by Jim Boyle
Editor
Area high school students in grades nine through 12 got a jump on postsecondary planning on Sept. 23 by attending an education fair on Sept. 23 at Elk River High School.
The event attracted 78 schools from technical, vocational, community and four-year programs, providing information for a wide variety of careers.
Brett Ducker, a regional admissions counselor for the University of Nebraska, is on a mission to help the university in Lincoln, Neb. increase its enrollment to 30,000. To help, he was one of the 78 schools represented Sept. 23 at a Minnesota Education Fair hosted by Elk River High School. He spoke with students a lot about scholarship opportunities.
“Whether students were planning to enroll in a short-term training program or pursue a doctorate degree or professional program, there was something for all levels of postsecondary training,” college and career specialist and school counselor Kim Davison said.
Schools from eight states were represented, making it a convenient way for students to gather information in one spot.
Davison said the advantage of attending a college fair is students get to make a personal contact with a school. Instead of just looking at the college website, they can direct their specific questions to an admission counselor the day of the fair and have a go-to person for future questions and to help them with their exploration process, she said.
“If you do not know where you are going to go, this is a great opportunity,” Brett Ducker said as Zimmerman High School students were asked to report to Door A of Elk River High School. “For us this is great exposure to a lot of students across all high school grade levels.”
Elk River High School juniors Austin Kramer and Nik Elasky checked out North Dakota State University and other schools Sept. 23 at Minnesota Education Fair hosted at their high school. Other students to attend the fair came from Ivan Sand Community High School, Zimmerman High School and Princeton High School.
Ducker is a regional admissions counselor, and Nebraska University is attempting to grow its enrollment from 25,000 to 30,000. To do it, they are offering scholarships to bring the cost of college down to the level of an in-state school.
“We expect to get students from our own state,” he said. “We’re trying to get students from other states.”
They’re not alone.
School representatives also came from North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan and Rhode Island.
There are only 43 education fairs hosted in the state each year. ERHS was excited to be awarded this opportunity, and Davison says the hope is to host another one at Elk River in two years.
Elk River High School students were able to rotate between the college fair, a 30-minute grade-level presentation in the Zabee Theater and 60-minute advisory period with career and college prep activities.
It was another chance for students in grades nine through 12 to put to use the Chromebooks they were issued at the beginning of the year. Students seemed to appreciate the opportunity and liked having the information right at their fingertips.
“It’s very handy,” one student noted.
Elk River High School sophomores Hannah Hagslund, Jacklyn McAllister, Olivia Bloom and Madison Sumstad worked to find information on college and career planning during a Sept. 23 advisory period.
Career center to open soon at ERHS
Freshmen were told about the school’s career center at Elk River High School that will be open soon and remain open during school lunch throughout the school year.
“You can find information on all of the colleges that are here today (at the education fair) and more,” counselor Megan Niedfeldt told the ninth-grade students, noting there will also be information about career fields in addition to information about colleges and postsecondary training.