By Donna Thornton/News Editor
Etowah High School is one of just 10 schools in the state selected to participate in a pilot program encouraging all high school seniors to apply to college.
EHS Junior/Senior Counselor Kali Brand said even if students don’t plan to go to college, they are being encouraged to apply.
“I tell them you never know. Your life may change. Your plans could change,” Brand said.
The pilot program found Etowah students participating in a number of activities during Alabama College Application Week, culminating in a one-day campaign for seniors to apply online to colleges, with assistance from Brand, parent volunteers and representatives from Gadsden State and Snead State community colleges.
Brand said the focus on applying came in the fall – well before graduation day – because colleges will be considering students for scholarships well before graduation. The focus of the effort is getting first generation college students to apply – the students whose parents didn’t go to college, for whom it might not be something they automatically consider.
Brand said encouragement and assistance was being supplied at school for students who might not find it elsewhere.
For those who may not plan on attending college, Brand said going through the process and being accepted to a school may well encourage students to reconsider.
Students had access to computer terminals in the library and at other sites in the school, with someone standing by to assist them if needed, during the single-day campaign for applications.
Brand said she was pleased with the results. Out of 165 students in the senior class, 150 students completed a college application. And Brand said there were about five students who were not in school that day that she expected to apply.
Brand said she’ll continue to work toward that 100 percent mark where college applications are concerned.