Student leaders and Education Foundation outline college-and-career hub and report fundraising gains

Student leaders and the Education Foundation used the March 23 meeting to highlight a new college-and-career resource hub and recent fundraising activity.

Jasmine Gaines, student body president at East Ridge High School, told the board the superintendent student advisory committee is working with college-and-career staff to build a district hub that will "contain links that provide information on such things as when and how to start the college application process, scholarship information, completion and submission of transcripts, and using sites such as the Common App, Spark, Star, and FAFSA." She said the hub will also include FAQs, checklists by grade level and suggested senior panels to mentor underclassmen.

Dr. Elizabeth Johnson, reporting for the Education Foundation, said the foundation completed events for the 2025–26 school year and that, since the start of the school year, "we've had 754 teacher visits equating to more than $110,000 in school supplies going to our classrooms." She also outlined scholarship application timelines and several upcoming events including volunteer and scholarship recognition celebrations.

Why it matters: A centralized resource and peer mentoring could simplify postsecondary planning for students. The foundation’s reported in-kind support and fundraising deliver concrete classroom resources.

What’s next: The student advisory council will send staff the resources it uses now as the hub is developed; the foundation will notify scholarship recipients in the coming months and continue planned events.