Cottey takes part in Reach Higher campaign

Local Nevada High School seniors and incoming Cottey freshmen Macey Newton, Shayna Meisenheimer, Rilie Good, and Madison Hedges pose outside of historic Main Hall in celebration of the Reach Higher initiative, and National Signing Day. Submitted photo

Nevada Daily Mail

Last May, First Lady Michelle Obama announced her Reach Higher initiative to encourage students to complete their education beyond high school.

People across the country helped mark the launch by wearing their college gear and sharing the importance of higher education on social media.

Cottey College is celebrating the first anniversary of Reach Higher Day by having alumnae post photos of themselves in Cottey apparel on social media with the hashtag #ReachHigher. In addition, local high school students who will be attending Cottey in the fall were asked to wear a Cottey shirt and pose for a photo outside historic Main Hall.

The purpose of the day is to celebrate all students and their commitment to complete their education beyond high school, and in particular, those students who plan to attend and graduate college.

"A lot of media attention goes to promising athletes when they select the college of their choice. We want every student to receive as much attention and have that same feeling of importance so that they too can feel special about this big day," said a press release from the college.

"First Lady Michelle Obama rolled out Reach Higher because she wanted to inspire every student across the country to pursue and complete a postsecondary degree, whether at a traditional four-year college, a two-year community college, or through an industry-recognized training program."

The United States once led the world in the number of college graduates; now we are now ranked 12th. To achieve the President's North Star goal -- that by 2020 the U.S. will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates -- Reach Higher focuses on four components: college affordability, exposing students to college, academic and summer planning, and supporting school counselors.

More information about the Reach Higher program is available online at www.reachhigher.gov. Twitter followers can post to @reachhigher and for Instagram users it is @reachhigher2020.