Bright Futures:  College Advisors Make It Happen

by Heather Hughes

High energy and relaxation might not seem to go together, but Stacy Lightfoot brings both to the students and staff at Center for Creative Arts.  Lightfoot serves as college advisor at CCA – a position provided for every high school through a partnership between the Public Education Foundation and Hamilton County schools.  As part of the College Access and Success Initiative, these partners are working not only to send more students to college, but to prepare them to succeed once they get there.  “Every time a student graduates [from college], that’s a success story for me,” says Lightfoot.

As a college advisor, Lightfoot is a key element in this puzzle.  She is a resource, support person, and collaborator. Her day-to-day activities include meeting with students and/or parents, speaking to classes, bringing in college representatives, arranging college tours, helping students through the abundance of paperwork, and so much more!  She is a wealth of knowledge and uses a holistic, personal approach with her students.  She opens students’ minds to an infinite number of possibilities.  According to CCA Senior Grovenia Perryman, she “wouldn’t have the opportunity to go as far” without Stacy Lightfoot’s help.

While I sat back and observed Lightfoot’s interactions with two students and a parent, even I was inspired.  She lights up the room with her passion and excitement.  Her session with one student quickly changed from discussing a few schools and a possible scholarship to considering a multitude of schools and the many scholarships available.  She guided the student through an online site to help match her needs to an ideal college setting, and by the end of the meeting she was even encouraging this student’s mother, who had not completed high school, to seek her GED and consider her own college opportunities.

Lightfoot’s knowledge of colleges, universities, and the financial aid process is astounding, but most impressive is the comfort level she creates with her students.  During her individual sessions and her class discussion it’s a constant conversation.  She knows her students, listens to them, and responds to their needs.  While Lightfoot was guiding a group through colleges on the internet, senior Gabrielle Thibault-Messier said “she guides us and relaxes us about the whole college process.”

According to CCA principal Debbie Smith, Stacy Lightfoot is “somebody I always want to have on my team.”  If you want to see how one wonderful College Advisor is inspiring students to succeed, view Bright Futures:  College Advisors Make It Happen at www.pefchattanooga.org/ExcellentTeachers.

Heather Hughes is a former Hamilton County teacher and an occasional volunteer with the Public Education Foundation.