A marching band, dancers and even first lady Michelle Obama were on hand to celebrate the completion of the college application process for one group of high school seniors.

The student body of Capital City Public Charter School, which serves students in preschool through 12th grade in Washington D.C., gathered to watch the senior class drop their college applications in the mail during the school’s College March event last week.

“I want the younger kids to understand that this is a big day, this is huge. This is what you are working for,” Obama said. “We are here today because the seniors at your school have and will walk across the stage and drop their college applications off in the mail. Yes, that’s a big deal.”

The event aimed to inspire students at the low-income and ethnically diverse school that higher education is not only obtainable, but a must in today’s world.

“Higher education isn’t just your ticket to a good job, look it is also one of the most fun, exciting, challenging experiences that you are ever going to have in your life,” she said. “College is a good thing.”

Events beyond the traditional college fair, like Capital City’s college application mailing, are one way that high schools get students prepared and motivated to attend college beyond teaching academic skills.

College Goal Sunday, for example, is a state-based volunteer program that offers free help to students filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid during events that are typically held on Sundays. In many states, high schools serve as the locations for the events.

[Find out more about the College Goal Sunday initiative.]

The American College Application Campaign is another initiative that aims to help guide high schoolers through the sometimes daunting college application process. The goal is to ensure that students apply to at least one postsecondary institution, according to the campaign’s website, and help is provided to students during the school day.

“It helps with procrastination and with the computer challenges,” Rick Boyle, a counselor at North Star High School in Lincoln, Nebraska, which participated in the campaign, told JournalStar.com. The school hosted a college application day where students filled out online college applications.

At MacArthur High School in San Antonio, Texas, a weeklong celebration of college applications ended with a college-themed pep rally, the school’s website states.

When the seniors at Capital City High School made their way on to the stage to drop their college applications into a mail crate, the younger students in attendance cheered on their fellow students, some even with handmade signs with sayings such as, “Congrats Class of 2015.”

Events like the application mailing help set the expectation of attending college for students.

[Discover how to show colleges interest on social media. ]

“All of our kids will go to college,” says Katryna Andrusik, high school instructional coach at the school. “That really is the expectation, that our children will make a decision to apply to college — and even if they decide not to attend a four-year, that they will go on to something that allows them to be more successful than just simply graduating high school.”

The close-knit and supportive community at the school is what encouraged senior Antoinette Wimbish, 18, to succeed academically.

“They push relationships and communication with everyone,” she says. The virtues of compassion, contribution, self-discipline, integrity and courage are strongly emphasized by educators at the school as well, she says.

Wimbish has already been accepted into one of her top college choices, Shepherd University in West Virginia. The teachers at her school, she says, have encouraged her to do things she never knew were possible.

“These teachers give me the support I need,” she says.

Have something of interest to share? Send your news to us at highschoolnotes@usnews.com.

More from U.S. News

Lay the Groundwork for College From Freshman Year of High School

10 Colleges With Affordable Out-of-State Tuition

Some High School Students Skip Lunch for More Class Time

Events, Expectations Helping High Schoolers Get to College originally appeared on usnews.com