New College & Career Center Designed to Help BHS Students Plan for Future

BOLINGBROOK, IL — Bolingbrook High School’s counseling team has launched an all-out college and career readiness campaign designed to encourage students to look beyond high school.

“It is important that each student develops a personal career plan, and post-secondary education needs to be a part of that plan,” said VVSD Director of College and Career Readiness Dorletta Payton. “Statistics tell us the more education and training a student completes, the higher the income earned.”

At the forefront of the BHS initiative is a new College and Career Center with computer access and printed materials for hundreds of colleges as well as information on financial aid, scholarships, potential majors, and careers, including the military and the trades.

“This is an area dedicated to college and career exploration,” said BHS College and Career Counselor Mark Ondracek. “The more help and resources we can give our students and their families, the better off they will be.”

In addition to scheduled classroom visits for all grade levels throughout the school year, the College and Career Center is open for general use before and after school as well as during homeroom and lunch with full time administrative assistant Laura Thomas available to lend a hand. The Center will also host visits from dozens of college representatives who will come to BHS over the next six months.

“We recognized a need to increase the number of students who enroll in college after they graduate from BHS,” said BHS Assistant Principal Dr. Albert Brass Jr., who has been the driving force behind the new campaign. “This room will serve as a foundation. It’s all encompassing for post high school planning. We’re very excited.”

“The Center’s location near the front entrance of the high school symbolizes its importance because helping our students prepare for their future careers and education is central to our mission as educators,” Payton added. “Whether a student plans on going to a 2 or 4 year college, an apprenticeship program for a trade, or the military, they will be able to obtain information and advice that will help prepare them for their future career.”

As part of the renewed emphasis on college and career readiness, the BHS counseling team is hosting a series of college bus tours for students on school holidays. The first tour will head to University of Illinois at Chicago, Columbia and Benedictine on Columbus Day (Oct. 10). Other bus tours will take place on Veterans Day, Presidents Day and Pulaski Day.

“A lot of students never set foot on a college campus. But you wouldn’t buy a car without test driving it. You shouldn’t attend a college without seeing it,” Ondracek said.

“Everyone needs to have a plan after high school,” he added. “If we can show our students different options and they walk out of here saying ‘I can see myself doing that’, then we have been successful.”

Photo: Bolingbrook High School’s counseling team prepares for a year-long campaign to promote college and career readiness for every student. (Courtesy of Valley View School District)

Submitted by Valley View School District 365U.