Life After High School 2025 Highlights

Almost 900 individuals attend the FWPS Life After High School College and Career Fair, an annual event to promote college and career readiness. 

FWPS middle and high school scholars and families explored options for the future by visiting booths, attending workshops, and listening to panel discussions. 

Federal Way, Wash. — On Wednesday, October 22, 2025, Federal Way Public Schools (FWPS) hosted its annual Life After High School College and Career Fair at Thomas Jefferson High School, continuing its commitment to ensuring scholars are college and career-ready. 

The fair, designed for middle and high school scholars, has traditionally drawn hundreds of attendees, and this week’s event was no different, with almost 900 individuals in attendance. Scholars and their families were able to connect with representatives from over 60 post-secondary institutions, including 2- and 4-year colleges and universities, apprenticeships, trade schools, military, and other options to pursue following high school graduation. To keep track of the abundant options, students were encouraged to use their event programs to mark possible college and career options for later reference.

Several workshops were also available to help scholars prepare for and pursue post-secondary education. Some of this year’s workshops included Careers in Healthcare, NCAA and Playing Sports in College, How to Earn College Credit in High School Through CTE, Private Colleges are Affordable, and more. The event also featured panels for scholars to learn more about working in the trades and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) experience. Finally, students and families were invited to participate in open labs for support tracking High School and Beyond Plan tasks, which is a required plan for high school graduation, and for seniors, preparing financial aid applications and college essays. Interpreters were also on-site to provide families with language support, as needed. 

“I was really interested in learning about new colleges because I’d only really heard about UW and WSU,” said Zoey, a tenth-grade student at Federal Way High School. “It’s kind of hard to pick through all of the stuff and actually hear from people from the schools about what their colleges are like. I think it’s really important to discover your options before you’re making a decision.” 

Issiah, a senior at Decatur, shared about his experience, saying, “I was just really worried about how to apply [for college], what’s the best way, what would be the best chances of getting in, so I learned a lot about that.”

FWPS parent Fabiola joined her son Kevin, a senior at Thomas Jefferson, to help him find the best choice for his future. “He’s probably going to be the first one going to college, so I’m excited for him.” Regarding the event experience, she was grateful for QR codes to additional information and materials that reduced language barriers. “I speak Spanish, so it was good to have information in Spanish, too.” 

Life After High School is in direct support of the FWPS district strategic plan Goal 5, Persistence to Graduation: High School Graduation through Successful Transitions. The goal states that every scholar will successfully navigate the critical transitions in their schooling and will graduate from high school ready for college, career, and postsecondary experiences.