Preparing for the Future
Story and Photo by Selah Wheeler – Staff Reporter
As Lee’s Summit North prepares to enter its last semester of the school year, 2022 seniors will enter the last semester of their high school career. This comes with responsibilities, opportunities, and deadlines that seniors can look forward to.
College visits, application due dates and final decisions are all coming up, and although these are new and exciting times for most graduating seniors, it can be stressful to worry about when still trying to finish out the school year. This is why Cortney Moreno, the college and scholarship coordinator at North, is here to help students balance their last year of high school.
“I can work with freshmen through senior,” Moreno said, “But primarily it’s juniors and seniors that are prepping for college, so I can help them understand this process from recommendation letters, to setting up college visits, and also sending transcripts and going over kind of what the whole application process entails.”
Moreno and the guidance team also know that no student is the same, and each student has a different plan for after high school. Whether in-state or out-of-state college, an internship or apprenticeship, Lee’s Summit North has a great team of dedicated counselors to help guide students down their path, whatever it may be.
“Every student is so individual when it comes to college…that’s why I always tell seniors, you know, feel free to come in and talk to me; if mom and dad have questions, reach out, because every situation is unique, and everybody’s different, and everybody has a different plan,” Moreno said. “[And] not just college, but there’s people who don’t want to go to college, and know that’s not the right fit for them, and that’s perfectly fine.”
Another aspect of Moreno’s role at North is ‘scholarship coordinator’. This means she helps students find available scholarships to apply for — locally and nationally — and provides support through the application process as well. Some scholarships are highlighted by being sent to students by email. However the scholarships are found, it’s important to remember that there are so many out there, and there’s something for everyone.
“It doesn’t have to be…have a 4.0, and be vice president of your class to be in a scholarship. There’s a scholarship for everybody out there,” said Moreno.
One set of scholarships that are open now are offered by the Lee’s Summit Educational Foundation (LSEF). These are small, local scholarships that only apply to the Lsr7 school district, and have school-specific chances to win. The pool is narrowed even further by having certain requirements to apply, such as what elementary school you attended, what sport you play, etc. This creates a smaller group of people that apply, and a higher chance of getting selected for the scholarship. The deadline for all LSEF scholarships is February 23rd, 2022, at 4:30 pm.
“There’s approximately 20 scholarships for Lee’s Summit North seniors. And you’re only, I guess ‘competing’, against seniors here at this school,” Moreno said about the LSEF scholarships. “Which, I mean, your odds are very, very high.”
One exciting event that seniors can look forward to second semester is ‘Decision Day’. This is held on May 1st, usually in the cafeteria, and a slideshow is compiled for the graduating seniors, where each student will get to showcase their picture and their plans for the next year. Moreno calls this day a “celebration of what the future holds”, because of its ability to show everyone as an individual, and what their plans are. This will certainly be something for seniors to look forward to as we move into the new semester.
Scholarships can be found on the Lee’s Summit North website, the guidance website, and students’ emails. Moreno also sends updates through Schoology, which is where more information on LSEF scholarships was recently posted. There is also a ‘master list’, which is included in the link below. The year is coming to an end, so make the most of it!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tnk4RvkshY7dUekHwXBk28–7559ZHDCCBjVm25a0SA/edit#gid=0 — Link to Master List
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NlQN0mmkZ9n8eujrFDvx6WX875fAmULX/view — LSEF Scholarship Info
https://www.grantinterface.com/Process/Apply?urlkey=lsrssd — LSEF Portal to Apply