If she could, college and career resource officer Tina Rainbolt says she would bring college recruiters from around the country on campus to talk to students. But that’s simply not possible for a small school like SCHS. So Rainbolt did the next best thing: she organized a college fair led by those who are already here – teachers and staff.

This Friday at lunch, some 20 Santa Clara High teachers and staff members, sporting their college gear, will set up booths in the quad to represent the colleges they graduated from. In addition to sharing their personal college experiences, they will pass out flyers with information about their college, including a list of majors the school has, the athletics offered, and the average test scores and GPAs of admitted students.

“It would be good for kids to hear firsthand from people who actually went to these colleges,” said English teacher Maichen Liu-Grossman, who attended UC Berkeley.

In addition to Liu-Grossman, other teachers and administrators participating include Kristina Kashanian, Tony Lam, Michelle Brown, Amanda Palasky and Gregory Shelby. Cal Poly, UCLA, SJSU, UC Davis, UC Berkeley and many other colleges will be represented.

Rainbolt said that the SCHS college fair will resemble an actual college fair, with color, a vibrant atmosphere and many different college booths.

Her goal is to give students the information they need to make the right choices for college. Meanwhile, many teachers have personal advice to pass on.

Chandra Henry, who attended Chico State, said that she wanted students to know “about the college-town atmosphere and the high quality education offered” by her alma mater.

To thank the teachers and staff members for participating in the fair and giving up their lunch break, Rainbolt will be ordering lunches for them with money she received from PTSA donations. Santa Clara’s Orchard Supply Hardware donated paint and wood for the college signs on the booths.

“It will make an exciting lunch,” Rainbolt said.