Last spring, Lewiston High School was awarded a grant by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to improve student aspirations for postsecondary education. In the past few months much has been accomplished through the combined efforts of the guidance staff and the new Life After LHS Resource Center.

The Life After LHS Center has been set up in a large room off the library where students are free to drop by for help with looking at colleges, working on applications and essays, and exploring postsecondary options and apprenticeships. So far, students are applying to a range of schools including professional golf manager colleges, fashion and culinary institutes, Ivy League schools, and everything in between. The center is staffed every Blue day, and arrangements can be made to meet with the center coordinator, Joan Macri, before or after school as needed.

A web site has been created that links students with Internet resources about finding a college, financial aid information, gap year suggestions, career assessment inventories, SAT test preparation, and filling out the common application online. Students and parents can access the web site from home by going to http://www.lewiston.k12.me.us/~lhslibrary/research1.html and clicking on the box labeled Life After High School.

Letters were sent to all seniors to inform them of the Early Studies program offered by area colleges. Students with B averages or better may enroll in one course at Central Maine Community College, USM at Lewiston-Auburn, or UMA at Lewiston-Auburn. The only cost is for books. Credits for the courses will be accepted by any University of Maine system schools and by most colleges nationwide. The coordinator for the Life After LHS Center will oversee the application and enrollment process. Next year, the Early Studies program will be offered to second-semester juniors and first- and second-semester seniors.

The coordinator for the Life After LHS Center will be scheduling evening meetings at locations in the community for parents to meet and learn more about postsecondary options for LHS students. Parents are welcome to stop by and visit the Life After High School Center or to contact the coordinator directly. The phone number for the center is 795-4199 and the email address is [email protected].