A sneak peek at high school

This year’s eighth grade class will have an opportunity to get a sneak peek at what high school is all about. The school is hosting a “College Night” which entails much more than the name implies.

Melissa Yount is a counselor at the school and says what was traditionally known as “College Night” — a time for more than 40 colleges, universities and career centers to introduce themselves to the students — has grown to include information for students not yet attending the school.

The event will be held from 5-7 p.m. this evening and includes a variety of institutions for continued learning, information on high school programs and an introduction for the Class of 2012 to what the school has to offer.

“It started out as a college fair and has bloomed to include freshmen transition,” said Yount.

This year’s eighth grade students and their parents are invited to attend. This will give many of the students an early opportunity to see what high school is all about.

“They will be able to talk with the administrators, counselors and staff. They can also learn about the different programs at the school and get an idea of what they would like to be involved in (next year),” Yount explained.

Students can be introduced to the Pre-engineering “Project Lead the Way” program, Black Knight Television production, Newspaper and Yearbook production, Air Force ROTC, Family and Consumer Science, the award-winning band and music programs, agriculture science, business and banking plus much more.

“It gives them an opportunity to see where these organizations meet, what they are about and a chance to talk to the teachers,” added Yount.

Another topic of the evening will be the College Now! program, which was formerly known as the Early College Pathway program. Academic Advisor Brian Reeves will talk to interested sophomores and juniors — along with their families — about this program. Students who decide to participate in the College Now! have the opportunity to graduate from FHS with their high school diploma along with either an Associate of Arts Degree from Mineral Area College or a 42-college credit hours transcripted block.

Counselors will also meet with sophomore parents during the evening to explain the individual student scores from the PLAN test and to give an overall view of school-wide results.

Yount says there is a wide variety of universities, colleges and career centers scheduled to participate. Representatives from many of the state’s schools will be on hand. There are also scheduled to be representatives from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Western Illinois and also from Belmont University in Tennessee.

Professionals from various careers will also be on hand to talk with students about the requirements of their chosen profession.