Red Cloud Hosts Fifth Annual College Fair

College Fair Booths

Late in September, hundreds of students from across the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation traveled to Red Cloud’s campus to attend the high school's fifth annual college fair.

Over 40 state and regional colleges and universities from the Midwest filled the Paul “Dizzy” Trout Memorial Fieldhouse ready to engage with students in middle and high school from across the 3,469 square mile reservation. Over 200 Red Cloud students and an additional 150 from the Pine Ridge and Bennett County schools moved through rows of tables gathering as much information as they could—and getting excited about developing their own post-high school plans.

Nakina Mills, Red Cloud's director of student advancement and alumni support, says that previously, students were forced to travel upwards of 100 miles to attend a college fair, often at a great cost to their families. Years ago, she decided to start working on bringing a college fair to the reservation—and all her hard work has paid off.

“I think the kids look forward to this time so they can start thinking about their options out there. We even had the military here as well for those maybe not thinking about college after high school,” said Nakina. “We encourage all of our students to have a goal or plan for when they leave here.”

RCIS College Fair Students