Your Turn to Learn

The Mom’s Turn to Learn booth at the Cary Towne Center on February 10 was a great event — a “college fair for adults”! Our tables had information on area colleges (see the links at the right), financial aid (thanks to the College Foundation of North Carolina), and advertised next Saturday’s FAFSA day at Meredith College. We talked to many shoppers and heard stories like:

• My husband’s encouraging me to go back to school and get a certification through Wake Tech. I’ve completed the prerequisite courses and am waiting to hear if I’ve been accepted into the program — I’ll hear in May.
• My mother’s been out of work for a couple of years and is now up for a job where she meets all the qualifications — except that they’d prefer to hire a college graduate, and she’s just about a year short of finishing that degree. I’ll take the information and encouragement to her.

We did a survey to find out what kinds of things people want to hear more about. When we’ve analyzed the results, we’ll post the information here. In the meantime, if you’d like to have us bring our information to an event/location in your area, let us know. [In particular, we talked to several people from Harnett County which has no AAUW branch of its own, so we could reach out there, too.] Three surveys were selected and we’re sending $25 gift certificates to those people. If you’d like to find out if you’re a winner, please contact us.
If you missed the event, here’s a list of the handouts we prepared.

• Brochure
• Financial aid tips
• How education and income are linked
• Facts about access to higher education (from the WUNC NC Voices series on Considering College; used with permission)

Other handouts included:

• Many booklets and fliers from www.cfnc.org, including FAFSA Day on Feb. 17
• Information from almost all the schools listed on the right
• The October 2006 education supplement to the Raleigh News and Observer giving an overview of different schools. [See the web version of the supplement.]

If you’d like to help us get the word out about this topic, please contact us for more information on how we can partner with you and your organization! Those who have already completed at least an associate’s or equivalent degree are invited to join AAUW or learn more about the Raleigh/Wake County branch!

See also the press release for the event.

Check back soon for resources that can be used to replicate the event and tips from our planning committee.