The College and Career Center opened on Sept. 2 with a goal of getting more students to come. New staff member Bonnie Sheikh and numerous parent volunteers are helping to raise awareness and get more students to attend the college speaker sessions.

“We redecorated the College and Career Center and put some more IKEA furniture to make it more kid-friendly,” said Sheikh.

Besides giving the center a more inviting environment, Sheikh is doing much more to encourage students to use this valuable resource. In order to raise awareness for the college speakers, students are being notified over the daily announcements, Falcon Futures, the center’s newsletter, is being sent out with the Principal’s Newsletter every other month, and e-mails are being sent out through PTSO so parents can get involved as well.

Students can access information about college speakers and the center through Naviance, a web-based tool designed to help students get organized with their list of colleges, or under the “Academics” section on the school website.

Students can sign up for a 30-40 minute session at the center or through Naviance.

“What’s great is that the college speaker is usually the admissions officer for our school,” said parent volunteer Shaila Iyer, who signs students up for sessions. “You can meet the person who will most likely be looking at your application.”

Students of all grades can attend the speaker sessions, and parents are welcome as well. However, because of varying interest levels, only a handful of students attend many of the sessions. The most popular ones, including UC schools and well-known universities such as Princeton, usually have an audience of 60-80 students.