The Boothbay Region High School College Access Office is making leaps and bounds for students approaching the often frustrating work of applying to college. Hannah Johnson, former guidance secretary at BRHS, is now the college access coordinator, replacing Kerrin Erhard, who is now librarian.

Johnson said many students tend to think the only schools they can look at are Colby, Bates and Bowdoin colleges and the University of Maine System. Part of the work she and her predecessor have done and Johnson continues to do is making sure students know there are more options.

“We want to help every single senior have a plan, any plan,” said Johnson.

Most of the events and help that come through the office, like SAT preparations, FAFSA applications, and connecting students with scholarship applications, are due to a grant through the MELMAC Education Foundation. MELMAC grants $18,000 to high schools over a two-year period for trips and events to promote higher education. BRHS is in its third year, after being granted an extension, for a total of $36,000 so far.

The MELMAC team in the schools consists of students, administrators and guidance staff from BRHS and Boothbay Region Elementary School. The team looks for the best way to advance MELMAC’s mission, which is to make sure as many high school seniors as possible are attending any post-secondary education, including trade schools and the military, during the fall immediately following graduation.

Some of the things the grant has enabled include SAT workshops, hosting college representatives, a day in which faculty and staff don their alma maters’ swag, trips to schools in Maine, and a yearly trip to Boston-area schools for juniors (and seniors who might have missed the last trip).

“It’s interesting for them to see what a city campus looks like compared to what they would normally see for schools around here,” said Johnson. “There were people singing in the subways and collecting money. It really opens their eyes that there is a whole world out there that they haven’t considered yet.”

Perhaps best of all, for alumni and students alike, is the college and senior panel BRHS hosts every winter. Over a dozen students attended this year’s panel on Thursday, Jan. 11 to share with soon-to-be-graduates some of the great things about college, some of the not so great things, and what they wish they had done while they were still at BRHS. Some of the colleges represented at this year’s panel were Kenyon College, University of Maine in Orono, Unity College, University of Vermont, Bentley University, Eastern Maine Community College, Clark University, Plymouth State University, St. Lawrence University, Husson College and University of Maine at Farmington.

Johnson asked the BRHS alumni what the difference was between high school and college classes.

Molly Thibault from Unity College and Nicole Clarke from UVM, said in college they don’t care if you pass or not. Explained Clarke, “They teach you the material and then it’s on you to actually understand it, whereas, in high school, they’ll teach it to you and then give you examples to make sure you get it.”

“If you don’t understand it (in college) then you actually have to make an effort to go and get help … you have to go to office hours and actually – try,” said Thibault.

Alumni answered questions and gave tips on picking classes, study habits, making a schedule, meeting with advisers, the importance of student orientation. Alumnus Carter Babcock from Plymouth State University gave much insight, from knowing one’s limits on studying to quickly reaching out to and establishing relationships with advisers, and shopping around for student clubs on campus.

The office makes sure to have trips and events like this through the MELMAC grant throughout the school year. One of the requirements of the grant is a sophomore trip to a college; this year’s sophomores will be visiting either Thomas College or Southern Maine Community College. Other requirements include annual reports, a brainstorming session to improve the next year’s program, and contacting alumni to see if they are still on the track they set for themselves before graduating at BRHS.

Johnson said one of the biggest misconceptions about college counselors is that they serve no more purpose than to usher students through the doors of a four-year program. Johnson and Erhard have been trying to prepare students to prepare for the workforce whether it be four years in the future, two years, or the day after graduation.

Pushing juniors and seniors toward the ideas of community college, trade and vocational schools and one-year certifications, Johnson said she is also trying to connect with students as early as sixth grade to get them thinking about what they might like to do after finishing high school.

Said Johnson, “Part of college readiness at that age is helping them figure out, ‘What do I want to do?’ and ‘What kind of education do I need to do what I want to do?’ We try to encourage the kids to think about the fact that they need some type of education even if they want to stick around … that it wouldn’t hurt to have some education.”