WJHS celebrates seniors post-graduation plans

 

Choosing to celebrate every student’s decision after graduation, West Jessamine High School hosted its inaugural College Decision Day May 3, making sure all students were recognized for their plans after high school.

Seniors gathered to not only share their plans with fellow classmates but enjoy food, a DJ, photo booth and raffle for the chance to win prizes. Juniors were also in attendance to see what they have to look forward to next year.

“We are starting this program this year because we believe that having a plan after high school is so very important,”  Emily Earlywine, a guidance counselor at WJHS said. “The purpose of College Decision Day is to recognize high school seniors for their postsecondary educational plans and encourage younger students and families to prepare early for post-secondary education. We have planned a program that we hope will make this time in our seniors’ lives fun and exciting while also helping us to further enhance the college-going culture in our school and community.”

Earlywine said throughout the year, staff at WJHS has been working with the graduating class by helping them research college options, complete applications and apply for financial aid. The celebration was designed to honor their hard work, she said.

“It is kind of like when an athlete has a signing, that is kind of like this but for everybody else,” Earlywine said. “I feel like we celebrate the athletes and we celebrate the kids who get scholarships, but what about the kids that got accepted. We want to make sure that includes them too.”

Students’ plans could include college, the military, trade school or straight to work, Earlywine said. People within Jessamine County helped by donating prizes for the raffle and food for the event.

Brenna Hall, a senior at WJHS, shared her decision to attend Georgetown College in the fall. One of the highlights of the event, she said, was bringing her parents to share in not only her own, but all her classmates decisions as well.

“Basically it is really cool because everyone gets to come out here and be like hey this is where I am going now,” Hall said. “We get to win really cool prizes which we are all really excited about.”

One of the prizes the students had their eye on was a mini-refrigerate. Hall said the fridge would be perfect for a college dorm.

Senior Katy Hamilton has decided to attend Indiana Wesleyan University partly because it is out-of-state.

“I think we all worked really hard to get here and we all worked very hard to get into college or go work in the workforce,” Hamilton said. “There are some people who don’t graduate high school and it is really important that we did. I think it is really fun that we get to be recognized for our hard work and our academics.”