When Dr. Hollie Cost talks about the Montevallo Connection, her enthusiasm for the cooperative endeavor between the University of Montevallo and the city’s public schools seems to take on a life of its own.

Ideas bloom like flowers as Cost and members of the Montevallo Connection’s executive committee talk about creative ways in which the schools can join forces.

In late October, the Montevallo Connection will host its second Future Falcons program. The first, this past spring, brought local middle- and high-schoolers to the UM campus to sample many aspects of college life.

Members of the university community encouraged them to complete their high school educations and to pursue a higher education.

University students, trained by qualified faculty and staff members, serve as guides and mentors for the young visitors. On Oct. 29, students from Montevallo Middle School will experience life on campus.

They will learn from UM professors, tour the campus, participate in athletic contests and enjoy a pizza lunch in the cafeteria. But the connection won’t end there.

Future Falcon guides and mentors will meet with middle school students at least one day a week from 7:50-8:15 a.m. and will interact with them in supportive ways throughout the year.

Cost, an associate professor in the UM College of Education and director of the Montevallo Connection, believes that the organization’s theme, “Community, Commitment and Collaboration for Educational Excellence,” sets the stage for future programs that will be limited only by the imaginations of those involved.