Eagle Flight Night Deemed A Success
February 21, 2020
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Students and parents attended the first-ever Eagle Flight Night at Cypress Falls High School on February 13 to get information regarding college and to see what courses are available to take in high school in preparation for the future.
Eagle Flight Night was designed to have two main parts according to a few people who were involved in bringing the event to fruition. The first part would be a series of college informational courses, and the second part was an elective fair, both of which were open to parents and students at Cy Falls. Christy Taylor, who serves as the College and Career Specialist at Cy Falls, previously helped organize and plan district-wide college and career events at the Berry Center and said she wanted to bring the same opportunities on a large scale to Cy Falls.
“There are many first-generation students who will be the first in their families to go to college,” Taylor said. “Navigating the college and career process can be overwhelming and Eagle Flight Night evolved in an effort to assist our Cy Falls students and families with this endeavor.”
Helping throughout the night were the counselors, headed by Lori Battaglia, who would help out at the college fair, answer questions from parents and students, and give directions throughout the night. Battaglia expressed why an event like Eagle Flight Night was important for families to attend.
“First of all, let’s start with the electives fair. It gives our students and our elective teachers and current elective students the opportunity to show off their program,” Battaglia said. “So it gives them a chance to encourage students, either in 8th grade coming into 9th grade or current underclassmen about what the class is, requirement, prerequisites, and what it involves. That’s very important to us as counselors because then we’re able to talk to students about what they saw. College fair is kind of the same thing, but it’s looking more forward, to what are the options and what are some opportunities post-graduation.”
Leslie Laird, an English and creative writing teacher who was in charge of how the elective fair operated, said that she was asked by Taylor to be involved in an effort to expand the range of activities during the night. Laird said she was excited and began planning weeks in advance.
“I think the elective choices were fantastic, and the students and staff representing their classes were enthusiastic and informative. We would have loved to have more people here to learn about our elective options,” Laird said. “Cy Falls offers so many amazing elective choices, and this is a great way to find a good fit for students. We hope to have higher attendance in the future and would love to partner with our feeder middle schools to invite the incoming 8th graders.”
Taylor continued by describing how an event at Cy Falls was an opportunity for students to explore their opportunities in a place that is familiar to them and how it gives them a chance to feel a sense of comfort.
“Eagle Flight Night afforded a lot of opportunities in the area of college and career planning all in one night close to home,” Taylor said. “Students were excited to speak with over 30 different college representatives at the college fair. Both parents and students stated they appreciated the session topics and the wealth of information learned about the college application process, scholarships and more. Our art students got to share their portfolios and receive feedback from experts at the college level. There was literally something for everyone.”
Taylor, who felt the night went off without a hitch, closed by revealing future intentions of Eagle Flight Night.
“I am very excited to say that there are plans for Eagle Flight Night to become an annual event in hopes of continuing to serve our families with post-secondary information and opportunities,” Taylor said.
