REDDING, Calif. – About 1,400 Shasta County kindergarten students visited the Simpson University campus on May 10 for the 12^th annual KinderCollege Day event organized by College OPTIONS.

It was the largest attendance yet for the event, said Lianne Richelieu of College OPTIONS during her morning welcome.

KinderCollege Day features interactive career stations from a variety of organizations and programs, including Dignity Health, the Institute of Technology, Haven Humane, Redding Electric Utility, Sierra Pacific Industries, Redding Fire Department, Tri Counties Bank, and the California Highway Patrol, to name a few.

The goal of KinderCollege Day is to introduce students to the idea of post-high school education and career possibilities early in their academic careers, and to let parents and teachers know it is never too early to discuss those possibilities with children.

Simpson University President Norman Hall gave a rousing welcome to the kindergartners and introduced them to the Simpson Red Hawk mascot.

“Simpson University is Redding’s hometown university,” he said. “We want you to one day come and be a Red Hawk and study in our nursing building, or study engineering, or study to be a businessperson or a lawyer. This is a place where God helps you make dreams come true.”

In addition to College OPTIONS and Simpson University, the event was sponsored by First 5 Shasta, Institute of Technology, Golden Valley Bank, Reach Higher Shasta, TriCounties Bank, The McConnell Foundation, Snow Mountain Natural Spring Water, among others.

For more information on KinderCollege Day or other College OPTIONS events, visit www.collegeoptions.org.

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About College OPTIONS
Providing school- and community-based college awareness and preparation services, College OPTIONS is making a difference in the lives of Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, Trinity and Modoc county students and their families. Visit www.collegeoptions.org for more information.

About Simpson University
Simpson University, founded in 1921, moved to Redding 30 years ago and will celebrate its centennial in 2021. In addition to offering 25 majors in its traditional undergraduate program, the university has graduated more than 4,000 North State adults from its ASPIRE degree-completion program, and nearly 3,000 from its School of Education. It has a No. 12-rankedSchool of Nursing, a seminary, and master’s programs in counseling psychology and organizational leadership. Simpson University is recognized as a 2018-19 Colleges of Distinction.

Simpson is launching new athletics programs in track and field, swimming and diving, women’s wrestling, and men’s volleyball, as well as a bass fishing team. The university is also working to better serve transfer students from community colleges through its commitment to Associate Degree for Transfer agreements, and it is offering new scholarships.

Learn more about Simpson University at simpsonu.edu. Follow university news at simpsonunews.com.