Students are constantly thinking about their futures, and for many students, that involves college. The College and Career Center (CCC), is open Monday-Thursday, and run by Kelsey Massey and Katie Hansen. The CCC is an in school college readiness program that advises, and provides resources for South students who are planning their futures after high school.
The College and Career Center hosts representatives from colleges all around the country for information sessions about their college. South students are invited to attend these sessions and learn about different schools. There seems to be a disconnect between the CCC and South students. Many students don’t hear about these visits and other opportunities the CCC has to offer. For students having trouble searching for colleges, missing out on an opportunity that could’ve helped them in the process is a huge issue.
A lot happens day to day in the CCC. Kelsey Massey and Katie Hansen’s list of responsibilities within the College and Career Center is huge. It includes advising students in one on one meetings, which helps students get set up with jobs, and furthering students’ college search. They can help students with things like applications, financial aid, and scholarships. They also coordinate school wide events like college representative visits, PSEO information sessions, and after school events for college information. They are also responsible for promoting out of school opportunities including internships and programs like Step Up to South students. “I think communication is one of the hardest part of my job,” says Katie Hansen, CCC admin, “There’s a lot going on,”
Many students agree, “I knew the CCC existed but I never really knew about the resources they offer,” says Bea Moldow, a South senior.
Despite its limited outreach, the College and Career Center actually has many great ways that they attempt to increase student participation. There are weekly newsletters, information about college visits on the morning announcements, a whiteboard with information about rep visits outside of the CCC room, and even print outs of the newsletters to make it easier for students to hear about what’s happening. Despite this, students still aren’t receiving information from the CCC.
Junior, Macy Gearhart had thoughts on the issue, “I just feel like sometimes the [college rep visits] are a bit inaccessible because they’re during school! I have to be in class to learn.” It is difficult enough keeping up in classes, students don’t want to miss class and fall behind on assignments.
If classwork, homework, and other out of school responsibilities alone aren’t overwhelming enough, hundreds of college emails get sent out to students weekly, so CCC newsletters often get buried within other emails. There are also so many school wide things happening everyday that sometimes the CCC announcements don’t make it to broadcast.
Sophomore Toby Grumdahl suggests it may be helpful to hang posters up around the school that include the college visit information. Macy Gearhart thought some after school sessions could be useful, so that students would be able to stay in class.
It’s possible the solution to the CCC’s communication problems is for students to put energy into what’s happening in the College and Career Center and simply checking their MPS email for communications along with checking the informational postings in the Counseling Google Classroom. The CCC encourages students to pass by the CCC’s whiteboard for college visit updates. Students can even try scheduling a one on one appointment with Katie Hansen or Kelsey Massey! The CCC has trouble getting information out, but combined with the efforts of students, it’s possible to bridge the communication divide between the CCC and the South community.
