The COOL program is here for students to reach their next steps after high school, primary college, and help them apply for college, found scholarships so they could succeed financially. Mrs. Suratt has a liking toward switching her positions to Pre-Ap Algebra and Algebra II of seven years to helping out students with scholarships, interviews applying to college as a COOL Counselor.

“Mrs. Suratt was very helpful with my journey to prepare for college, she was never bothered by any of the questions I had college-related,” senior Jessica Lorenz said. “I was comfortable with asking her anything I was unsure of, I could stop by her room almost everyday and she’ll always be available.”

Students enjoy coming by her room to hang out before class or ask anything college-related like online interviews, schedules with colleges, applying to students college scholarships and many more Mrs. Suratt could have an answer to.

“I’m grateful to have these amazing opportunities giving me gear to apply to Baylor University, and I’ve met a lot of scholarships,” senior Hunter Martin said. “Mrs. Suratt and Mrs. Borger have given me a lot of opportunities for college after I graduate.”

As for in-person trips to colleges like Texas A&M and UMT University tours, the students haven’t been able to visit colleges due to COVID- 19. In exchange, there are virtual college tours but, it’s been difficult getting students to go because they’re either quarantined or online.

“Since this is my first year of being a counselor I’ve been learning how to go through the application process and what it looks like from the student side,” Mrs. Suratt said. “There’s been lots of changes and different training to learn new admissions requirements because many colleges are going test-optional meaning there’s no SATS requirement.”

Before Mrs. Suratt became a counselor for the school she taught students Pre-algebra and PALS for seven years. Outside of the classroom she’ll frequently talk about college to her students and what their steps would be.

“This is truly where my passion was,” Mrs. Suratt said. “I loved teaching math but outside of the classroom we would talk about PALS and what their future would be like.”