Springfield Southeast High School Hosts “Decision Day 2009”

Springfield, Ill.- At Springfield Southeast High School, students and faculty will be participating in the National College Advising Corps (NCAC) "National Decision Day," presented locally by Illinois College Advising Corps.  The event honors graduating high school seniors and their decision to continue their education.  The celebration will take place Friday, May 1, the day most young people must inform a college of their plans to enroll.  

Decision Day festivities will be held at more than 60 partner high schools in nine states.  Adviser Catalina Hernandez and postsecondary coach Carolyn Blackwell are leading the local "Footprints to the Future" program at Southeast, honoring all students who have made a plan for life after high school with a bag and lanyard as a keepsake.  The bags read "Decision Day 2009:  Where will you leave your footprint?" while the lanyards have a single word motto, "Represent."  Additionally, each student will post their decision on a large banner, allowing the students to know where each of their peers intends to "mark their footprint" in the fall.  The faculty and staff of Southeast will also participate in the event by joining students in wearing a military or college t-shirt.  

"Every student should have the opportunity to attend an institution of higher learning that will serve them well," said Dr. Nicole Hurd, executive director of National College Advising Corps. "The Advising Corps is excited to see young people pursue higher education, and the purpose of this event is to celebrate high school accomplishments as well as launch them on a path to degree attainment and success."

"The event celebrates the culmination of all of the efforts of the students, teachers and advisors in preparing these kids for college through intervention," said Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) Executive Director Andrew Davis.  "If we merely wait at the edge of campus for capable students to come along who just need some financial help to get to college, we won't get the results."

Illinois College Advising Corps is a pilot program designed to help high school students in disadvantaged communities apply and attend college through use of "near-peer mentoring."  Mentors who are only a few years older than the students they counsel are known as "near-peer" counselors.  Near-peers are uniquely qualified to serve as a sounding board for high school students, establish trusting relationships and lead them on the path to college.

Through a partnership between three University of Illinois campuses, ISAC and NCAC, Illinois College Advising Corps counselors are serving as near-peer mentors to students at five Illinois high schools in its initial phase:  Rantoul Township High School in Champaign County, Roberto Clemente Community Academy in Chicago's Northwest Side, Walter H. Dyett High School in Chicago's South Side, Waukegan High School in Lake County and Springfield Southeast High School in Sangamon County.

"We have thousands of Illinois high school students with the potential to attend and excel in college, but they slip through the cracks, especially at high schools whose guidance counselors have crushing caseloads," continued Davis.  "The Illinois College Advising Corps initiative helps students understand that college is an option and helps them go for it."

The Illinois Student Assistance Commission provides students of all ages and backgrounds with the resources and support to obtain financial aid for higher education. A state agency, ISAC has paved the path to post-secondary education with innovative programs for more than 50 years. Last year alone, ISAC continued its mission to make college accessible and affordable for Illinois students by issuing over 186,000 grants and scholarships totaling nearly $431 million.  

The Commission provides educational funding with student loans, as a loan guarantor and via numerous public programs such as the successful Monetary Award Program (MAP), the Illinois Veteran Grant and College Illinois!^sm the Commission's groundbreaking 529 prepaid college tuition program. Students and families have free access to a wealth of financial aid and college planning information at ISAC's family of websites available at www.knowhow2GOIllinois.org and www.collegeillinois.com.