Tables line the walls of the Math and Science Building as the hallways fill with excited chatter. With big smiles on their faces, recruiters proudly inform groups of students gathered at their table about the different opportunities and requirements for their college. Students leave with new information and thoughts for the future.
On Sept. 26, Texas High held its annual College Night to allow students to visit with recruiters from various colleges and workforce programs. This provides an opportunity to learn about admissions requirements, scholarship opportunities and student life.
“[College Night] brings so many opportunities available to students in one stop,” Administrative Assistant Laura Fuller said. “They can see all the opportunities that they have and make choices on which ones they want to pursue. I think it’s really good for students to see all the colleges they may be interested in or the workforce programs, and then they can decide which places to use their college days as a junior and senior to go visit.”
Students might not realize the effort put into planning the event. Associate Principal for College and Career Readiness Bettie Stark and Fuller plan for the fair year-round, networking with different universities and programs and inviting them to participate on the day.
“We start planning the event the day after College Night [from the previous year]. Tomorrow we’ll start planning next year’s college fair.” Stark said. “We get back to all these recruiters and thank them for coming, and hopefully, they’re very happy so they want to come again next year. Six months before the actual fair for next year, we’ll get the date and then we’ll invite them to come.”
In the weeks leading up to the event, Stark and Fuller work on promoting the event to Texas High students and high school students in surrounding towns. They create flyers and deliver them to the different schools and visit classrooms, encouraging students to come.
“For about the last month, Ms. Fuller and I have made posters and we went around and took them to all the area schools like New Boston, Atlanta and Queen City,” Stark said. “Then we invite our Texas High students to come when we do the Naviance training, and we teach students about college and career search and then maybe they get excited to go to College Night to learn.”
Though most aspects of the college fair stayed the same, there were a few tweaks in the organization this year. Rather than signing in through the front office and having a few tables, students and parents could sign in outside the building with more sign-in tables.
“We had a different way we did the sign-in this year. We spread it out among six tables,” Stark said. “Usually, we divide the academic advisors into four tables, but we did it with six tables now for guests to sign in. So I think it went really fast and people were able to get into the fair a lot faster.”
Many students helped set up the building in preparation for the event and clean up after. In the duration of the fair, volunteers guided recruiters to their tables and made sure everything ran smoothly.
“I was the lead host for College Night and I was in charge of keeping things organized and making sure recruiters and students had a good time,” senior Cole Gideon said. “I ensured that recruiters from the different colleges were checked off and where they needed to be. I also handed them tickets for the food truck.”
Overall, College Night allowed students to make decisions regarding their future, whether it be what major they want to pursue or what they want to do after high school. Over 70 universities and workforce programs from all over the country had a presence at the event, so students had the opportunity to be exposed to many programs of study.
“Tonight I’ve benefited because I got to go and talk to some of the schools that I’ve already applied to and see the scholarships and things that they offer,” senior Sadie Mitchell said. “It definitely helped me narrow down my options, figure out my top schools and see what schools are going to be the most affordable.”
