LI kids college-bound, in the 2nd grade

Shannon Farnum and Jared Tetraut filled out college applications recently with considerable care. Shannon wants to study marine biology; Jared wants to follow behind his mom, dad and grandfather, who were teachers.

Shannon's dreaming of life at Columbia University, while Jared's yet to settle on one school.

Not to worry. They have just a bit of time. First, they have to make it out of elementary school.

Jared, 7, and Shannon, who last month turned 8, are second-graders at Park Avenue School in Westbury, which on Friday was transformed into Park Avenue University.

For the third year, Project Grad, a program that encourages and supports students who want to pursue higher education, turned the Westbury school district into a sprawling college campus.

In what is believed to be the only program of its kind on Long Island, the idea is to sow an early desire to attend college. And to encourage children to build toward that goal, from elementary to middle to high school.

In Westbury, which has a high immigrant population, many graduates are the first in their families to go to college, officials said. About 82 percent of last year's graduating class planned to attend a two-year or four-year college.

All 750 Park Avenue students filled out college applications, which included photographs, a checklist of their skills and competence with computer software.

A walk down the hallways -- the walls were adorned with applications and photographs of the children in caps and gowns clutching "diplomas" -- showed that an impressive number of children know two or more languages.

In the middle school, local college students talked to students, while adult business leaders sat with students at the high school.

"We want our students to think college, breathe college early on," said Superintendent Constance Clark-Snead. "We want it so they are excited, so that they can't wait to get to the middle school, to the high school and on to college."

At Park Avenue, the principal, Gloria Dingwall, wore a cap and gown; so did Johnny Garrett, the school's head custodian. Teachers wore shirts bearing the names of their alma maters, from Adelphi to the University of Maryland.

And when Shannon's mom Renee Wright-Farnum showed up to help other parents in the PTA distributing yellow T-shirts with the slogan, "College is precious . . . ," Dingwall sent her right back home to change.

Wright-Farnum returned, wearing the baby-blue and black gown she wore when she received her education doctorate from Columbia University, where her daughter is determined to study marine biology.

At 10 a.m., the entire school spilled out into the courtyard, where Shannon and Jared read aloud essays about what they loved about Park Avenue and what they were determined to become in the future.

"There's no one thing that makes a great teacher," Jared would say later of his chosen vocation, after showing off his "college application" to his parents. "I've had a lot of great teachers and they're all different."

Shannon would speak of her love of math and the upcoming talent show. And of how she's read 110 of the 200 books she's determined to finish by the school year's end. Shannon said she decided to devote her life to marine biology. After learning about whales. In January.

At one point, the entire school broke into song, with their own rendition of "I Gotta Feeling," by the Black Eyed Peas. "College is priceless, ooooohhhh, whooooo" they sang, as only elementary school children can, merging into an undulating sea of felt graduation caps and Park Avenue College crowns. "Because it helps us to go get good jobs . . . "

The children didn't toss their handmade headwear into the air when the song ended. Instead, they looked to the sky, reaching toward a surprise shower of confetti. Many were still clutching caps, crowns and confetti as they clambered aboard buses that would take them home.