Is Your Student Career and College Ready?

A Guide for Parents: The What, the How, and the Why

By Michelle Bohon and Lori Luzier, High School Counselors

Preparing students for life after high school is one of the key components of a successful educational experience. It is the job of our schools and teachers to ensure that students leave high school with the tools necessary to be successful in the workplace or in postsecondary education. It is our job as counselors and your job as parents to help students investigate their passion, personality traits, and the connection to various careers and opportunities available to them. Career and college readiness is the ability for our students to find an appropriate pathway, understand the responsibilities of that choice, successfully communicate with those around them, and grow professionally within their chosen field.

So how does a studentbecome career and college ready? First they need to engage in opportunities to understand what type of learner they are, determine what type of personality characteristics they have, and what peaks their interest. There are many tools that help students with this process. Parents and students within Dysart Schools have access to a career and college platform called Major Clarity. Major Clarity connects a student with meaningful research in an effort to define their Education Career Action Plan (ECAP). An ECAP reflects a student’s current plan of coursework, career aspirations, and extended learning opportunities in order to develop the student’s individual academic, career goals and postsecondary plans. It is ideally started during middle school and updated every year throughout high school. We as educators believe we should integrate an ECAP process into all facets of the school experience. Students, who have opportunities to identify interests, skills, and strengths and then apply that knowledge to create their own ECAP, transition more seamlessly into postsecondary and workplace requirements.

As students progress through their educational journey, it is never too early to grow their professional skills, become involved in their school and community, and research their passion while setting attainable goals.Today’s workplace expects employees to be lifelong learners in order to find advancement opportunities within their career path.

For those students looking to learn hands-on in a particular career and earn industry certifications, West-MEC is a great place to have students explore opportunities. They offer a variety of career and technical education programs designed to help students either go directly into the workforce, or provide a foundation for future schooling. Programs can include mechanics, chefs, EMTs, fire fighters, police officers, construction, veterinarians and much more.

Testing is also an important step for students in helping them be career and college ready. The PSAT, SAT, and ACT are offered on high school school campuses and provide an opportunity for students to show colleges and universities how far they have come academically. It is also sometimes required for a college application, and can provide enhanced opportunities for scholarships.

For those students interested in the military, taking the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) test is an important step. The ASVAB helps the Department of Defense not just determine whether you are a good fit to join the service, but also which service branch you might be best for and even what military jobs you can hold after you finish basic training or boot camp. The better your ASVAB score, the broader your options.

For those students wishing to pursue a post-secondary degree, paying for college or a trade school is something you and your student must discuss as a family. First families should complete the FAFSA. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) can open doors of opportunity for students to pursue their post secondary passion. By completing their FAFSA in their senior year, many students find they are eligible for scholarships, grants, loans, and Federal Work Study Programs. The FAFSA can assist in closing the financial gaps that exist as students pursue their post secondary pathway. Oftentimes, families believe that they do not qualify, however, most scholarship committees require the FAFSA to be completed.

Also research with your student about scholarship opportunities. There are so many scholarships that are not awarded to qualified students because they do not apply! There are many resources on the web to help with this. Here are a just a few examples:

• www.jlvcollegecounseling.com

• www.fastweb.com

• www.majorclarity.com

• https://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/collegedepot

The Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) is another great way to help mitigate college costs. WUE is an agreement through which 160+ participating public colleges and universities provide steep nonresident tuition savings for Western students. Through WUE, eligible students can choose from hundreds of undergraduate programs outside their home state, and pay no more than 150 percent of that institution’s resident tuition rate. Since full nonresident college-tuition rates may exceed 300 percent of resident rates, WUE increases affordable higher-education choices for students, and minimizes the adverse impacts of student loan debt.

All of this may sound like a lot for families, but your school and counselors are here to help. It’s important for parents to start early (yes even our youngest students in kindergarten) and foster opportunities for students to explore different careers and options that may interest them. As students engage in their personal growth and development, they will find that they are confident, comfortable within their own self, and ready for whatever lies ahead in their life.