Submitted by Carl Repp, co-owner of the Shiney Studios.
Fort Scott is quickly becoming the Education hot spot of Kansas. This past August, ChatterHigh Communications Inc., named 2017 EdTech Partner of the Year at Canada’s National Education Summit, opened its U.S. national office in Fort Scott. It compliments the city’s growing education sector including; Lowell-Milken Center for Unsung Heros, the Ellis Foundation, Fort Scott Community College, and state of the art K-12 schools.
ChatterHigh US provides free college exploration learnings resource for grades 6-12 in schools across America. The resource is a fun, daily, gamified e-quiz that exponentially increases student knowledge about colleges and college programs. Each quiz question takes students deep into college websites to learn about unique and interesting programs.
“Seventy percent of Americans begin a 4-year college program but only twenty percent graduate with a degree, those numbers are not good enough,” says ChatterHigh’s Executive Vice-President, Carl Repp. “Our mission is to empower students to make mindful decisions and, in doing so, we want 100% of students enrolling in college. Our goal is to reduce drop-out rates and increase college persistence by helping students make the perfect college match.”
College enrollment is down across the nation and first-year drop out is higher than ever. The cost to the American economy is in the billions. Repp states that if we graduate more informed student from high school, who have enough knowledge to align their passions and interests to one of the thousands of unique college programs available to them, the likelihood of dropout will be decreased. This process needs to begin in middle school.
“Research is very clear about the behaviors students use to make college decisions. These behaviors, such as searching colleges within a 60-mile radius of their home or only searching colleges they know by name, dramatically reduce the chances of students making a mindful program match to their true passions and interests.”
Chatterhigh’s software allows students to earn points while engaging in learning. Students receive 10 question from colleges each day. A correct answer, found on the college webpage, will earn them 100 points. The points can be used by students to enter weekly draws for gift cards or to donate to the WE Foundation that builds classrooms around the world. Points are also collected in the school’s point bank which earns the school free Chromebooks for classrooms or enables schools to win cash in competitions like America’s Most Informed School – National College Exploration Championships.
“Wyandotte High School in Oklahoma just won the title of 2017 America’s Most Informed School and $1100 cash. Arlington Independent School District in Texas barely beat Dallas to win America’s Most Informed School District. In 30 school days, American students visited over 200,000 college web pages and over $7500 was distributed to the winners.”