Ken Larose, associate athletic director at Butler University, has been invited to speak to seniors on Oct. 16, the day that the PSAT will be administered to the juniors and sophomores and the PLAN for freshmen, according to Principal John Williams. Seniors will rotate from three sessions, each lasting around 50 minutes.

Assistant principal Brad Sever who was in charge of arranging the senior schedule, said that Larose was an ideal choice for a guest speaker.

Sever said, “I was really excited to get Mr. Larose because he can offer multiple perspectives to our seniors. First, he has had tremendous success in various leadership roles. He’s been a coach at Butler, as well as the assistant athletic director. So, he’s going to talk a little bit about goal setting and achievement. But also, what’s interesting about Mr. Lerose is that he actually left coaching and went into business. So he can talk to students about multiple career opportunities.”

Another one of the sessions will be a panel of admissions directors, according to Sever. This panel will consist of the admissions directors from IUPUI, DePauw, Purdue, IU and Butler, the assistant admissions director from Ball State, and the associate director from Wabash College.

Sever said, “What’s great about this is that these are the people that are actually the head of admissions for some of the most popular universities that students at our school plan to attend. So they are going to be able to offer that firsthand perspective and give advice to seniors about that admissions process.”

The third panel will be about financial aid and scholarship opportunities.

Another option will be provided only during the first section from 7:50 to 8:55 a.m. for students interested in highly competitive schools. A representative from Northwestern University will come to speak to those students.

Additionally, the guest speakers and panel members will be the ones moving during the rotation because the administration wants to keep the hallways quiet for students who are testing.

Sever said that the administration worked carefully to find a way to encourage seniors to come on a day where attendance is traditionally lower than normal.

“I can say that people in the counseling office, myself and Mr. Williams really tried to put together a program that would be really relevant to our seniors,” Sever said.

Student Body President George Gemelas said that he hopes seniors will decide to come to school, but is doubtful.

“I would hope that students will come to school that day, but I think what’s going to happen is that students will not come, unfortunately. Unless (the administration) really grasp the attention of seniors, they won’t really find motivation to come. The guest speaker from Butler might have some sort of effect, and it’s interesting for me at least. I think it appeals to some students, but I don’t know if it interests the whole senior class.”

For more information about the PSAT, click here.