SHS juniors and seniors attend annual College & Career Fair

At the Starkville Sportsplex on Friday, March 3, junior and senior students of Starkville High School attended the annual College & Career Fair where they got exposure to potential colleges they could attend or even potential careers they could pursue after they graduate.

Friday was a solid turnout from both the students and the vendors who came out. SHS history teacher Owen Brown, who is also the chair for this annual event in connection with the school district's career coaches and counseling department, says that the primary goal for this event is to show the students that there are more options for them to look into other than going to a four-year college after high school.

“We're not only trying to engage students who are interested in going to a four-year university right out of high school, but also students who are wanting to go to two-year institutions and students who want to go directly to the workforce,” said Brown. “That's why we have such a big turnout of not only colleges, but also vendors that can help students to go into a career as soon as they graduate from high school.”

Brown adds that the goal is for students to be college and/or career ready by the time they graduate, but the only way they'll know what they'll want to do is if they see it for themselves.

“Through our academic house model, we're trying to ensure that students are able to see people in real time that are currently in those careers, and we're not pro-college or anti-college, it's just a matter of students being able to see all of their options,” said Brown. “The more options they have, the more possibilities that they have and the more likely they are to be successful after high school.”

Anna Lindsey Sanders is an admissions counselor from Mississippi State University who had a table set up at Friday's College & Career Fair at the Sportsplex, and she is glad that the Starkville Oktibbeha School District has an event like this for students.

“It's a great way to get to

know prospective students … Right now in our timeline as far as admissions goes, it's great to have a chance to talk with the seniors right now because they're in that important, crucial college decision making process.

So getting the chance to do ‘one final push' with them, to make sure they're signing up for orientation, they're doing their housing, they're accepting scholarships, and also having the juniors as they're about to start their senior year. Just building those relationships with them is why I love doing college fairs,” Sanders said.