The College and Career Center gained a new addition this year. When a position opened up after Gale Solsvig retired, Amy Carr jumped at the opportunity of something new and she immediately applied. Her first official day as the College and Career Secretary was Nov. 23 and she could not be happier to be helping the students out every chance she gets.

Carr had been working in the school for over a year, starting as the Information and Student Records Clerk, so she felt like she needed a little change. Working at the front office can get a bit repetitive at times and Carr was looking for more work-related opportunities. Taking the job at the College and Career Center has been more challenging than working at the front desk, but that is exactly what Carr was looking forward to.

“I already have a lot more to do like helping set up the College Fair,” Carr said.

With the help of Carr, the college fair took place on March 8. Representatives from over 100 universities, technical colleges, regional colleges, specialty schools, community colleges and military organizations were all in attendance. Students had the chance to meet and converse with a wide variety of choices in secondary education options.

“I have added responsibilities with this job and the students depend on me to schedule college visits and help with scholarships,” Carr said.

An important part of her job is keeping up with scholarships. Their are over 45 scholarships for students only. May 23 is the awards night and Carr is currently in the process of getting information out to the committees that pick the deserving winners.

“The College and Career Center has helped me in my decision to go to the University of Minnesota, but I’m looking for other options close to home,” junior Osob Mohamed said.

One of the big things Carr is trying to change is the amount of students that go to the College and Career Center. Not enough students know about and take advantage like they should. She wants to make it known that the College and Career Center is here for the them to help in the decision making progress.

“The thing I miss about being at the front desk is getting to see the students faces everyday. So I’m hoping I can get more student traffic in the college center more so I can see everybody all the time,” Carr said.  “There are students who are seniors that come in here for the first time as a senior. They definitely should have been in here before then,” Carr added.

To help make the College Center more known and helpful she has had college representatives coming in on a weekly basis to visit with students. She started putting up local job postings on the pillar outside of the center in the hallway so it is clear and visible to students looking for summer-time employment. She also started an up to date newsletter that gets sent to all students through their school email.

“I started a twitter account @PONYCCC, and I tweet about all the reps that are coming to our the school and local college news,” Carr said. “I also send out information about scholarships and college reps directly to the students through the newsletter,” Carr added.

The College and Career Center is a great system for students to go to when trying to decide on college. Sophomores, juniors and seniors are all welcome to come and take a look and see what it is all about.

“Kids need to see what this College and Career Center is. A lot of students have no idea we have this, there’s so many things, so many resources here that this center offers,” Carr said.