On Thursday, March 27th, our Dr. Henry Wise PeerForward team hosted an “Anything but College” fair aimed at providing their peers with knowledge on alternative postsecondary pathways. Over 30 vendors gathered in their school’s gymnasium, ready to engage with curious students who were seeking to learn more about options outside of the traditional college route. Among the represented professions were different trades, military options, beauty schools, fashion designers, along with government services like the parks and recreation and the fire department.
Our Peer Leaders partnered with their school’s National Honors Society and the Prince George’s County Public Schools youth program, Youth Career Connections, to make the event a success. Youth Career Connections allowed the students to take the reigns in the planning process, stepping in to provide funding to ensure their vision was realized. The gym was decked out in balloons, photo booths, and banners, all thanks to the YCC’s financial contribution. They even provided the students with cobranded t-shirts, celebrating PeerForward, National Honors Society, and Youth Career Connections alike.
“[The success of this event] speaks to the real great work the Wise PeerForward team has done to keep a finger on the pulse of the culture at their school and within their community and moving to address those needs,” said DC Howard, the PeerForward Coach of our Wise team. “For them to be able to host this event for their peers [seeking college alternatives] means the world to me, and to them.”
As things began to wrap up, I had the pleasure of speaking with the Wise PeerForward captains, Giselle and Kira, about their planning process and the inspiration behind this event:
Can you speak to the inspiration behind the “Anything but College” theme for tonight’s fair?
Giselle: “In the process of getting all our wonderful peers into their dream college and celebrating them, we started to think [of our peers who weren’t included in that demographic]. That’s when we decided that we needed to host a fair to get people encouraged and show them that if you don’t want to go to college, it’s okay!…Everyone’s path is different, and that is something we always want to acknowledge.”
What was the planning process like for your team?
Kira: “The planning process for this event was similar to the planning process of our college fair in the fall. We reached out to local trade programs, small businesses, etc. We also included internship opportunities so that students still in high school or those planning to go to college could still get something out of this event.”
What about the collaborative process? What was the thought process behind including the National Honors Society and Youth Career Connections in this event?
Kira: “We wanted to work with another team from our school to organize this event. We reached out to National Honors Society specifically because they are a big team with reliable members. As for the Youth Career Connections, we wanted to collaborate with them because they have lots of good job opportunities here, especially with our Summer Youth Enrichment Program.”
I closed out the event with a quick conversation with Wise’s PeerForward Advisor, Mrs. Dennis, where I congratulated her on the successful fair and complemented the drive of her team. She expressed just how proud she was of her Peer Leaders, reiterating that it was fully the work of the students that made this event possible. As I said goodbye, a group of two Peer Leaders in their custom “Anything but College” t-shirts approached Mrs. Dennis with one of their peers in tow. “Mrs. Dennis, he wants to join PeerForward too!” they said excitedly. To me, this exchange solidified just how successful this event was. Not only did it provide students with knowledge on different career paths, it inspired others to want to join PeerForward to help plan more of these events in the future.
Some responses have been edited for length and clarity.
