On Thursday, February 15, 13 students from New Ulm High School attended the 3rd Annual National Technical Letter of Intent Signing Day at South Central College in Mankato. There were approximately 80 people in total that attended the event. At the event, potential South Central College students signed a letter of intent to pursue a certain program offered by South Central College and were given the opportunity to receive various scholarships from the college.

This was the first year that NUHS has brought a group of seniors to the event. In the past, students from NUHS that wanted to take part in the event had to take the day off of school and personally drive themselves to the college.

Kelsey Brandt, a teacher in the agricultural department at NUHS, believes that this was a good opportunity for students. “A lot of the programs at South Central are ones that have a lot of job openings, so they really make sure that their programs will actually prepare you for a job that is hiring and not give you a degree that is not as beneficial,” said Brandt.

Brandt also said, “South Central does a lot with industry, and they bring people in to have career fairs. They really try to help students make connections with people that would hire them after they’re done with school.”

After the students arrived at the college and signed in, they were separated based on the career field that they are planning on pursuing. They were divided into the following technical careers and professional program areas: advanced manufacturing, building and design, arts and communications, agribusiness, transportation, business, human services professions, allied health and nursing. The students were then gathered in the auditorium and called to the front by their program area and asked to sign their letter of intent.

The college awarded over $50,000 worth of scholarships at the event to students planning on enrolling in the 2018 fall semester at either the North Mankato or Fairbault South Central campus. A total of 27 students were awarded scholarships at the Mankato campus. The scholarships that were given out ranged from $2,500-$500.

The Minnesota Legislature designated $40,000 to the Minnesota Workforce Scholarship for South Central College. South Central gave out 12 Minnesota Workforce Scholarships worth $2,500 at the North Mankato campus and four at the Fairbault campus. The college also awarded $19,000 worth of Foundation Scholarships to 19 students. The $19,000 was divided into four gold ($2,500), one advanced manufacturing ($1,000), four silver ($750) and 10 blue ($500) scholarships.

Each student that attended the event had to fill out a scholarship application prior to going to the event to be eligible for the scholarships that were presented at occasion. Students that did not receive a scholarship at the event are still eligible for many other scholarships that the college offers.

After everyone had signed their letter of intent, it was announced who had received scholarships. Five seniors from NUHS received scholarships at the event. They were Ashley Boyum, $750; Hannah Altmann, $500; Cole Clark, $500; Aubrey Fischer, $500, and Kelsi Ranweiler, $500.

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