Supt. Lynn Torres
It’s never too early to start talking to your children about future goals, including decisions after high school. This week, Lufkin ISD will be all about college during College Week. We pride ourselves on ensuring 100% of our students are accepted to a university, college, technical school or the military.
Other schools around the state call us wanting to know how we get those results. For one thing, we have lots of support from parents, our community and partnerships with higher education institutions such as Angelina College and Stephen F. Austin State University.
During College Week, students and staff will be wearing T-shirts to show off their favorite colleges, but the week isn’t just about T-shirts, it’s about opportunities. Each day students will be given facts about colleges, from which colleges are suited for technical programs to which ones have a small community environment.
We are so fortunate to have excellent counselors who help our students navigate the decisions they need to make for college. When I was choosing a college to pursue my studies beyond high school, my counselors were instrumental in helping to find the right fit for me and my interests. Those decisions landed me at Stephen F. Austin State University, which ultimately led me to my work career at Lufkin ISD.
During College Week, there will be activities throughout the week for all ages. There will be door decorating contests, virtual college tours, college dream board designing and college admission representatives will visit the high school.
We are fortunate to have a Go Center at Lufkin High School that helps students make decisions about college. The center assists with financial aid, testing, college information and much more. The Go Center will host admissions counselors during all lunches all week long.
Lufkin ISD also will soon have our first graduating class of the Early College High School, the Class of 2022. These are students looking to transfer to a four-year university with an associate degree, core complete hours or more than 40 to 60 hours of college credit. It’s a milestone for Lufkin ISD, our families and our community.
We are currently discussing these students with two universities: Stephen F. Austin State University and Prairie View A&M University. Our students may go anywhere, but these two universities have expressed interest in recruiting our ECHS students. We welcome any university to come and see the talent all our students have. Our goal is to have these ECHS students committed to a four-year university before entering their senior year.
Lufkin High School will host its annual Meningitis Shot Clinic for seniors on Wednesday in the auditorium to help students prepare for the college immunization requirements.
Other activities after College Week include an Angelina College Registration Event. This event will be held April 29 and 30 in the Tom Jack Lucas Auditorium at Lufkin High School. Students will be able to meet with an academic adviser, register for classes and visit with a financial aid adviser. Our “Senior Signing” event that typically takes place during college week will be May 11. Scholarship Night is scheduled for May 17.
To find out more about the College Week activities, go to http://bit.ly/lufcollegeweek. On the website, you will find additional activities and resources.
This time of year is also a fun time to find out where our students will be attending college in the fall. From Marymount Manhattan College in New York to the University of Washington, the Class of 2021 will represent Lufkin from coast to coast, which always makes me Lufkin Proud!