Crane High School hosts first rural regional college night

CRANE, Texas (KOSA) - Crane High School hosted the first regional college night for rural districts, organized by the Permian Basin Innovation Zone. Nine colleges and universities attended to speak one-on-one with students and families.

The college night gave students the opportunity to learn about colleges and universities in the area face to face with representatives from each school.

Jordan Clack, director of PBIZ, said rural students often have limited exposure to options outside their towns.

“I think that in our rural districts, it’s really hard for our students to understand what happens outside of our towns, and so bringing colleges to our students, really helps them see what’s outside of their towns and their cities and allows them to be able to explore those options without having to travel outside of those areas,” Clack said.

College night at Crane High School gave students the opportunity to ask questions about college face to face and receive information.

Maritza Hernandez, a high school student, said college representatives were able to point her toward alternative programs when her first choice wasn’t available.

“Some of the colleges, you know I want to do welding because I’m already in it, sometimes, they’ll be like no we don’t have it, but we have, this other program that’s similar, or you can go to this college which I think is really nice that they say oh you can go to this college instead of our college cause of the program, so I think that being here is pretty good,” Hernandez said.

The event welcomed students and families from outside of Crane as well, giving them the opportunity to learn about options after high school, including traditional and trade schools.

Lacie Gomez, an academic advisor at Texas State Technical College, said in-person conversations allow schools to share more detailed information with students.

“Us coming out to these schools, no matter how far, it’s important for everybody to actually see us, get to talk to us one on one, um we can give them more program information, and we have a bunch of little things that we put on the table to just give somebody an inside peak of more what we do and what our school is about,” Gomez said.

This was the first time the Permian Basin Innovation Zone has hosted a college night. Organizers hope the event continues at more rural districts in future years.