A new Student Advisory Board was created this October to promote student participation in the College Center’s activities and assist college counselors.

With over 800 seniors to assist in the height of application season, College Access Coordinator Jasmine Thomas came to Dean of Instruction Debra Campbell to request student advisors to help lighten her workload.

“I’ve been working by myself the last few months and, because I didn’t have advisors to assist, it was a lot of work,” Thomas said.

Thomas is Bellaire’s only College Access Coordinator, making her workload heavier as she works individually with each senior.

“With me being the only one in the position, there’s a lot of work, because I have to meet with the entire senior class to make sure they all have an application on file and an acceptance letter,” Thomas said. “[Creating the Advisory Board] is going to help a lot of my stress, because they are going to be responsible for making all the flyers, checking all the social media and doing all the ‘Gen-Z’ things.”

The Student Advisory Board held their first meeting in early October. The board plans to connect students to the resources available to them in the center.

 “We thought that the Student Advisory Board would be a really good way for students to get active in school, and it would be important for them to hear from [other] students’ voices,” Thomas said.

The new board consists of seven seniors, five juniors and one sophomore. They plan to meet in the College Center once a month.

Senior Karma Elmansy is a Special Events Coordinator for the board. She plans events, like the college visits and workshops, and joined in hopes of alleviating Thomas’ work-related stress. 

“She does everything on her own every single day,” Elmansy said. “Literally, 24/7. I’m not kidding. She doesn’t have time to just sit and breathe. So I feel like we need to help her out the best we can.”

The board helps organize college visits by helping set up the room and communicating with the college representatives and Assistant Principal Lawrence Garnett.

“Our next meeting in November is going to be a workshop within a workshop,” Thomas said. “I’m going to show them the basic tools of how to create a workshop and the tools that you need. I have a list of all the activities that we talked about that students might be interested in.”

Event and Logistics Coordinator and junior Kalyani Gifford also joined to help take some of the workload off Thomas’ schedule. Gifford believes that her contribution will help open up the College Center’s opportunities to underclassmen.

“For underclassmen, [we’ve been planning to teach things like] figuring out what your GPA is and how to calculate it,” Gifford said. “I know that was a problem when I was an underclassman, and I hope that the workshops and meetings just cover a range of topics and also introduce people to the fact that we do have a college center, because I personally never knew it existed.”

Gifford said the board’s main goal is to help students be prepared and feel confident about getting into college. The board members have been planning workshops to teach them about Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), CSS and other financial aid programs. They also try to tie in skills relevant to underclassmen, such as knowing how to pass/fail a qualifying elective.

“Going into freshman year, I didn’t know what a pass/fail was until [the counseling department] came and told us about it,” Gifford said. “It probably would have taken off a lot of my worries and a lot of just me trying to calculate stuff in my head or by myself. I also think that it helps in terms of, especially now that I’m thinking more about college, how you can plan.”

As a senior herself, Elmansy wants to provide guidance to students navigating the college application process. 

“I feel like, since I’m a senior, I’ll really be able to provide the information that seniors will need for special events, what they actually want and what they’re actually looking for,” Elmansy said.

Thomas said she plans on keeping the board running after its current students graduate.

“I really think that this is going to help me kind of see the minds of the students,” Thomas said. “The Advisory Board is a collective of different perspectives, personalities and ethnicities all across the status quo. Having them as my team is gonna be great.”

The College Center is available for appointments Mondays through Thursdays, and for walk-ins or parent meetings on Fridays. To schedule an appointment, visit https://tinyurl.com/bhsbookings or contact Jasmine Thomas at [email protected].