The Kent School District is presenting the fifth annual College Bound Scholarship conference on Saturday, Oct. 10 at GreenRiver College in Auburn.

Registration begins at 7:30 a.m., while workshops and the college resource fair are from 9 a.m. to noon.

Last year, the conference was attended by more than 800 students and parents. This year, numerous educational leaders,college access providers, and community organizations are coming together to provide this opportunity for students. Theevent includes college readiness and planning workshops for students and parents and a college resource fair.

“This conference is unique in both size and capacity in the state, where we combine resources for students and parents andfoster a college going culture,” said Randy Nuñez, college and career family/community liaison at the Kent School District.“Every single student who has signed onto this scholarship, along with their parent, is taking steps to their college-goingdreams.”

The district has more than 4,000 CBS students in grades seven through 12. As a whole, the district has signed up more than98 percent of eligible students over the past three years. More than 1,000 middle school students are eligible to sign up thisyear, and the graduating class of 2016 has more than 700 students who are participants.

“The economic bottom 20 percent is enrolling into college significantly lower than their peers (low-income at 51 percent tohigh-income at 81 percent), this scholarship is an opportunity to close that gap, and it’s our responsibility as a community tomake our students’ dreams become possible,” Nuñez said.

The College Bound Scholarship program is an early commitment of state financial aid to eligible students who sign up inmiddle school and fulfill the pledge. Eligibility includes graduating from high school in Washington State with 2.0 or aboveGPA, maintaining good citizenship, completing the FAFSA, and enrolling into a Washington state college within one year ofgraduating high school. The College Bound Scholarship can be used at most Washington public and private universities, aswell as community and technical colleges.