Dedicated college adviser coming to Panther Valley JSHS

Deciding what to do after high school is hard, and with their busy schedules high school counselors don’t have the time to answer every question.

But starting next year, Panther Valley Junior/Senior High School students will have an adviser whose sole purpose is helping them find a college or technical school to attend after graduation.

“The key to our program is we partner with the counselors, and specialize in one area of what they do, helping kids get to the next step,” said Robert Freund of the Pennsylvania College Advising Corps.

Thanks to an anonymous donor, an adviser from the Pennsylvania College Advising Corps will be working in the school district starting this fall.

The corps, which is a nationwide program, is made up of recent college graduates who spend two years at a school.

Most of the advisers in the Pennsylvania Corps come from four partner colleges — Franklin & Marshall, Millersville, Gettysburg and Dickinson. More than 100 students apply for about 20 openings each year.

“Having been a high school counselor, I know the things you deal with — they’re too diverse and there are too many to devote the amount of time you should to kids to figure out what they’re going to do after high school,” Freund said.

There are currently 26 schools in Pennsylvania that have a counselor. Panther Valley represents the first in Carbon County, and only the second in the northeast part of the state.

Normally, the cost of the program is split 50-25-25 among the school, the state program and the national program. There is actually a waiting list right now because of the number of schools that want a counselor.

But Panther Valley is getting its own thanks to the anonymous donor who will commit about $50,000 per year to the program.

Freund said the donors are a couple who have strong ties to the Panther Valley area. They contacted Freund after he was quoted in an article about getting students from rural areas to attend college. They met with Freund and an adviser, and immediately committed to the program.

“They want to remain anonymous at this point, but they told me on the spot they want to fund this program completely, and they want to fund it indefinitely,” he said.

Freund said Pennsylvania has the third most colleges of any state in the country, behind California and New York. But their prices have increased significantly over the years. Choosing the wrong one, or not planning how to pay for it could result in a significant amount of debt and no easy way to get out of it.

“The United States has the best higher education system in the world, and it’s also the most complicated to access,” Freund said.

Advisers pass along their own knowledge from their college experience. And even though they are scattered at schools across the state, they work together to come up with ideas and solve problems. They jokingly call themselves “the brain trust.”

Adviser Katie Jarman said it’s an exciting position. She said the counselors she works with at Greater Nanticoke Area High School spend a lot of their time with a small group of students who need assistance.

“All the advisers really throw ourselves headfirst into this,” she said.

Her goal is to help students figure out what’s best for them, and the best path to get there.

That includes community college and apprentice programs in addition to four-year colleges.

“What I always say to my seniors is, I just want you to have a plan so when you walk across the stage and get that diploma, you’re not going back to mom and dad’s couch,” she said.