By Alec Carlson
Staff Writer
Moving from a school setting to a private practice, former College and Career Center counselors Gail Currey and Katherine Folkman found new ways to help teens find their way into college.
Currey and Folkman left Costa last year and are each working for separate college counseling companies. Folkman is working for Collegewise a private company owned by Princeton Review and Currey started her own college counseling company.
“I was given a terrific opportunity that I couldn’t resist,” Folkman said. “I am now a private college counselor and the co-director of the Collegewise South Bay office in the Riviera Village.”
The Collegewise offices provide counselors for college applicants and their families to help them stayed organized throughout the process of applying to college.
“Folkman has really helped me throughout the process of applying to college,” senior Nicole Tordella said. “She does a great job creating a stress-free environment and making the application process much more enjoyable. I leave her office feeling confident and excited for my future.”
Currey has also started her own college counseling business called Gail Currey College Counseling. She helps students find colleges that are a good fit for the student academically, socially, geographically and financially.
“I want to work in greater depth with a smaller number of students, so I can really get to know them, create an individual plan for their high school years and help them become strong candidates for college admission,” Currey said.
Together, these two counselors guided Costa seniors through the college application process for the past five years They helped students admit into colleges and universities throughout the United States and to countries abroad that were right for them.
“I am thankful for both of these counselors,” senior Morgan Mancuso said. “Had it not been for them, my application experience would have taken twice as long and been a much larger pain.”
Former MBUSD Superintendent Beverly Rohr hired Currey. Her job was to improve and restructure the CCC and make it a place where students felt comfortable coming when they had questions or needed help.
“During our time here, we created a new college and career curriculum for freshmen through seniors and more than tripled the number of visiting college representatives,” Currey said. “I also created the CCC website.”
Both Currey and Folkman gave classroom presentations to all grade levels and had individual meetings with students and their parents to help them understand the aspects of the college admission process.
“I enjoyed the college admissions side of my job as well as helping the students find the right college for them and also providing clarity throughout the nuances of the application process,” Folkman said.
The two also coordinated and ran the Scholarship Notebook program, culminating with the Senior Recognition event at the end of each school year. The scholarship notebook is a personal profile that seniors create in order to receive scholarships for their college tuition.
“I also helped create College Knowledge Night, coordinated the Boeing Summer Internship Program, administered the book awards and other awards for juniors, visited universities in the United States and around the world to familiarize them with our students and presented at state and national conferences,” Currey said.
Although the days spent in the CCC were busy helping seniors find their way, Folkman and Currey expressed that there were bigger and better things for them to help students find a school that fits for them.
“I really enjoyed getting to know the students and their parents,” Folkman said. “I very strongly believe in the philosophy of finding the right fit and helping families realize that there are many college options available to students.”
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