LUNCHTIME CRUNCH

by Bridget Fitzpatrick ‘23 and Devyn Hubbs ‘23

-KAYLEY O’TOOLE ‘23

-LUKE MORRIS ‘23

Students received more than their new ID and lanyards during Regis Jesuit High School’s check-in day. Students were given an important reminder to buckle up when they get on the road. They got a keychain that connects to their ID’s to remember to use their seatbelts and stay safe.

At first glance, you might think the charm is a germ or a message about Covid-19, but upon further inspection, it is the sun with a seat belt wrapped around it.

This sunshine serves as a symbol to remind student drivers and their passengers to buckle up when they get in the car. The creator of the charm, Amy Bechtel ‘22, designed and 3D printed the keychain herself for her Buckle Up campaign. Amy started the Buckle Up campaign for two reasons: Amy has been a Girl Scout for a long time and has been working on receiving her gold award (the highest award a Girl Scout can receive). To receive a gold award, a Girl Scout must create an impactful project and Amy’s project was the Buckle-Up Campaign.

When Amy was in high school three of her peers from Parker, Colorado died from car accidents where they were not wearing seatbelts. This was something that stuck with Amy, and it made her wonder that if three people she knew from the small town of Parker had died from car accidents in the past four years, how many deaths from all over the United States could have been prevented if they were wearing a seatbelt?

Amy wanted to spread awareness about this issue and created the buckle-up campaign. She spreads awareness through social media and partnerships with the Sammie Sunshine Foundation, a nonprofit organization. She shared her red keychain with Regis Jesuit High School because of their school colors, but she also developed the keychain in the colors of various high schools in the Aurora and Parker area.

Amy created a sun so that when students got into their cars they could feel the pointy edges for a tactile reminder for students to buckle up and drive safely. Amy hopes that after people have received the keychain and learned more about what it signifies that the red sunshine will do its purpose of keeping people safe.

by Rachel Hilty ‘23

WHAT SHOULD WE ASK ADMISSION OFFICERS WHEN THEY COME DURING LUNCH? KRAPCHA: “Great questions to ask admission reps would be... in general ‘is tell me what is great about your school? What are top programs? What are the reasons student’s choose your school?

If students know what they want to study, what programs do you offer in that? What is student life like, activities, professional opportunities?’ Seniors could ask for timelines and deadlines.”

HOW DO MANY PEOPLE APPLY FOR FINANCIAL AID OR SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES?

KRAPCHA: ”The biggest way students apply for scholarships is [by] applying to the school. Many opportunities come from the institutions themselves, the next place is to apply to any programs that a given college directs them to.”

“Financial aid comes from the FAFSA, students fill it out once and send it out to all the colleges that they apply to. Each college will process this form differently to determine if they have additional grants, loans, or work study.” WHAT SHOULD JUNIORS BE WORKING ON RIGHT NOW, AT THIS TIME IN THE YEAR? KRAPCHA: “Right now it is exploring. What do I feel that I like? Where do I see myself in the future? Is it a certain career, is it a certain geographical place, is it knowing what schools offer, what is appealing to me? There is nothing juniors should be doing, as in a course of action, beyond doing well in school and getting involved in activities, and rounding themselves out. They can do college visits, talking to the colleges that visit here, and looking online. If there is a school a student likes, they should get on their mailing list and attend college events.” DO TEST SCORES MATTER?

KRAPCHA: “A lot of schools once COVID hit, limited opportunities for students to test due to many testing sites being closed. When that became prevalent, many colleges waved the requirement to have tests as a part of their application. More students applied that didn’t think their test scores were good enough and those students were great. Colleges have seen the benefit of not requiring test scores, so most colleges are not requiring test scores. Others are still in a trial period of the next two to three years of having tests being optional, but they might go back. They can be valuable, but not required everywhere.”