Penguin Kickoff Offers Taste Of YSU Steubenville
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STEUBENVILLE -- Having access to classes at Youngstown State University Steubenville is important to students from the Tri-State Area.
That includes Hayden Martin of Steubenville.
A senior at YSU, Martin said being able to finish her education in her community is important.
"There’s a class that I need to retake, and they actually have the class right here in our town," she said Tuesday afternoon while attending the first Penguin Kickoff on the local campus. "I’m going to retake that class here, and then I’m taking other classes online."
After she graduates, Martin, who is working to complete majors in criminal justice and psychology, said she plans to take her LSATs and enroll in law school.
Held in the parking lot of the campus that stretches along Sunset Boulevard, Penguin Kickoff offered a chance for accepted students to complete a variety of enrollment steps and learn about the services and resources the school has to offer.
"It was a welcome event for our new students who are coming in for the fall and who are starting classes," explained Jennifer Board, the school’s executive director. "It also was designed to invite rising high school seniors to see what YSU is about, and for admitted students to meet all of the staff and faculty who have been helping them along the way. There were some students who hadn’t registered for classes yet, so we had advisers here."
There also were opportunities to submit an application and complete placement testing.
After that, students and members of their families could participate in a community fair, with food trucks, games, prizes, information booths set up by various programs offered at the school, a chance to have a photo taken with the school’s mascots, Pete and Penny the Penguins, and a DJ.
Zana Gordon was among the new students visiting the various displays. She said she had moved from Martins Ferry to Steubenville to be closer to the college, where she will be studying at the police academy.
University President Bill Johnson said there was a sense of excitement building as the start of classes for the fall semester gets closer. That will happen Monday for students enrolled in the police academy, with the remainder of the classes beginning Aug. 24.
"This has been a long time coming," Johnson said. "We have worked hard since December 2023 getting ready for this week. A lot of hard work by a lot of people has gone into making this happen, from the appearance of the building to the standing up of the academic programs that we’re going to be offering."
The building has not been used for classes for more than two years, since the former Eastern Gateway Community College was forced to close because of financial issues.
Johnson added that the initial course offerings in Steubenville will expand as the student population grows.
"No matter where we go in the community, we get a great deal of excitement and enthusiasm," Johnson said. "I am thrilled at the amount of encouragement that we’ve gotten from the community."
Board said that she still did not know an exact number of students who were enrolled, adding the figure is constantly changing as new applications continue to come in.
"We’re excited about being down here, and we are going to be offering programs for welding, machining, mechanical engineering technology and information tech," said Sherri Hrusovski, executive director of the YSU College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
"There have been a lot of people who have shared interest of us being down here, even when we did the open house (on April 25.) There have been a lot of people saying they were excited about YSU being here," she added.
For students like Martin, YSU Steubenville offers an exciting opportunity.
"I already saw that my courses are loaded online, so I checked that yesterday," she said. "I was like yeah, they are finally there. I’m super stoked, super excited. I’m just ready to get going, graduate and, like I said, focus on the next chapter in life. Then I can show my kids that anything’s possible, even with everything you might have going on in the background -- still trying to be a mom, still trying to do everything. Anything’s still possible if you put your mind to it."