College Adviser Tavaria Smith stands in front of the Clarke Central High School Miller Jordan Food Court on Dec. 2. Smith has been helping students prepare for their future and the opportunities that are open to them since the beginning of August. “I know College Advisers can seem like (they) only work with college people going to college, but that is not the case,” Smith said. “I’m here to support you with whatever post high school plans you’re thinking of. If you’re thinking about a gap year, I can also help you with that as well.” Photo by Emily Couch
College Adviser Tavaria Smith has met with students during the first semester, helping students figure out post-high school plans and decisions.
Throughout the first semester of the 2021-22 school year, College Adviser Tavaria Smith has noticed that many seniors have not scheduled their mandatory meetings for discussing post-high school plans.
In order to tackle this issue, Smith has started to meet with students outside of their classrooms to ensure that each student receives the necessary information from these senior meetings.
“A lot of (students) don’t check their emails, so (meeting with students this way) is kind of like a tactic that previous advisers have done. I just continued going to (Economics) teachers, because everyone has to have Economics (and) English, those types of classes,” Smith said. “(I) just sit outside the classroom (and) ask the teacher for a roster and I just call the students I haven’t met with yet. And that’s my way of making sure that I meet each and every senior if I can.”
With this new and more accessible meeting protocol, Smith hopes that in addition to reaching students where they are in classes, she will be able to encourage more students to schedule formal meetings in the future.
“I feel like (this way) is more effective because they can put a face to the name. They probably heard my name or they (have) seen (me) or they just don’t know who I am yet,” Smith said. “I find that most times, after I’ve done that first classroom visit, students actually make appointments with me.”
“I think overall people are happy that she’s trying to build a connection. Making a meeting and stuff can be really inconvenient.”
— Tripp Sandifer,
senior
According to senior Tripp Sandifer, he was able to establish a new and easier connection with Smith due to the change in accessible meeting locations.
“I’m glad that she visited just because it was nice to have some kind of connection with someone from administration. There’s been a lot of complaints that it’s hard for students to reach out to admin and that kind of stuff. So it was nice to talk to her and then we’ve spoken to her before,” Sandifer said. “I think overall people are happy that she’s trying to build a connection. Making a meeting and stuff can be really inconvenient. It’s hard for me to find time and I end up having to step out of (class).”
