The Wildcat College and Career Center opened Sept. 21 and is available for students during all lunch hours.

“I know that our superintendent, our principal, and the school board all felt that it was something that we needed for students to have a place where they could focus their college and career planning efforts,” division head of counseling Len Egan said.

Students will have the opportunity to work with a counselor to plan ahead for life after high school in the center.

“One of the great things about it is that it’s fully staffed by the counselors,” Egan said. “So any time a student has a question about college or career planning, they can just stop in and we’re available to assist them.”

To advertise the new resource, the College and Career Center opened with giveaways for students who came by.

“We had our grand opening (and) we had over 500 students come through just to check it out. We gave away food and some college prizes,” Egan said.

While many students have used the center, Egan hopes more students will come to realize the benefits available to them through this resource.

“I would say that we have seen a slow but steady increase in the number of students that are using it,” Egan said. “So certainly not as many as we would like, but I think we’re moving in the right direction.”

Students do not have to sacrifice their lunch period to take advantage of the new center.

“Right now we’re open all lunch periods, so we do have students that will eat lunch and then come over after,” Egan said. “They’ll sit up front and work with a counselor or they’ll do some kind of college and career planning.”