Eleven school districts and five colleges from the Adirondack region gathered at the CFES Center in Essex, NY on December 10 to discuss partnering opportunities and strategies that will help their students become college ready.

“The national average of low-income students getting through college is eight percent,” said CFES College Ambassador Andrea McDonald. “Thanks to all of your hard work, 95% of our CFES Scholars are attending college. These statistics prove that what we are doing works and our goal now is to make sure our students are getting through college.”

Former Paul Smith’s College President John Mills, who is now a CFES program director, helped facilitate the event.

“We want our Scholars to be equipped with the tools to stay in college and graduate,” said Mills. “What’s working?” he asked the room full of K-16 educators.

“A lot of our kids have parents that don’t talk about college,” said Beekmantown Elementary Counselor Michele LaMontagne. “So, in our elementary school, we hold weekly events. We host a college and career day and use college terminology so that our students get the message early on that they can go to college.”

Sue Jackstadt, a teacher at Peru Central, spoke about the impact of bringing alumni back to talk with juniors and seniors. “Students don’t want to hear about college from us. They can relate to a student who walked the same halls, grew up in the same area, and is now living the college life.”

Educators spoke about young people today relying on “raw genius” and how because of social media and technology they expect everything to come easily.

“We spend a lot of time focusing on grit,” added Keeseville Elementary Principal Kevin Hulbert. “We remind students that the struggle they’re dealing with now will help them later in life to push through and succeed.”

Clinton Community College’s Wendy Grossmann agreed and said a big problem they see in the college counseling office is that a lot of young people lack coping skills.

Part of College For Every Student’s success has proven to be the three core practices of Leadership, Mentoring, and Pathways to College and Career that teach the Essential Skills – grit, teamwork, leadership, resilience, and other competencies.

“Students should have two go-to mentors on campus,” said Skidmore College Opportunity Program Admissions Coordinator Aaron Ray. “Skidmore is aware of the needs of first generation students and thankfully has the resources to help with that.”

“We work hard to give parents the tools they need early on,” said Champlain College’s Nadia Mitchell.

Ausable Forks Principal Gigi Mason spoke about a recent trip with students and parents to a SUNY Plattsburgh Ice Hockey game. “It was the first time that many of those parents ever stepped foot on a college campus and they loved the experience. We need to do whatever we can to give them these opportunities.”

According to studies, the first six weeks in a student’s college career is critical. “We need to give our CFES Scholars the resources they need to succeed right from the beginning,” said Mills. “Together, we’re developing the safety net for our Adirondack students.”

An important component of College Connect is the initiation of school-college partnering activities. Each participating school and college left the event with plans to work together this year on activities that will help promote college success for more than 1500 students.

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