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LBW Community College Honors student Melanie Smith will host a special event as part of her Honors Capstone project on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 12:30 p.m., in the Dixon Conference Center classroom.

The event, “Families for Foster Care,” will be a casual symposium highlighting the benefits and drawbacks of the foster care program.

“I hope to bring awareness and inspire others to think before judging foster families and to help the foster care program in the future,” Smith said.

The capstone project is only part of the requirements LBW expects from its Honors students.

“Getting into the program took good grades, a strong work ethic, and a sit-down interview process with a panel of school personnel. My application process started with my grades from high school and the recommendations of my teachers. After being accepted and brought in for my interview process, selling myself was up to me. My demeanor and answers determined whether or not I would be a good fit for this program and since I was accepted I have continued working every day to prove I still deserve it,” Smith said.

With a goal of becoming a social worker, Smith said she knows people involved in foster care and decided to research the program to better understand it.

“At first, I didn’t want to go into the foster care field because I had heard bad things. I decided that it wasn’t right for me to choose a job field until I knew everything about it. Along with my capstone project and other class projects, I tried my best to learn as much as I could about foster care … the good and the bad. This is also a topic dear to my heart because I have numerous family friends who are foster parents and they truly inspire me every day. I did this project to hopefully get more awareness for the foster care system in my community by showing people that just because they hear assumptions about what something is like, you can’t judge a book by its cover,” Smith said.

The “Families for Foster Care” symposium is open to the public and light refreshments will be provided. A Kahoot quiz will follow the presentation with a prize to be awarded.