College and Career Center!

Written By: Haley Malone
College and Career Center
Our Manor High School College and Career Center is opening doors for the students of Manor High School to have the option to go to college or trade-school. The College and Career Center is to encourage freshmen to start thinking about college and for juniors and seniors to get ready to start applying to colleges. Mrs. Caldwell and Mr. DeLeon are the masterminds behind the College and Career Center.
I interviewed Mrs. Caldwell about her thoughts and hopes for the program. The first question I asked her was what made her exactly want to start this program at Manor High School. Her response was that she wanted to expand the students of Manor High School beyond this town and the closed-mindedness and thoughts that you have to stay in-state or pick an agricultural career. She wanted to open up doors for our students and give them more opportunities.
I asked her next how her previous job had prepared her for working as the College Advisor for our district. She told me that she’s been in education for 25 years working in teaching, coaching, and administration. The correlation of the work ethics and motivation from coaching has been great for her job as College Advisor at Manor High School. She said that being in administration helped her with leadership but that she would rather be around students. She likes to be a motivational leader for the students as well as an advocate for them. She really loves her students.
Then, I asked her what were her hopes for this program at Manor High were. She told me that her hope was to have our program nationally recognized. She wants this program to be all about the students. She stated that the Texas A&M Admissions person told her they have received more applications from Manor High School than from any other high school in the Central Texas region.
I then asked her if she likes how the program is and if she was happy with the progress. She said that the program is off to a great start and she’s happy the awareness of being able to go to college is being made more available to the students. She knows very well herself that going to college can change a person’s life. Last year about 91% of students applied to college throughout the United States.
Next, I asked her how she advertises the College and Career center to the school and she said that there are always posters and bulletin boards around. The upcoming website will also get more students to be informed. There are also announcements about the College and Career Center.
The final question I asked was if she really loved what she was doing. She said, “Of course, I love doing this for the students, to help them to open doors.” It’s what Mrs. Caldwell and Mr. DeLeon are here for.