This past Thursday April 4, all Alliance High School freshman and sophomore students took a college trip to the Western Nebraska Community College (WNCC) campus in Scottsbluff for the “KnowHow2Go Super Pep Rally.” Along with the AHS students, there were students from five surrounding schools at the Rally including those from: Torrington, Scottsbluff, Morrill, Sidney, and Mitchell. In total, approximately 600-800 students attended the tour.

The students learned how to prepare themselves for college and the many different ways to pay for college. The students also had the chance to talk to a basketball player, a softball player, a volleyball player, a psychology professor, and two other students who attend WNCC and ask them questions about their college experience. The students were then feed a sack lunch including a turkey sandwich, chips, cookies, and water. To wrap up the tour, several WNCC singing ensembles performed for the students.

Mrs. Allison McBride, the librarian at AHS and one of the teachers who accompanied the students on their trip said, “We took the trip to the WNCC campus because at the beginning of the year we had a strategic meeting with school board members, parents, and students of AHS. We decided that we want AHS students to be ready for college and want them to have a clearer view of what they want to do before going to college.” Sophomore Jordan Mills who attended the tour said, “The tour showed me a little more about college life.”

This tour was to show students how college works, how much difference there is between college and high school, and to convince them that a college degree is worth while.