College Now: Back and Moving Forward with Aplomb

College Now, the six-week summer program hosted by CUNY colleges for high school juniors and seniors, recently celebrated the end of the summer 2025 session at York College.

It was an extra-special summer at York College as College Now -- the New York City Department of Education and CUNY collaboration summer program -- returned in full force after a hiatus caused initially by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year’s program welcomed eager high school students back to campus, where they earned college credits in one of three disciplines: Microbiology, Nursing, or Music. Their summer mentors were Dr. Margarett Alexandre from the Nursing department, Dr. Louis Levinger from the Biology department, and Dr. Cory Kasprzyk from Music. Additionally, there was an Astronomy class taught by Bridget Ierace and a Health class taught by Nelcia Skobelsky, both of whom are adjunct lecturers who have worked with the College Now program over the years.

Students in Nursing and Biology presented their research findings live, while Dr. Kasprzyk showcased his students’ musical creations through audio presentations, with the young composers taking a bow at the end of their respective pieces. “We had over 20 rising juniors and seniors on campus for six weeks studying music theory and music production,” he noted. Dr. Alexandre, known for challenging students to reach higher than they come in thinking they can, told her group how very proud she is of them and the matriculating Nursing students who helped to mentor them.

All three professors expressed pride in the up-and-coming scholars, several of whom received awards for their outstanding work and bookbags with academic goodies.

 According to Reginald Madden, York’s Director of Pre-College Programs, College Now has a long tradition of giving local high school students the chance to explore college-level coursework in a field of interest.

“The Summer Soirée, spearheaded by College Now Manager Amanda Williams and longtime Coordinator Letitia Bridgeman, celebrated the faculty, students, and volunteers who spent the last month working hard in classrooms and research labs,” Madden said. “This year’s event also marked the return of the program’s collaboration with the Music discipline in the Performing and Fine Arts Department.”

The celebration concluded with a luncheon – including an impressively-sized chocolate cake.