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“My university ambassadors were talking about FAFSA all the time. I did a lot of FAFSA by reaching out to students, who contacted other students and held them accountable and made sure they did what they had to do, ”said Price, who has since been became an elementary school teacher in Washington. County.
myFutureNC recognized North Lenoir for setting up this peer mentoring program, for creating an atmosphere in which students felt comfortable asking questions about college preparation, and for increasing the number conversations on FAFSA.
“There was a lot of brainstorming,” Price recalls. “We did a lot of presentations – how GPA works, how to send a formal email asking for more information. For students who don’t have a parent who went to college, this is vital information that they might not have felt they knew about.
North Lenoir awarded diplomas to 200 seniors last May. Eighty-two percent of them said they plan to go to college. The FAFSA completion rate for the class was 52.6 percent.
“I think what made it so spectacular is that we were working this Covid year and those first two months as a college advisor, I was totally virtual,” Price said. “The students really didn’t know me, really didn’t see me, until December and the FAFSA was already open. At the end of last year, we were really ready to do some FAFSA. I’m really proud of them and that number, being the year it was.
Despite Price’s departure, the College Ambassadors Club remains active, particularly this month. FAFSA applications were opened on October 1 and October is designated as NC Countdown to College. College Application Week runs October 18-22, when helping students with online applications becomes the top priority for school counselors at all LCPS high schools. That week, many colleges and universities waive the application fee.
Lenoir Community College is hosting a FAFSA drive-in day on October 23, where financial advisors will be available in the parking lot to help students and their parents with the request. At a college fair on November 3 at the Kinston Community Center, representatives from the College Fund of North Carolina will provide information on financial aid.
“Over the next few weeks, we have a lot of events planned across the county. The district school counselors worked and planned together, ”Rachel Hewett, one of the North Lenoir school counselors who runs the College Ambassadors Club.
This month, club members expect to use everything from social media to North Lenoir morning announcements to spread awareness about North Carolina colleges and the opportunities they offer. At the same time, they hope to grow the award-winning club. “We are working on recruiting,” Hewett said. “We will try to involve other grade levels so that we can instill this university culture and promote this awareness of what you can do and what you have to do.”
Hannah Hemby, senior and student leader at North Lenoir, already has some advice for her classmates on what to do with FAFSA and college applications.
“When in doubt, just start,” Hemby said after a planning meeting with Hewitt and his senior colleagues Noura Zayyad and Dynaija Paris. “I know for myself, seeing all that needed to be done, I felt super unprepared; but you just have to start. If you don’t, you never will. Just pick a time to do it. Our advisors are handy to us and are more there for us than I ever imagined. “
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