CollegeTracks is a new program brought to Watkins Mill that focuses on helping juniors with the college application process as well as financial aid.

“CollegeTracks has been here only two months, but I do see a lot of ways they can grow and help support the whole school,” guidance resource counselor Adam Saltzman said. “It’s been great to partner with [CollegeTracks] and see what we can do to broaden how we reach out to students, how we support them, how we get them ready for college, and also help with the transition to college.”

College/Career Counselor Deborah Prochnow thinks “[CollegeTracks] is going to be a great program for those students who need an extra layer of support beyond what their counselor and I can help with.”

Like CollegeTracks, Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success (ACES) is another program in Watkins Mill which assists high school students with the college application process and financial aid. However, CollegeTracks differs from ACES because it does not have a cap on how many students can join the program and students can be accepted at any point throughout the college application process.

What junior Daniel Surichaqui likes most about CollegeTracks is that “[CollegeTracks is] always there for you and [CollegeTracks] always helps you out with whatever you need.”

Saltzman feels that this program is a great addition to the school. “It’s always wonderful to have extra support and resources in the building for students to access. It makes it easier so when students do need support, they are able to find someone that can help them,” Saltzman said.

Junior Opie Akhter joined this program because she wanted to have someone help her with the college process, since she will be the first of her family to attend. “I did not know who to ask because when you go and see a counselor, you always see that there are all these students and you don’t get anyone to help out with enough time,” Akhter said.

Akhter saw this program as something where “[She] will have some people who can help [her] out whenever [she] want[s] them to.”

Principal Carol Goddard said, “[CollegeTracks] has been doing an excellent job getting out and talking to kids, recruiting kids, keeping in touch with me about what’s going on, and [have been] very supportive.”

“When you have a program that will help you get funds to go to college and even stay with you when you’re going to college, all four years, it’s like having your next best friend or counselor,” Goddard added.

“CollegeTracks is completely free,” program coordinator Lindsay Barclay said. “We recognize that applying to college is hard, and there are a lot of services [that do] this kind of thing, but they require money and we recognize that not all the students… have the money to pay. We are here to just offer it for free.”

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Program Director Bridget Kasprzak and Program Coordinator Lindsey Barclay