Garden School Counselor Elected To NACAC Board

Lisa Sohmer, director of college counseling at the Garden School, Jackson Heights.

Lisa Sohmer, director of college counseling at the Garden School, Jackson Heights, was elected to the board of directors of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) at the association's 62nd national conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

NACAC is the largest association of counselors dedicated to the college admission process, with more than 9,200 members worldwide. Sohmer will serve a three-year term.

Sohmer has served on the NACAC Ad Hoc Committee on Catastrophic Events and as a member of the Assembly Reading Committee. She is involved in New York State ACAC, one of 23 NACAC affiliates, serving as president and as chair of several committees. She is active in numerous admission-related groups, including the College Advisory Network of New York, The College Board and New York GEAR UP.

Sohmer said access to college for all students remains paramount for the association. "As NACAC becomes a global

leader, members must share a global perspective-thinking of our goals and how they can be met to the benefit of students and professionals from the varied constituencies we serve," she said. "The best definition of access to postsecondary opportunity encompasses traditional and non-traditional students in America and abroad. NACAC, through its size and status, empowers members and helps them to use their voices in their communities, nationally and globally. We need to think big and to think small in advocating both in the schoolhouse, where students must first believe in college as a reality, and in the statehouse where we can effect change on state and national levels."

The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), founded in 1937, is an organization of more than 9,200 professionals from around the world dedicated to serving students as they make choices about pursuing postsecondary education. NACAC is committed to maintaining high standards that foster ethical and social responsibility among those involved in the transition process, as outlined in the NACAC Statement of Principles of Good Practice (SPGP).

Established in 1923 as a small, co-educational school, Garden School, 33-16 79th St., Jackson Heights serves students from nursery to college. Garden is dedicated to academic excellence, individual goal setting and diversity.