While freshman students will be taking the Science CRT on April 11, sophomores and juniors will be headed to Nevada State College and UNLV, respectively, as seniors engage in a financial literacy immersive experience.

“There are a lot of moving parts, so each grade has its own unique list of things that have to be taken care of,” Community Partnership Coordinator Sara Hartwich said. “It was very laborious in the fact that there were a lot of details to iron out, but I thoroughly enjoyed doing it because we’re able to put all the pieces together and make it work.”

Two of the activities for seniors will be a financial workshop sponsored by Silver State Credit Union and a presentation led by motivational speaker Aric Bostick called “Fired Up”.

“The admin and I knew that we wanted to do some type of PBL and then that PBL morphed into campus tours,” Hartwich said. “Someone had mentioned this guest speaker to me and that they had seen him last year, so I looked him up, and I set up a meeting with him and asked him what he was all about and it sounded perfect for me and the seniors.”

Sophomores will be taking a tour of Nevada State College to learn about its academic offerings.

“I think it’s cool to go even though I don’t plan to go to Nevada State College right now,” sophomore Violet Moreno said. “I think touring college as a high schooler is important even if you think you know where you’re going because you could potentially really like the college. College is really expensive so learning about how to get a scholarship or be admitted into a local college is really important.”

Juniors will be taking a tour of UNLV’s campus and will be discussing admission requirements, meeting with a group of different panelists from the majors UNLV offers, talking to club representatives, and having lunch in the college’s dining commons,

“I’m super excited,” junior Kylie Parker-Roberts said. “Although I have already seen UNLV three times, it’s still gonna be fun. They have really beautiful facilities, and the experience feels more individualized when they focus directly on our school. It helps me feel more included, and when we get the opportunity to go on these field trips it helps me feel more connected to our school and UNLV.”

The choices for each of the classes were based on the need for exposure, according to assistant principal Donna Besser. 

“It’s a fact of life that you need that skill as soon as you graduate from high school, so when this program was brought to our attention, we thought our students would benefit from it,” Besser said. “Not all students have the opportunity or have had families that have been able to go to college, so we think it’s important that all students have the opportunity to tour colleges free of charge. To see what the college atmosphere is like so they’re not scared to go  in  the future if it interests them.”