The Student Alumni Association initiated a new digital, community-building program that connects current seniors with alumni to help students reduce stress during the college admissions process and the transition out of high school. After the SAA notified alumni of the program, 164 alumni volunteered to participate in the project, HW Works Administrator Zaakirah Daniels ’10 said.

“As the HW Works Administrator, I develop and manage career exploration and development programs for our students and alumni,” Daniels said. “I developed the Collaborative Mentorship program as the student component of the overarching HW Works program. The College Connections program is the 12th grade-specific sub-program of the HW Works Collaborative Mentorship program and was in development for the past two-and-a-half years.”

Students will be able to speak with alumni over the phone or in-person, depending on their locations and availability, SAA Chair Bella Guanche ’19 said.

“I hope [the program] will be helpful for students to pick between their many options about their futures,” Guanche said. “It would be helpful to hear alumni’s opinions about the schools they attended.”
Through the program, alumni will be able to give back to the school community, Daniels said.

“College Connections will create and strengthen the community by providing alumni with opportunities to engage with the school in the present and by giving students a glimpse of how they can influence the our community in the future,” Daniels said.