Small Town Times February 2020 | Page 15

Counselor Corner Spring is on the rise? Seniors are busy applying for scholarships, making decisions as to which college is their right fit, contemplating part-time jobs, and thinking about what their lives will look like when they graduate in May. Scholarships For local and state scholarships, visit Scholarship Quest at EducationQuest.org. It is never too early to begin searching for scholarships as well as making your list of strengths, volunteer activities, and other notable characteristics about yourself. College planning help?? Sign up for Education Quest's Newsletter by clicking this link: Countdown2College to receive monthly emails with tips and resources to help you plan and pay for college. If you would like to go to the Education Quest Foundation website, you can also follow the steps below to sign up any 9th - 12th grader? Parents can sign up for newsletters to help their child in college planning. Go to http://www.educationquest.org. Click on Countdown to College sign-up on right hand side of page under Resources. Have students fill in their contact information and list their current grade in high school. (Can be 9th - 12th grade) Students need an email address in order to sign up for the newsletters. Click on Subscribe to List. NEST 529 NEST 529 is a state-sponsored, tax-advantaged college savings plan. Please see the information sheet in this newsletter for more information or visit NEST529.com At Parent-teacher conferences February 21, 2020, I will have a station for parents to complete a survey about NEST 529. If you are unable to attend, please go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/parent20savings to complete the survey. Prepare for the FAFSA with free programs and resources Seniors, make sure you have completed your FAFSA. Depending upon your college’s deadline, complete the FAFSA prior to April 1. Colleges will use your FAFSA results to determine how much they will award you in federal, state and college-based financial aid. The following Education link will help you learn more about the financial aid process and the FAFSA http:// www.educationquest.org Kearney office 308-234-6310. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter! Remember, if you do not fill this out, your student will NOT be eligible for federal financial aid and aid from the school he/she is attending. It is NEV- ER too late to file, the sooner the better. Food Pantry/Food Bank information: Our school food bank is currently receiving prepackaged food from the Heartland Food bank. It regularly serves 11 students in our school on a weekly basis. Any donations to the food pantry is appreciated. We are also accepting financial donations to help provide our families perishables from P & D Market such as milk, bread, eggs, and fruit. At this time, we would appreciate snack items such as bars, individual cereal boxes, individual fruit cups, ect. Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-TALK (8255) NAME: Susan Poland SCHOOL: Litchfield Public Schools CLASS: PreK-12 School Counselor SCHOOL PHONE: (308)-446-2244 ext 204 Email: [email protected] Website: https://sites.google.com/a/litchfieldps.org/mrspoland/