The College and Career Center (both parts)

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 designed to encourage freshmen to start thinking about college as well as preparing juniors and seniors to get ready to start applying to colleges. Mrs. Caldwell and Mr. De Leon 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 dreams of students at 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.

Next, I asked her 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 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 her hopes were for this program at Manor High. 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 it is making. 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.
I then asked her how she advertises the College and Career center to the students to make them more aware of its help and benefits. 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. De Leon are here for.


Students Speak Out about College and Career Center
The College and Career Center is for the students, and so are Mr. De Leon and Ms. Caldwell. They are the reason for the success, but I wanted to know how the students felt about it. I interviewed a few students from the class of 2011who spent time in the College and Career center about how they felt about the College and Career Center and how they feel it benefits the student body.

The first student I interviewed was Cristopher Gutierrez, who recently got accepted into University of Texas at Austin and Texas A & M. I asked him how he felt the College and Career Center was benefitting him, and he responded by saying that the college and career center helped him fulfill his applications to college, which was the reason for his acceptances. He then told me that, after getting accepted to the colleges, they are now helping him complete financial aid. I asked him then if he had any suggestions about making the College and Career Center a better place and he says that it is fine the way it is, so he doesn’t see any real reason to change it. Cristopher says that Ms. Caldwell was a big influence for him to go the College and Career Center and apply to college, and she pushed him to complete his applications. He says had it not been for Ms. Caldwell, he most likely would’ve not come into the College and Career Center to start the application process, and that she is a great motivation.

I also interviewed Christina Villalobos about her thoughts on the College and Career Center. She told me that she feels the college and career center has helped her by helping her to find scholarships, apply to college and get accepted to college. She got accepted to Tarleton State and West Texas A&M. I asked her how she thought the College and Career Center was benefitting the students at our school, and she responded by saying that “It is benefitting a lot of people here because the staff in there know what they are doing:” I asked her if there was any way for the college and career center to be a better place and she said, “They definitely need more computers!” She also said the center could be a lot bigger.
In all, the College and Career Center, to students, has been a good place. They’re truly doing their best to help the students plan their future, and speaking to a few students, it is working. We just want to thank the College and Career Center and Mr. De Leon and Ms. Caldwell for all of their hard work.