Nearly 400 students from across the borough recently attended the first annual KPBSD College Fair. Forty-eight college representatives were on hand to answer questions one on one from junior and senior high students. Culinary arts students provided the college representatives with hors d'oeuvres. KPBSD counselors from the Central Peninsula who coordinated and organized this first event are very pleased with the results and have already begun making plans for next year. Comments from the event include:

Steve DeVito, KCHS parent: "I thought it was great. It gives these kids an opportunity to see what's out there. We had everything from liberal arts colleges, to hands-on voc tech stuff and armed services, to engineering and sciences. It offered a wide variety of different options. Colleges all over the country were there. I saw a college as far away as Rochester, New York, plus all of our local colleges and voc techs. It was great."

Linn Hampson, KPBSD Homer High School Counselor: "What a total success! I rode back on the bus to a barrage of questions and comments-kids were very excited. Other students came back and raved to teachers and I had a couple of calls from parents thanking us for making it possible. We had 89 students in all and I believe nearly all of them were very engaged. Congratulations to all of those involved."

University of Alaska Southeast: "The event was really well organized and put together. I liked the incorporation of culinary arts in the food availability because we couldn't take a lot of breaks…we were so busy!"

Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education representatives: "We loved how many students that we were able to visit with. We had lots of one-on-one time, much more than in Fairbanks."

Valley City State University representatives: "This was one of the best college fairs that I have attended because I really got to see lots of students face-to-face."