Colleges and high school counselors recently joined together for a day of sharing best practices.

Hosted at North Georgia Technical College, the Georgia Appalachian Center for Higher Education (GACHE) began a series of sessions showcasing innovative ways for improving graduation and college-going rates from schools across the North Georgia area.

The GACHE is working to be the leader in providing resources to schools to increase the number of students continuing their education beyond high school.

GACHE actively seeks partnerships to improve educational attainment and success for all students. Housed on the campus of North Georgia College & State University, GACHE seeks to serve high school students in the North Georgia Appalachian region. Programs include developing close relationships with schools, providing grant awards, raising awareness about higher education, and providing technical assistance to schools.

This conference is all about leadership, said GACHE Director Shirley Davis as she introduced keynote speaker Dr. Gale Hulme, Executive Director of the Georgia Leadership Institute for School Improvement (GLISI). Hulme’s informative presentation, Creating a Culture Aimed at College, kicked off a day of networking and sharing of best practices among the high schools represented.

From Winder-Barrow High School, Luther Price and Sandra Tillery were on hand to talk about programs implemented at their school. The presentation included a description of the practice, progress made, measurements applied and a testimonial on the funding provided by GACHE.

"We presented a Powerpoint outlining our goal to increase the number of students graduating from high school and going on to college," said Tillery. "We have targeted first-generation college-bound students; however, we are striving to help all students achieve their post-secondary educational goals.

"We regularly meet with students, specifically our first-generation group, and have encouraged them to open GACollege411 accounts, apply to college, complete the FAFSA and search for scholarships and other financial aid," she said.

The GACHE grant received by W-BHS has made possible the sponsorship of a number of activities and trips to help ostudents’ post-secondary efforts.

"We are hosting Parent Coffees for each grade level, to include an eighth-grade Parent Coffee, and are providing the parents with valuable information to help students be successful in high school," said Tillery. "We are also encouraging the need for some kind of post-secondary education for all students."

The GACHE grant also provided funds for two field trips for interested W-BHS students to visit area colleges and technical colleges.

Winder-Barrow High also hosted Financial Aid Night in January which was attended by approximately 300 Barrow County parents.

"We are registered with the National Student Clearinghouse to track our students’ progress after graduating from high school," said Tillery. "This will provide us with accurate information regarding the percentage of our graduates who attend two-year and four-year colleges."

Representing Apalachee High School at the conference was Tish MacDowell, Kristen Fuller and Principal David McGee.

"We attended the conference because we were not involved last year," said McGee. "We were interested to see what the various schools in the first-year group did to promote college awareness. We may join with the folks from W-BHS and do a joint project for next year, but we really don’t have any details at this time."

Lumpkin is the host county for the Georgia Appalachian Center for Higher Education. GACHE receives its funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission and NGCSU.

For more information about GACHE, contact gache@northgeorgia.edu or visit www.northgeorgia.edu/gache.