Yet in a lot of secondary schools around the United States, do we really equip students with the resources they need to HAVE A PLAN after high school? Our school at Rockridge is very good, but we have one guidance counselor, and her duties and responsibilities include everyday assistance of students, testing compliance and administration, and student grades/records. Bless the heart and effort of Mrs. Bohnsack and her assistant Mrs. Hawk, but her time available to assist students with post-secondary planning is very limited.
In English III we will spend about a month on the training path presenter series, and I truly believe it is "English" instruction. More importantly, though, it's a variety of people (not including their boring day-to-day English III teacher) telling the students to HAVE A PLAN. And that plan includes...
- exploring career and secondary training path options beginning in 9th grade
- speaking with visiting career and secondary training path representatives beginning in 10th grade
- visiting 5-7 options starting at least during 2nd semester of 11th grade (preferably 1st semester)
- completing the SAT/ACT during the Spring of 11th grade
- research and appliation for scholarship opportunities beginning second semester of 11th grade
- applying to post-secondary training options first semester of 12th grade
- completing FAFSA the first week in October of 12th grade
- comparing costs of post-secondary training options in February/March of 12th grade
- accepting/deciding on a post-secondary training path by April of 12th grade (some paths have earlier acceptance deadlines)
And in and among and between all of that are homecomings, proms, concerts, sports competitions, clubs and activities, and all sorts of stuff, which is why it's important that high school educators and parents/guardians help their students HAVE A PLAN.
Enjoy the experience!
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