Christ and Great Joy World Outreach Church. 
The P2P four-part formula includes: 1) local church initiatives, 2) campus visits, 3) the P2P Pre-College Conference and 4) The Entrada Scholars Program. Each P2P partner church has a P2P Coordinator. Several churches host career fairs and nine of the 12 offer tutoring. Regular campus visits help P2P students imagine a world beyond their neighborhood. Eight nights a month Booker "opens" Calvin College to P2P students for fun workshops put on by Calvin staff and students. 
The Circle City Classic trip will include students and parents from Westminster; First and Sherman CRCs; Messiah, New Hope and True Light Baptist and both Holy Trinity COGIC and Great Joy in Muskegon.