Ferguson-Florissant kids hear career presentations
Three hundred students at Halls Ferry School in the Ferguson-Florissant School District recently interacted with 45 African-American professionals who made presentations about their careers.
They had the opportunity to hear presenters and witness demonstrations from speakers a variety of careers; florist, DARE police officer, pilot, attorney, postmaster, communication teacher, computer programmer, Ameren worker, plumber, bus driver, minister, counselor, stockbroker, butcher and many others.
When asked during social studies classes, “What do you want to be?” fourth and fifth graders often said, “I want to be a singer or rapper” or “I want to play for the football Rams.”
One young man said, “I want to be an electrician” and the teacher said “Yes! An electrician is great.”
Then the teacher asked the students to list workers who made a comfortable living on jobs that were beyond the basketball court, football field or an entertainer. The list grew to 65 different occupations.
Free college admissions counseling
The American Educational Guidance Center is offering free college admissions counseling, until August 15, to the first 300 students who request it. There is just one catch. Students must agree to perform two hours of community service (in any setting they choose).
“After blogging about an independent college admissions counselor who charges up to $6,500 the idea came to us,” said AEGC spokesperson Mary Rosenfield.
“We spend so much time on our websites and our blog that we can’t offer comprehensive counseling to 300 students, but we can provide them with a list of colleges to explore which may be a good match for them based on their academic achievements, goals, and preferences. And, after we assist them, they’ll spend two hours helping someone else and experiencing community service.”
The American Educational Guidance Center has created and maintains several websites offering free information on post-secondary education, including College Scholarships, Colleges, and Online Degrees
<<A target=”_blank” href=”http://www.college-scholarships.com”>http://www.college-scholarships.com> and Online Degrees and Scholarships <<A target=”_blank” href=”http://www.online-degrees-and-scholarships.com”>http://www.online-degrees-and-scholarships.com>.
Students who wish to take advantage of their free college counseling offer need only complete and submit by email a brief questionnaire.
To request the questionnaire, students may email: freecollegecounseling@gmail.com.
“If other educators with appropriate experience are willing to help us, perhaps we can expand our offer of free counseling to even more students,” Rosenfield said.
Rosenfield emphasized that the limited counseling her organization is offering is not a substitute for the ‘beginning to end’ college counseling offered by independent and school-based counselors. “It’s a supplement, not a substitute,” she said.