Seniors at a Staten Island high school took part in the fifth annual College March. NY1's Shannan Ferry filed the following report.
Signed, sealed and soon to be delivered.
Seniors at Gaynor McCown Expeditionary Learning School sent out their college applications Friday, but this wasn't your ordinary walk to the mailbox. Hundreds lined the streets to cheer the high school seniors on as they marched to a postal truck and handed in their final applications.
"It was like, relief, like you did everything for all four years, and you know, now it's time for you to go to college," said high school senior Elsi Rama.
It's all part of the fifth annual College March hosted by the nonprofit NYC Outward Bound Schools.The goal is to encourage students to apply for and graduate from college.
The march started with one school back in 2011. It has now expanded to 22 high schools nationwide.
"We don't have a football team, so this is like our homecoming rally," said Traci Frey, principal at Gaynor McCown Expeditionary Learning School. "It's the first of many opportunities for us to celebrate the seniors."
Organizers say not only does the march motivate seniors to get their applications in on time, it also inspires the underclassmen to start planning ahead.
"It's knowing that they're supported in this work, and it takes away some of the fear," said Anthony Conelli, chief achools officer at NYC Outward Bound Schools.
In fact, coordinators say many of the students who participate nationwide are the first in their families to apply to college.
"Through research, I decided to want to be a nurse," said high school senior Ekaterina Loskutnikova. "I'm first-generation American here, so it's pretty good to knowing that I'm one of the first people in the family to go to college."
The odds of these students achieving their goals are in their favor. Organizers say 95 percent of 2015 graduates who participated in the program were accepted to college.