Over 90 Collinsville High School seniors signed commitment letters to attend their chosen college during the school’s annual Academic Signing Day.
In the same tradition as athletic signing events, where athletes publicly accept college offers, Collinsville High School recognizes its college bound seniors with a signing event where they formally announce and commit to the college of their choice.
The students were joined in the library/media center by family, CHS faculty and college representatives as they announced their intentions for the next step in their academic journey.
This year, students accepted $4.1 million+ in various four year and two year academic scholarships from schools ranging from: Vanderbilt University, University of Illinois, University of Iowa, Butler University, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, Western Illinois University, Eastern Illinois University, University of Missouri, Truman State University, SWIC, Maryville University, Washington University at St. Louis, Saint Louis University, University of Central Missouri, Missouri Science & Technology, Columbia College at Chicago, University of Indianapolis, Missouri State University, Western Kentucky University, Purdue University, Bradley University, University of Illinois at Chicago, and others.
The total scholarship amount represents the money earned from academic institutions only and does not include outside and community scholarship dollars.
CHS Guidance Counselor Karen Olsen says the tradition of an academic-focused event began three years ago when several faculty members realized students were receiving substantial scholarship awards from colleges, and unlike their athletic counterparts, their accomplishment was largely unrecognized by the school community.
Athletes work hard to earn their college scholarships, but so do academically focused students. We wanted to find a way to honor their achievements in an equally celebratory manner, says Olsen.