News

More than 100 Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS) students filed off buses on Wednesday, Oct. 4 and onto the SIUE campus for a day of gathering valuable information about college and their futures. 

“Your Future Starts Today is a pilot pre-collegiate program designed to give Charter High School students of all grades overall information about college,” said Makesha Harris, SIUE academic advisor and coordinator of the program with SIUE academic advisor Efronsini Hortis. 

“We want to introduce Charter High School students to the college environment and get them inspired to come to SIUE or to any college,” Harris continued. 

Jayla Holcombe, CHS sophomore, plans to major in education and wants to attend SIUE. 

“I’m thinking about going to SIUE because it’s local, and because the advisors are very helpful,” Holcombe said. “The advisor who spoke to us, told us about the different kinds of scholarships that are available. I also told her I played volleyball and wanted to know how I could balance my practices with my studies.” 

Some of the program highlights and presenters for the day included: 

• Introduction to Academic Advising: Preparing for College Now – The Academics Presentation,” by SIUE Academic Advisor Ashleigh Goedereis
• Career Exploration: What Can I do with this Major? Presented by SIUE advising staff members
• SIUE Residence Hall Tours
• October Career Fair
• SIUE Campus Tours 

Jourdan Wilson-Hopkins, a CHS senior who plans to major in pre-medicine, said she found her SIUE advisor helpful in steering her towards additional courses that she should be taking this year to prepare for college. 

“She also reminded us about the importance of staying focused and being determined to finish high school strong,” Wilson-Hopkins said. 

“It was beneficial for the students,” said Danette Ross, academic advisor for the College of Arts and Sciences. “We talked about not just choosing a school, but researching it to find out the prerequisites and being mindful of the ACT scores required to enter those colleges. 

“Our Charter High School students made history today with our first school-wide field trip to SIUE,” said CHS Program Director Gina Jeffries. “For some of our students, this was their first time on a college campus. I am ecstatic that our students are being introduced to college at such young ages.” 

Your Future Starts Today is the fourth event of the year, according to Harris. The Pre-Collegiate Program held three other college-related activities at CHS earlier this year. 

“Efronsini and I will continue to work closely with CHS,” added Harris. “This program is a great way to get Charter High School students involved with SIUE and vice versa. 

The mission of the SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School is to prepare students, who are career- and college- ready, upon graduation. To achieve this mission, the school and its staff will positively impact the educational and economic lives of East St. Louis, IL youth. The SIUE Charter High School is a school-of choice for families in the East St. Louis School District 189. 

Photos:   
SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS) student Avantae Gully greets Courtney Mersman of Dieterich Bank at the October Career Fair. Gully participated in the daylong Pre-Collegiate Program at SIUE.

L-R: CHS students Devin Addison, Kayla Dawson and Miranda May speak with Amy Heet of TD Ameritrade at the October Career Fair.