Fair at East draws large group of area students

Morgan Arnholt wiggled her way through a group of students at the IUPUC booth Thursday and grabbed some literature.

The local school was among the more popular stops during the Columbus Area College Fair at Columbus East High School. More than 1,400 students from local and area schools perused the school’s main hall and its 75 booths from postsecondary educational institutions as far away as Alabama.

Event organizers had expected only 70 booths, which was last year’s number, said Katie Vandergriff, East’s college and scholarship coordinator.

Indiana University in Bloomington, Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ball State University in Muncie, Butler University in Indianapolis and IUPUC are the most popular college choices among students in the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp., according to Bill Jensen, the local school system’s director of secondary education.

Arnholt, a Columbus North High School junior interested in art, language and writing, said she likes IUPUC because it has the programs she wants and would allow her to live at home with her parents.

“I’d save some money,” she said.

Hannah Patton, 16, a junior at North shooting pictures for her school yearbook, visited the Ball State booth to speak with a representative.

She said she is interested in photojournalism and art and knows that schools such as Ball State, Indiana and Purdue have programs for them.

Ginger Long, who is on the optical lab teaching staff of the IU School of Optometry in Bloomington, said she enjoys East High School’s setup and spoke with several students who are interested in her school’s optometry programs.

“We think we have a lot to offer,” Long said. “It’s a lucrative field.”

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