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March 24 - 30, 2016 » Page 16A
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Cross Keys High School’s gymnasium served as the college fair’s main lobby.
CROSS KEYS Continued
Cheely’s enthusiasm is, in
part, due to people like Rhonda
Peterson, a recruiter for Atlanta
Metropolitan College. Peterson
said her main goals on March 15
included connecting with students
and letting them know about
the school’s degree programs.
Peterson said it appeared that
some students were not thoroughly
informed of their post-high school
options; she also noted their
enthusiasm and engagement.
“We are here to connect with
students and let them know what
their options are,” Peterson said.
From Page 12A
“We’re super affordable - a lot of
students don’t know that - so we’re
here to tell them a little more about
us. They’re asking great questions.”
In the same way, enrollment
specialist Vilma Ortiz Vera from
Oakwood University in Huntsville,
Ala., sought to educate students
about options off the beaten path.
Vera explained Oakwood has
plenty of scholarship opportunities,
including $40,000 for students with
a 3.4 GPA, $24,000 for students
with a 3.25, $18,000 for students
with a 2.5 GPA and even $10,000
for students with a 2.0, depending
Information packets concerning student life, financial aid and admission
requirements were given to students. Photos by R. Scott Belzer
on their test scores.
“We’re giving students a chart
tracking what their test scores
have to be in relation to their GPA,”
Vera said. “That’s granted to the
students; if they have the numbers,
they get the funding.”
Vera went on to say universities
such as Oakwood often have
outstanding minority scholarships in
place as well.
“When I went to school we
didn’t have these kinds of things,”
Vera said. “It’s very exciting.”
Cross Keys High principal
Jason Heard said the event was
successful in exposing DeKalb and
surrounding juniors to plenty of
options.
“We’ve exposed them to 38
colleges and are getting plenty of
positive feedback,” Heard said.
“Students are getting plenty of good
information to prepare them for the
next step. This will provide them a
good setup for their senior year.”
The Cross Keys High School
college fair was a partnership
between DeKalb County School
District, Career Council Inc., and
National Hispanic College Fairs Inc.
SENIORS
Continued From Page 15A
state of Georgia money.
“For someone to live and age
in their own home, the cost to
the state of Georgia...is about
$20,000 a year for meals and in-
home care,” Furtado said. A local
nursing home could cost $70,000
a year.
“So that’s a $50,000 savings a
year to our government for people
to receive ...[this] basic need,”
Furtado said.
Thigpen, a retired attorney
who volunteers with the Meals
on Wheels program, said the
program fits his philosophy of
aging in place.
“My mother was 96 when
she passed and she was in
an assisted living facility,”
Thigpen said. “She wanted so
badly to stay in her house and
she couldn’t—her health just
deteriorated.”
Thigpen said the Meals on
Wheels program allows people to
“stay in their house with a little bit
of help.”
“It just fit what I saw because
I hated to put my mother in an
assisted living facility, but it was
the only option for her,” said
Thigpen, who spends three
hours on Mondays working in the
kitchen and delivers meals every
other week for a couple of hours.
“Most of these people want to
just stay in their homes and I just
think that’s so important. Honestly
when my mother went into an
assisted living facility you could
just see her health go down.”
Henry Friedman, a Holocaust
survivor, said he has been
receiving the meals for two years.
“I’m sure I would not starve,
but it makes it easy us, especially
me being in a wheelchair,”
Friedman said about receiving the
meals.
Everado Carbonell has
been receiving meals from the
organization for three years.
“It feeds us,” said Carbonell,
who found out about the program
from a social worker. “We need
help because our economy is not
great. No Donald Trump lives in
these apartments.”
Carbonell said the program is
“a good help for seniors.”
“When you are old you need
all the help you can get,” he said.
From left, Meals on Wheels recipient Henry Friedman looks forward to the meals
brought by volunteer Bill Thigpen.