PINETOWN — Life after graduation can be a daunting time looming ahead for teenagers in Beaufort County.

To help prepare students, there’s a new emphasis being placed on post-graduation options this month at Northside High School.

According to school counselor Julie Kolikas, November is being recognized as College and Career Month at the school, and students are exposed to different school and career avenues available to them upon graduating.

College and Career Month is meant to encourage students to reach for success after high school.

To celebrate this month, Northside High recently welcomed Matthew Lincoln, lead mechanical engineering instructor at Beaufort County Community College, and Bryan VanGyzen, lead automotive systems instructor, to the school to speak with students about their respective programs.

Along with the BCCC instructors, Northside students involved in these programs and a recent graduate of the high school came to speak with students, as well.

Through its partnership with BCCC, Northside allows its students to take classes in these areas of study through the school district’s College and Career Promise Program, according to Kolikas. Students can take Career and Technical Education courses, as offered by BCCC, or college-transferrable courses as part of the CCP program.

“We have invited various guest speakers to our school this month. We have really tried to highlight BCCC programs as we have a great partnership with them,” Kolikas wrote in an email.

Kolikas said Northside has had partnerships with other colleges, too, including N.C. Wesleyan and Catawba College. Dr. Laura Bilbro Berry with East Carolina University’s teacher education program is also slated to visit, as is a representative of Vidant Beaufort Hospital.

“The students have enjoyed the various speakers this month. They have been able to choose which programs they would like to attend this month, which has really focused on their own interests, as well as exposed them to some possible new interests,” Kolikas said. “As school counselors, it is wonderful to see our students get excited about their future and especially find something they may be interested in.”