Four thousand students seeking information about college and careers converged upon the annual College and Career Path Fair held recently by the St. Tammany Parish Public School System at Pelican Park in Mandeville.

Participants were able to talk with representatives from more than 125 universities, apprenticeship programs, community and technical colleges, military academies, and lending institutions.

“The Castine Center was packed from start to finish,” said Dr. Regina Sanford, Secondary Supervisor, in a report to the School Board this month. “It was a tremendous success, giving students from throughout the parish the opportunity to meet with representatives from scores of colleges, vo-tech schools, and community service agencies.”

The aim was to provide students with the latest information to make career or college decisions. This year’s turnout brought a substantial increase in participants over last year’s event, Dr. Sanford said.

Hosted by the School System’s College Counseling Center, the program was assisted by numerous volunteers from non-profit organizations. Two sororities provided volunteers to help with registration, four Junior ROTC Units helped with unloading tables and display booths from vehicles, and all high schools sent guidance counselors and graduation coaches to assist in manning the information booths.

School bus drivers helped by bringing busloads of students to the event from Pearl River High School and Slidell High School.

Several non-profit agencies in attendance gave students a chance to enhance their college applications by learning about volunteering opportunities in the area so they could add community service hours to their resumes.

A teacher recruitment booth manned by Dorable Dangerfield with Human Resources and several school principals distributed information on careers in education. Also in attendance were representatives from the Project Graduation programs on both the east and west sides of St. Tammany Parish.

Dr. Sanford gave much credit for the success of the event to the School System’s College Counseling Center, staffed by Annette O’Regan and Christine Woodard. “Our vision to employ college counselors has proven to be quite a dividend for our students,” she said. The center also hosted a junior high college and career fair this year.

After the fair event, feedback was received from college recruiters and the non-profit organizations to serve as the key for strategic planning for next year’s fair.
All students in Grades 9-12 in public, private, or home-school programs were invited, along with their families, to attend the College and Career Fair at no charge.

The list of participants included Agnes Scott College, Aveda Institute, Baton Rouge Community College, Baylor University, Belhaven College, Belmont Abbey College, Belmont University, Birmingham-Southern College, Capital One Bank, Centenary College, Christian Brothers University, Colgate University, Cornell College, Court Reporting Institute of LA, Delgado Community College, Delta College- Covington, Delta State University, Dillard University, Emory University, Emory College, Oxford College, Fordham University, Grambling State University, Gulf Coast Bank & Trust, Hancock Bank, Harvard University, Howard University, Huntington Learning Center, and ITT Technical Institute.

Also in attendance were representatives from Johnson & Wales University, Judson College, Kaplan, Louisiana Army National Guard, LA School for Math, Science, and the Arts, LA.Barber Apprenticeship- UFCW Local 496, Louisiana College, Louisiana Education Loan Authority, Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance (TOPS), Louisiana Rehabilitation Services, Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts, Louisiana Scholars' College, Louisiana State University - Alexandria, Louisiana State University, Louisiana State University ROTC, Louisiana Tech University, Louisiana Technical College, Louisiana Technical College Sullivan, Loyola University of New Orleans, LSU Health Sciences Center, School of Allied Health, Mark Anthony Institute, and McNeese State University.

Also present were MedVance Institute of Baton Rouge, Mercer University, Millsaps College, Mississippi College, Mississippi State University, National EMS Academy, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, Nicholls State University, Northshore District Nurses Association, Northwestern State University of LA, Nunez Community College, Oglethorpe University, Ohio State University, Our Lady of Holy Cross College, Our Lady of the Lake College, Princeton Review, Purdue University, Reed College, Rollins College, Samford University, Santa Clara University, Savannah College of Art & Design, Sewanee: The University of the South, Southeastern Louisiana University, Southern Methodist University, Southern University - Baton Rouge, St. Tammany Fire District 4, The Catholic University of America, Tulane Air Force ROTC, Tulane Army ROTC, Tulane University, Tulane University School of Continuing Studies,United States Air Force Academy, and United States Air Force Reserve.

Representatives were also on hand from the United States Army, United States Coast Guard Academy, United States Coast Guard Recruiting, United States Marine Corps, United States Military Academy at West Point, United States Navy, University of Alabama, University of Georgia, University of Louisiana - Lafayette, University of Louisiana - Monroe, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), University of Mobile,University of New Orleans, University of Notre Dame, University of Richmond, University of South Alabama, University of Southern Mississippi, University of St. Thomas - Texas, University of Texas Austin, Vanderbilt University, Vanguard College of Cosmetology, Washington & Lee University, Washington University in St. Louis, William Carey University, Wofford College, and Xavier University of Louisiana.

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