St. Stephens High School: One Less Mountain to Climb

On October 7^th, St Stephens High School hosted a day dedicated to climbing one of the mountains that leads to higher education. That peak being college, a place many Latinx youth feel that is unreachable for numerous reasons; the biggest of these reasons is cost. A solution to this challenge is the Free Student Application for Financial Aid (FAFSA), which is a government application that assists thousands of students with funding for college. This ‘FAFSA Day’ brought resources to the community and supported them in using these resources.

Juntos county coordinator, Holly Ellwanger, in collaboration with Catawba County Cooperative Extension and a special guest from the College Foundation of North Carolina (CFNC), Donna Weaver, led this day to success. With resources right there at their local high school, seven youth and their families were able to fill out and complete the FAFSA, climbing towards college, not only a dream but a reality.