Welcome back to a brand new school year! Here’s an update from the Counseling Center. I’m Christina Walker, the Career & Academic Advisor. I’m so excited for another year and another opportunity to support our students. My priorities are preparing students for college and careers beyond high school and helping remove barriers to them realizing their goals. Finalizing schedules, sharing scholarship information, coordinating district assessments and making connections with local partnerships are all part of this role.
In the counseling center, we are also able to provide support for students in other areas. We have Greg Scheitel from SWWC Service Cooperative here again three days a week (Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday) to meet with students for mental health support. We also have Chelsie Parrie here from Western Mental Health on Mondays, along with a substance abuse counselor available. We are grateful for our connections with Pipestone Counseling and the Crisis Center to provide services for students as needed.
We recently hosted New Student & 7th Grade Orientation, and we are so excited about all the new faces here at the high school! We hope the first few days of school have gone smoothly for all of you, and we are here to answer any questions you have! Over the summer and the first week of school, we have wrapped up student schedules for the year. If there are questions or concerns about student schedules for second semester, please, don’t hesitate to reach out.
In the coming weeks, I will be meeting with seniors to talk through current classes and plans for after graduation. Parents will be invited to attend if their schedules allow and we can discuss graduation requirements. We will also be hosting a Financial Aid Night this fall to review the process for applying for financial aid and the different options available to seniors. In October and November, MCC will also have the ASVAB and PSAT assessments for juniors. The Career Expo is coming up at Minnesota West in just a few weeks for our students in Careers class, and there will be lots of information coming out soon about representatives visiting from colleges and the military. Keep your eyes peeled for updates to the Counseling Center page on the school website coming soon!
Coming up in October we have College Knowledge month. There are some great resources about choosing a college and paying for college available in the Counseling Center. It also a perfect time for seniors to start applying to different colleges as most Minnesota schools waive application fees in the month of October! If you have any questions about applying for college, please, stop in my office!
There are so many great things happening at MCC, and I am excited to be here for it! Thank you for your on-going support and the daily support you provide for our students.