College and career planner inspiration to Bearcats

December 12, 2008,  Huntingdon Daily News - By Miranda Weaver

Katie George is an educational inspiration, sent to the Huntingdon Area High School on a grant through the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation which is collaborating with Franklin and Marshall College, Dickinson College, Millersville University and Shippensburg University. Her job is to help students through the college process for anything from a trade school to a four-year university. She guides them through group meetings or a one-to-one experience.

Some of the topics discussed include the college application process and what students want to pursue after their high school education is completed. For those students who already plan to attend college, she helps them make decisions about where they want to attend. Financial aid and scholarships are also discussed. Seniors take first priority, but she is willing to speak with any
student who has questions about college and career.

She is available at HAHS Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and also puts in time Tuesdays and Thursdays at Juniata Valley High School. George enjoys getting to know students and assisting them in these difficult decisions. She enjoys seeing students learn about post secondary education. When students go in unsure of what they want to do, they come out having a good idea of what they might do following high school.

During their session, George gives the students tools to help them through the process in deciding whether they plan to attend college or begin a career shortly after graduation.

One student commented that George "is really helpful. She is easy to talk to and gets along with all students."

"She makes students smile and cheers them up. She knows what she's talking about and makes students want to further their education. Before talking to her, I didn't want to go to another school after graduation, but now I am considering it."

Her co-workers agree, stating, "Katie is a great asset to our guidance department. She has a great personality and works well with the faculty, staff and students.

As of now, this position is only temporary. George will be attending graduate school to earn a master's degree. In order to have this position, she had to attend an intensive three-week training process and graduate from one of the colleges listed earlier. After she graduated from Millersville University with a psychology degree, someone recommended her for this position. She had been thinking about majoring in school counseling and thought this would be a great opportunity for experience.

This college and career program is in 14 other states with over 130 advisers. It was founded at the University of Virginia because Jack Kent Cooke donated money so that college access would be more widely available to all students.