Young students searching for a college home or future job can walk in with uncertainty and walk out with prospects — or even scholarships — at an upcoming event at Sol C. Johnson High School in Savannah.
The Beta Lambda Chapter of Alpha Psi Alpha Fraternity Inc., in partnership with the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System, the Chatham County Youth Commission and 100 Black Men of Savannah, is set to host MegaGenesis 2018, a college/career fair on Feb. 24.
The fair, conducted annually since 2007, is for students in middle and high school.
“It’s not uncommon for us to have students come from as far away as Macon and Augusta,” MegaGenesis 2018 spokesman Edward Miller said. “We’ve had people come from the Beaufort, South Carolina, area and Charleston.”
Most participating colleges are likely to be from Georgia. It is not unusual for out-of-state institutions to be represented, however.
“We’ve had schools like Cornell, Notre Dame, West Point,” Miller said. “One year, we had all three service academies.”
Miller encouraged students to bring their school transcripts.
“In some cases, you can walk into that building your transcripts and not only walk away not only walk away with admission, but scholarships,” he said. “One year, I’d say about three or four years ago, we had a young girl receive scholarship offers totalling nearly half a million dollars It’s not uncommon to hear stories about young kids getting offers of admission and scholarship offers right on the spot.
“Plus, sometimes their eyes are opened to things they never heard of. They don’t know about careers that are out there for them.”
The MegaGenesis 2018 schedule is as follows:
9-11:30 a.m. — college fair
11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. — gather in Johnson High School gymnasium
12:30-1:15 p.m. — lunch
1:15-2:20 p.m. — career workshops
2:30-3:10 p.m. — talent show
Parental workshops will also be offered. Subjects will include how to finance for college, application and acceptance letters and scholarships.
For more information, contact Dr. Leroy Zimmerman at javaorlz@aol.com.