College Reps Help Tibbott Students Look to the Future

Representatives of six Illinois colleges and universities visited Friday to help students at the school learn about the opportunities they face after they graduate from high school.

The “College Fair” capped Tibbott’s “Homecoming Week” that included float building, a pep rally and parade, visits to the school’s mock “dorm room” and a college financial planning seminar for parents and students.

“Every week is college week here. This week just happened to be a special week with special activities,” said Assistant Principal Amanda Tucker. “With this fair, they actually get to see a representative of a college and take home materials from the college. It brings it more to life for them.”

Students in kindergarten through fifth grade visited the fair, talking with Sarah Steinhorst of University of St. Francis, Kenya Taylor of Southern Illinois University, Jan Fitzsimmons of North Central College, Dr. Lauren Rentfro of Lewis University, Tanya Cabrera of Illinois Institute of Technology and Jeremy Smith of Concordia.

Asked why a college recruiter would want to visit with elementary school students, Fitzsimmons pointed to North Central’s Junior Senior Scholars program that follows children from kindergarten all the way to college.

“We think it’s very important to plant the seeds and to nurture them,” she said. “We’re delighted to be a part of the initiative here.”

Four of the recruiters went so far as to sing the Tibbott Fight Song to students during morning announcements.