By Kimberly Hopson
L’Observateur

LAPLACE – East St. John High School kicked off College Application Week by announcing the winners of the Louisiana Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs College Door Decorating contest.
Deneisha Adams, a 12th grade teacher at the high school, said she placed first for her door featuring the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Adams said the other winners were 11th grade teacher Billie Duncan for her spotlight on Howard University in Washington, D.C., and 10th grade teacher Carli Raben, who promoted the University of California’s Berkeley campus with her decorations.
The door-decorating contest is part of a larger effort to increase college readiness.
“We try to promote a college-going culture. So we take the kids on college tours. We’ve taken them to college fairs, and we talk to them during advisory and homeroom about the necessary requirements to be prepared for college admissions,” said Adams.
Adams said the contest required the doors to be decorated in such a way that students could walk up to them and get all of the information they need about each college.
As part of Louisiana’s college access initiative, East St. John High will work with its seniors and graduating juniors Nov. 14-15 to complete and submit at least one college application.
The goal of the program is to get more students applying to Louisiana colleges early in their senior year. During this event, students may apply to any of Louisiana’s 18 community colleges, 31 independent colleges, and 32 public universities in which they are interested.
This initiative is part of the American College Application Campaign, a national initiative that is an effort of the American Council on Education. In 2012 ACAC campaigns took place in almost 1,600 schools in 24 states and the District of Columbia. At least 30 states will hold College Application campaign events in 2013.
LA Gear Up is a federally funded national initiative that is supported by the U.S. Department of Education, which awards grants to states or institutions of higher learning to link with high-poverty middle or high schools. By partnering with 12 Louisiana parishes, the program aims to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter post-secondary education.
East St. John High School is one of two LA Gear Up schools in St. John the Baptist Parish.