Friday, November 18, 2011
Coalition Lunch to focus on education opportunities
A local coalition is challenging others toredefine how people view college and whoshould attend.“College is any education you receiveafter you graduate with a high school diploma– whether it’s 6 weeks or 10 years,”said Kent Cocking, director of guidance atMarion High School.Kent is part of a small steering team forGrant County’s College Success Coalition,which formed earlier this year. The purposeof the Coalition is to establish communitypartnerships around a common goal – to getlocal youths to complete their educations.On November 29th, community membersand leaders are invited to participate in aneducation forum and lunch from 11:30 a.m.to 1 p.m. at Marion’s Ivy Tech CommunityCollege conference center. One of the purposesof the meeting will be to discuss localactivities that are taking place to promoteeducation and college success to youths. Thecommunity, including representatives frombusinesses, organizations, clubs, non-profitsand churches are encouraged to attend.“There is a need to coordinate the activitiesof people in the community who dothings for college success,” said coalitionsteering team member Ellen Spitzer. “Wewant a lot of different sections of the communityto join the discussion. We want toknow about what they’re doing so that wedon’t continue to repeat the same activities.Mississinewa High School guidancecounselor Debbie Dailey said: “Sometimeswe hear negative in the community, such ascomments about the unemployment rate andask, ‘What are people doing to fix that?’This College Success Coalition initiative istrying to put positive energy behind somethingneeded in the community. We wantpeople to come to the meeting who are interestedin seeing the workforce change.”Bengie Rodriguez, a manager at GrantCounty’s Walmart Distribution Center, isencouraging businesses to participate in theforum, pointing toward the push in the workforcesector for education and the new expectationsemployers place on future employees.“At Walmart, there is a real push togo to school,” he said.Cocking agreed that it’s vital for businessesand organizations with opportunitiesthat allow students to further their educationsbeyond high school to join in on the communitydiscussion.“We spend way too much time in educationcircles pushing kids into four-year colleges,”he said. “Many four-year collegestudents already know how to get there. Butthere are so many opportunities for kids inthe community to get trainings beyond that,”Cocking added, pointing toward examples ofcertifications and apprenticeships that canhelp prepare students for the workforce. “Weneed to centralize as a community so thatparents and students know how to accessthese opportunities. We should devise wraparoundservices for every kid that leaveshigh school so that no matter where they’regoing, they’re prepared.”IF YOU WANT TO GO: RSVP for theNov. 29th community lunch by contactingProject Leadership at 651-0650 ortpearson@projectleadership.or
Grant County's College Success Coalition
About the Coalition:
The Grant County College Success Coalition is a community network with the common goal of increasing the percentage of students who enter college in the fall following their high school graduation and earn a college degree or certificate within the first four years of college.
Coalition members do this by implementing activities to help students find college-access mentors, succeed in a rigorous college prep curriculum, develop a college plan, and obtain financial aid.
Who should join?
All schools, churches, non-profit agencies, community service groups and businesses that care about the community’s young people and have an interest in the county’s well-being
How do I join?
Visit the Grant County College Success Coalition website at:
www.grantcountycsc.org
There, you can register your organization, view school data and submit activity ideas.
Member activities:
Member organizations commit to sponsor at least one activity per year to help students and/or adults enter and succeed in college. The coalition team will work together to generate activity ideas, guidelines and materials. These activities can be as involved as providing one-on-one FAFSA assistance or as simple as distributing college flyers. Members are invited to attend three coalition members a year where they will analyze data and make decisions about the coalition’s vision, goals and activities.
The Grant County College Success Coalition is a community network with the common goal of increasing the percentage of students who enter college in the fall following their high school graduation and earn a college degree or certificate within the first four years of college.
Coalition members do this by implementing activities to help students find college-access mentors, succeed in a rigorous college prep curriculum, develop a college plan, and obtain financial aid.
Who should join?
All schools, churches, non-profit agencies, community service groups and businesses that care about the community’s young people and have an interest in the county’s well-being
How do I join?
Visit the Grant County College Success Coalition website at:
www.grantcountycsc.org
There, you can register your organization, view school data and submit activity ideas.
Member activities:
Member organizations commit to sponsor at least one activity per year to help students and/or adults enter and succeed in college. The coalition team will work together to generate activity ideas, guidelines and materials. These activities can be as involved as providing one-on-one FAFSA assistance or as simple as distributing college flyers. Members are invited to attend three coalition members a year where they will analyze data and make decisions about the coalition’s vision, goals and activities.
Friday, October 14, 2011
College Fair 2011
Grant County students and families had the opportunityto explore 30 colleges during the College Fairat Marion’s Ivy Tech campus on Oct. 6th. It’s nottoo late to do some exploring of your own if you didnot get to attend the fair. Just call the admissionsdepartment at the colleges you are interested in toschedule a visit.
Project Leadership is Moving its office
This month, Project Leadership is movingits office to 118 W. 25th St., Marion.Project Leadership would like its programparticipants and community partners toknow that it will have limitedphone and e-mailservice on Monday, Oct.17th, and Tuesday, Oct.18th, as it transitions toits new location.Project Leadership’sphone number willremain the same — 765-651-0650 — aswill the following e-mail addresses for staffmembers:Steve Gibson:sgibson@projectleadership.orgBrenda Morehead:bmorehead@projectleadership.orgTammy Pearsontpearson@projectleadership.org
Friday, September 30, 2011
Advice from
Corey Sharp, director ofenrollment managementat Ivy Tech EastCentral Indiana, offersthese suggestions forstudents to make themost of the college fairon Oct. 6th at Ivy Tech:
CHECK IN:Be sure to stop by thecheck in desk at the collegefair on the way into help you plan yourevening.
MAKE A LIST:Start with identifying thetwo or three collegesthat top your list. Visitthose colleges first atthe fair. Then have asecond tier of collegesthat you’ve consideredand visit those, too.Have an open mindand, time permitting,visit a couple othercolleges to see if theymight be a good fit.
FOCUS:Sharp encouragesstudents not to befocused solely on onecollege when visitingthe fair. He saysstudents should focuson what their interestsand needs are and nottheir friends.“There are so manytimes people haveshown up to my doorhaving chosen a collegewhere their friends aregoing to go,” Sharpsaid. “That’s usually notthe best way to make acollege decision.”
CHECK IN:Be sure to stop by thecheck in desk at the collegefair on the way into help you plan yourevening.
MAKE A LIST:Start with identifying thetwo or three collegesthat top your list. Visitthose colleges first atthe fair. Then have asecond tier of collegesthat you’ve consideredand visit those, too.Have an open mindand, time permitting,visit a couple othercolleges to see if theymight be a good fit.
FOCUS:Sharp encouragesstudents not to befocused solely on onecollege when visitingthe fair. He saysstudents should focuson what their interestsand needs are and nottheir friends.“There are so manytimes people haveshown up to my doorhaving chosen a collegewhere their friends aregoing to go,” Sharpsaid. “That’s usually notthe best way to make acollege decision.”
Grant County’s college fair to host 30 colleges next week
Students who are undecided abouttheir college paths will have the chanceto explore 30 colleges during nextweek’s Grant County college fair.
Corey Sharp, director of enrollmentmanagement at Ivy Tech East CentralIndiana, said colleges will include BallState, Huntington, IU Bloomington andKokomo, Manchester, Ivy Tech, IndianaWesleyan and Taylor.
“The fair gives students and familiesa one-stop shop to explore collegesthey’re interested in,” Sharp said.“Rarely does a student have theopportunity to talk to 30 collegerepresentatives at one time to seewhich school they want to attend, and Ithink that’s one of the best things thecollege fair has to offer.”
The college fair is sponsored by IvyTech Community College and IndianaWesleyan University and will be from6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday in theconference center at the Marion IvyTech campus at Ind. 18 and I-69.
There will be a financial aid workshop at 7 p.m. and a senior exit workshop for Twenty-first Century Scholars from 6 to 7 p.m. in the lecture hall. Kathy Niese, regional director for the WhiteRiver Valley Twenty-first Century Scholars office, said that seniors whoare Twenty-first Century Scholarsshould plan to attend the senior exitworkshop to receive information andsteps on how to receive their scholarshipsand to learn about deadlines andlegislative changes to the program.
Sharp said that a representative fromTransfer In also will be available duringthe college fair to talk to studentsabout how to use dual credit.
“Dual credit is an opportunity for highschool students to earn high schooland college credits at the same time,”Sharp said. The college fair, he added,will be a good chance for parents offreshmen and sophomores to explorewhich colleges offer dual creditopportunities.
Corey Sharp, director of enrollmentmanagement at Ivy Tech East CentralIndiana, said colleges will include BallState, Huntington, IU Bloomington andKokomo, Manchester, Ivy Tech, IndianaWesleyan and Taylor.
“The fair gives students and familiesa one-stop shop to explore collegesthey’re interested in,” Sharp said.“Rarely does a student have theopportunity to talk to 30 collegerepresentatives at one time to seewhich school they want to attend, and Ithink that’s one of the best things thecollege fair has to offer.”
The college fair is sponsored by IvyTech Community College and IndianaWesleyan University and will be from6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday in theconference center at the Marion IvyTech campus at Ind. 18 and I-69.
There will be a financial aid workshop at 7 p.m. and a senior exit workshop for Twenty-first Century Scholars from 6 to 7 p.m. in the lecture hall. Kathy Niese, regional director for the WhiteRiver Valley Twenty-first Century Scholars office, said that seniors whoare Twenty-first Century Scholarsshould plan to attend the senior exitworkshop to receive information andsteps on how to receive their scholarshipsand to learn about deadlines andlegislative changes to the program.
Sharp said that a representative fromTransfer In also will be available duringthe college fair to talk to studentsabout how to use dual credit.
“Dual credit is an opportunity for highschool students to earn high schooland college credits at the same time,”Sharp said. The college fair, he added,will be a good chance for parents offreshmen and sophomores to explorewhich colleges offer dual creditopportunities.
Friday, September 16, 2011
UPCOMING COLLEGE VISIT
Twenty-first Century Scholars are invited totake part in college visit field trips beingoffered this fall by the regional Scholarsoffice. Transportation is provided, and tripsscheduled to date are:Sept. 24, Indiana University,BloomingtonOct. 15, IUPUINov. 5, PurdueIn addition, Scholars who participate inone College Go Week activity or attend oneCollege Fair this fall will have the opportunityto participate in the Mystery Fall BreakCollege visit trip.Planning is underway for this popular trip,which will be October 27-28 in NorthernIndiana. For more information, or to registerfor any of the trips, call the Scholarsoffice at 765-289-2291, ext. 1475.
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