Career and college fair seen as improvement

The senior career and college fair, which took place today, Oct. 13, while the PSAT was administered, showed a remarkable improvement in attendance and participation from last year, according to Blair staff. Many students, however, believe the fair could have been handled better.

The fair consisted of college and career representatives who set up stations and talked to students, Career Center staff who assisted students with the FAFSA registration and counselors who met with students to discuss credit-completion plans. The fair was held mainly in the gym until the seniors moved into the auditorium to watch a College Board video on the process of being accepted to colleges.

Compared to last year, Blair staff believed there was improvement in attendance for the fair. Career and College Coordinator Sharon Williams and Director of School Counseling Services Karen Hunt estimated approximately 350 seniors came to the fair today. Hunt stated that there were considerably more students attending most likely because, unlike last year, Principal Phillip Gainous made an announcement prior to the fair saying that attendance was mandatory. According to Hunt, the administration will use a form the students were expected to fill out during the event as evidence for attendance, and those who did not attend may receive an unexcused absence.

Williams was content with the behavior of the seniors, stating that students were respectful of representatives.

Senior Jacob Huarca, however, did not think students took the fair seriously because of lack of interest and said he saw many leaving the school.

Senior Sirak Beru agreed and added that the event seemed to be a "joke because besides giving out information we could have easily found on our own, there was really no point to it." He added, "I think the only point of the college fair was to get all the seniors in so that they wouldn't be making noises and creating a ruckus when people were testing."

Huarca said that there were not enough area schools represented at the fair, while Beru felt there were not enough schools represented from more distant regions of the country.