Patoka High School Wins ISAC Computer Raffle

Springfield, Illinois— Patoka High School has won two Dell computers through a promotional raffle offered by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC).  The computers were awarded on behalf of ISAC by Rhonda Jachino, ISAC’s P-16 Education Liaison at 10:30 a.m. on April 21 at the high school, 1220 Kinoka Road.  One computer was given to a Patoka high school student through a random drawing and the other is for general student use at the high school.

The computer raffle was part of a new campaign to create awareness of the many resources available at ISAC’s Website, collegezone.com.   ISAC recently upgraded its website, collegezone.com, to include IllinoisMentor, an interactive career and college planning tool that provides students with an easy way to explore career options, choose a college, apply for admission, as well as identify ways to finance their college education - all at no cost to the student or high school.    

Larry Matejka, ISAC’s Executive Director, said “ Early awareness of college costs and career options is becoming increasingly important for Illinois students and their families. At ISAC, we are very excited about the addition of IllinoisMentor to our collegezone.com Website. It offers students terrific new interactive career and college planning information that I am pleased ISAC can sponsor at no cost to all Illinois families.”  

In order to promote collegezone.com and provide more students with access to a computer, this year during February and March ISAC asked high school guidance counselors to help them "get out the College Zone message" by ordering a FREE College Zone Promotional Kit on-line at collegezone.com.  Carla Jourdan-Heem, Patoka High School guidance counselor, ordered a free College Zone Promotional Kit and was entered into a raffle for two Dell Computers.   From these entries, twelve winning high schools were selected from twelve different geographic locations throughout the state.  

Larry Matejka noted that it is unfortunate that many students assume they can’t afford college, when in fact there are numerous financing options available for students of all economic and academic backgrounds.  ISAC’s collegezone.com is designed to help students find these financing options and identify future career goals.

The computers to be awarded are Dell Dimension 1100 desktop models with 17-inch flat-panel displays.  Students, parents, counselors, administrators and teachers can learn more by visiting collegezone.com.

College Zone is a comprehensive and user-friendly guide to “everything college.”  As a service of the State of Illinois’ Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC), College Zone offers helpful resources in specific "zones" for students, parents, guidance counselors, financial aid administrators, and lenders.  A special section on the College Zone Web site is available in Spanish for students and parents.  College Zone includes phone and email support, walk-in centers located on every community college campus, and written materials in both English and Spanish.

College Zone Resources for Students

• Career Information — Learn how the Career Center can help students choose a career.
• Career Self-Assessment — Discover how to explore careers by identifying personal interests and skills.
• Career Matching Assistant — Find a career best suited to each student's interests and skills (career data provided by the Illinois Department of Employment Security).
• List of Careers — View a comprehensive list of careers by alphabetical order or clusters (career data provided by the Illinois Department of Employment Security).
• Links to Career Resources — Visit other Web site resources for information on jobs, internships, and volunteering resources.
• My Mentor Careers — Store the results of a student’s career exploration.

• High School Planner — While still in high school, students can plan ahead to meet college entrance requirements.
• Planner Timeline — Students can find out what they should be doing each year of high school to best prepare for college.
• Add Your Counselor — Students can include their high school counselor in their plans for college by allowing him or her to view their My Mentor section of IllinoisMentor at collegezone.com.

• Campus Tours — Learn more about admission requirements, costs, financial aid, academics, and student life.
• Comparative View — Compare colleges in Illinois.
• Matching Assistant — View colleges that match students’ specific requirements.
• Distance Search — Find the college closest to any ZIP code or city.
• My Mentor Recruiter — Students can release data to specific colleges.

• Applications and Transcripts — Students can apply online and request their official transcript be sent electronically to the colleges of their choice. Students may complete, manage, and submit their admission applications from this area of the Web site.

College Zone Help for Parents

• Financial Aid — Parents can find out about all the types of financial aid — scholarships, grants, loans, and work programs — and how they can help finance a college education.
• Scholarship Search — Use the free reputable scholarship search services to locate available programs based on personal information.
• Calculators — Parents can use calculators to estimate the amount of state and federal financial aid their child may qualify for, the monthly student loan payment amount once it enters repayment, the monthly payment amount on a graduated repayment plan, and more. In addition, the SLOPE (Student Loans Over Projected Earnings) calculator can be used to determine what percentage of a student's income will be taken up by student loan payments, based on their career choice, and how that will impact their monthly budget and future borrowing for high-ticket items such as cars and homes.

About ISAC
The Illinois Student Assistance Commission is the State’s centralized provider of financial assistance aimed at helping students and families access postsecondary education and/or training. Each year, the Commission awards an estimated $400 million in scholarship and grant aid to nearly 185,000 qualified students, and also provides an additional $740 million to borrowers through its student loan programs. The agency offers credit-based alternative loans, a 529 prepaid tuition program known as College Illinois!, and a broad array of outreach and informational services to ensure that families have access to the information they need to pay for a college education. More information is available by calling toll-free 800.899.ISAC (4722) or visiting the agency’s Web site at www.collegezone.com.