By Mike Boyer
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Jeff Immelt, center, Chairman and CEO of the General Electric Company, greets students, including Arron Joiner, left, at Aiken High School in College Hill. (Photos by Gary Landers/The Cincinnati Enquirer)

Jeff Immelt, right, Chairman and CEO of the General Electric Company, sits with Alton Frailey, left, Superintendent, Cincinnati Public Schools, before speaking to students at Aiken High School in College Hill.

COLLEGE HILL - GE Transportation president Dave Calhoun was ready Friday morning to brief chairman Jeff Immelt on his visit to Aiken High School, when Immelt stopped him short.

" 'Dave, I played basketball in Aiken's gym. You can't tell me anything I don't know,' '' Calhoun said Immelt told him.

The former Finneytown High School Wildcat, Class of '74, paid his first visit to the Aiken Falcons since his high school days. But it was the future, not the past, on his mind.

Immelt presented a $100,000 check from the GE Foundation to Aiken's College Bound program, which helps students prepare for college.

Since GE launched College Bound at Aiken in 1987, the number graduates going on to college has risen from less than 10 percent to 60 percent.

Cincinnati Councilwoman Y. Laketa Cole, a College Bound participant, was on hand for Friday's presentation.

The GE Foundation has contributed $1.5 million to the school over that period, as well as countless hours of mentoring by GE employees.

The new GE grant will buy computers, support a program for ninth-graders entering high school and help seniors earn college credit.

Beyond the money, Immelt offered some advice during a half-hour visit.

"Always believe in yourself,'' Immelt told the students. "When you look in the mirror in the morning, be proud of yourself.''

Immelt, 48, who earned a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth and an MBA from Harvard, said he was fortunate.

"My parents always told me: If I got a good education, there was nothing I couldn't do in life,'' he told the students.

The students asked Immelt how he dealt with setbacks, how he balanced his personal and business life and how college helped him.

On the last point, he said, "What I learned was to be curious.'' That and the ability to solve problems are skills he still uses, he said.

Will McGivens, 17, a junior from College Hill said he liked the GE chairman's message.

"I liked the part about not letting anything stop you,'' said Will, a member of Aiken's basketball and football teams, who hopes to get a college athletic scholarship.

E-mail mboyer@enquirer.com