Grade 12:"You are almost there"

In twelfth grade, students should focus more specifically on career and educational options that will lead them to create a clear plan for achieving their post-secondary goals. This direction is toward gaining a realistic understanding of the educational and career options available to them and taking the important steps required for them to achieve their goals. During this time, the focus is more personalized and focused on individual planning.

Workshop 1: Reviewing where seniors are at the beginning of the new school year

Workshop 2: Using available research information

Workshop 3: Analyzing career information

Workshop 4: Understanding trade unions and apprenticeships

Workshop 5: Organizing financial information

Workshop 6: Finalizing senior resumes

Workshop 7: Learning good job attitudes and aptitudes

Workshop 8: Interviewing techniques

Workshop 9: Completing a job application

Workshop 10: Looking at your rights at a job

"Where are you going"

Choosing a College

Applying to Colleges

College Application Checklist

College Application Organizer

Financial Aid

Workshop 1 - Reviewing where seniors are at the beginning of the new school year.

September

• Activity: Review points accumulated through grade 11.
• Activity: Clarify points received from summer school wherever necessary.
• Activity: Verify if portfolio requirements have been satisfied. (seniors need to pass 2 years)
• Activity: Review PSAT scores.
• Activity: Reinforce need to visit College and Career centers for information. If student is planning on attending college next year, make sure he knows what is involved in applying.
• Activity: Stress the need to continue to excel even if past high school grades have not been the best.
• Activity: Review importance of college essay.
• Activity: Review experience of internships with students.
• Activity: Review how many points they have accumulated through grade 11
• Activity: Discuss with Guidance Counselor if coming up short with necessary points. Will students have to attend night school?
• Activity: Develop outline for college essay.
• Activity: Develop resume outline for their respective pathway, vocational program or career choice.
• Activity: Sign up to take the SAT I and SAT II.

Workshop 2 - Using available research information.

October

• Activity: Research 3 different possible careers found in your school's pathways or vocational programs. This is to be completed in Career Center using resources available.
• Activity: Sign up in guidance office for local college fair.
• Activity: Use EXPAN software in Career center for college search.
• Activity: Register for SAT's. Take advantage of any review classes, especially after school.

Workshop 3 - Analyzing Career Information

On going Counselors will:

• Activity: Discuss the importance of doing job and career research using Career Center information such as the Occupational Outlook handbook, the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, and EXPAN.

• Activity: Learn how to research career opportunities using: 1) The Occupational Outlook Handbook; 2) The Dictionary of Occupational Titles.
• Activity: Research three areas of possible career interest using the Occupational Outlook Handbook. If student is currently working part time, a good place to start is using current employment. For additional help with this exercise, use the format on page xxxiv of the Occupational Outlook Handbook. Pay close attention to the following: nature of the work, working conditions, job requirements, employment outlook, and earnings potential. These can be incorporated in your research.
• Activity: Become familiar with the nine primary occupational categories as listed on page xx of the OOH.
• Activity: Using the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, take three jobs within the same three areas of possible career interest as above and research them. The nine occupational categories are the same for the Dictionary of Occupational Titles.
• Activity: As part of your research, study the definition found at the end of each job description. This will tell you the specific vocational preparation needed, the education courses required, the level of physical demands, and the last update of occupational information.

This information will be included in your portfolio.

Workshop 4 - Understanding trade unions and apprenticeships

November, December, January

• Activity: Counselors will invite trade union representatives to speak to interested seniors about apprenticeships. These can be for Electrical apprenticeships, usually in November; Sheet Metal apprenticeships in December; Carpenters, Painters and Allied Craftsmen in March.
• Activity: Students can attend one or more of these.

Workshop 5 - Organizing financial information

December

• Activity: Counselors will encourage college applicants to explore the many scholarships available, particularly for minorities.
• Activity: Counselors arrange meeting of coaches and college bound senior players to explore sports scholarships.
• Activity: Review necessity for filing financial aid form.
• Activity: Students will file for financial aid using standard form.
• Activity: Students will research the following scholarship resources:
  1. Peterson's Winning Money for College; 4th edition
  2. The Black Student's Guide to Scholarships
  3. The Hispanic Scholarship Directory
  4. Money for College- A Guide to Financial Aid for African-American Students

Workshop 6 - Finalizing senior resumes

January

Workshop 7 - Learning good job attitudes and aptitudes

Spring

• Activity: Counselors and students will brainstorm proper attitudes in keeping a job.
• Activity: Counselors and students will brainstorm reasons why workers lose their jobs.

Workshop 8 - Interviewing Techniques

Spring

• Activity: Counselors will discuss: ways to make a good first impression; how to respond to employer's questions; what questions to ask the employer; how to conclude an interview.
• Activity: Students will develop their own lists of Do's and Don'ts for interviewing.

Workshop 9 - Completing a job application

Spring

• Activity: Using sample applications, counselors will discuss the correct way to complete a job application.
• Activity: Students will work in pairs and correct each others sample applications.

Workshop 10 - Looking at your rights at a job

Spring

• Activity: Counselors will review certain employee rights and benefits that can be expected. These topics are of concern to young workers: how wages are paid; common deductions; overtime rules; the three hour show-up rule; the rule for meal breaks; and Child Labor Laws in Massachusetts.
• Activity: Students will research publication: Your Rights on the Job; 3rd edition, by Robert M. Schwartz.

Where Are You Going?

Objective:
To make students aware of their options following high school graduation.

Competencies:
Establish short term goals.
Identify a career path to pursue following graduation.
Identify employment specifications that apply to immediate and long range job goals.

Introduction:

Procedures:

1. Brainstorm with students the various choices for students following graduation. Record and organize into a chart. Discuss students' ideas about various opportunities.
2. Distribute copies of "Where Are You Going?" sheet for students' reference.
3. Invite a guest speaker to talk about each path in relation to attaining career goals.

Suggested guest speakers:
Path 1: Guidance Counselor
Path 2: Technical School Admissions Counselor
Path 3: Union Member
Path 4: Armed Services Recruiter
Path 5: Human Resources Representative

Choosing a College

Research

• Use the resources in the College and Career Center to help you learn about different colleges. You can look over college catalogs and handbooks. You can visit individual school sites on the internet. Use EXPAN to learn which schools match your criteria. There are over 3,400 two and four year colleges in the United States. Some questions to consider are:
  • What do I want to study? Which schools have good programs in my major?
  • Do I need to be close to home? How far away?
  • Do I want to be in a city? The country?
  • How well have I done in school and on my SATs? What kind of student are the colleges looking for?
  • Do I want a small or big college?
  • Am I looking for specific athletic opportunities? Or any special academic services?

Decide

• You should apply to four to six schools
• One school should be a "safety" school, a school we are fairly certain will accept you. We determine if a school is a safety by comparing your GPA and SAT scores with previous grads who have applied. You are welcome to see this list in your counselor's office. Many students use the Community Colleges as "safety" schools. They have "open admissions," which means they accept everyone, and they are very affordable.
• One school should be a state college or university. These publicly funded schools have the most affordable tuition. All the State Colleges and UMass have minimum admissions standards. They expect a GPA of 2.7 at the state colleges and 3.0 for U Mass. If your GPA falls below, a sliding scale using your SAT scores is used.
• Two or three schools should be "realistic" choices. This means that many students with similar grades and SAT scores have been accepted.
• You should also set your goals high. "Reach" schools are those that may be hard for you to get in, but you still want to try!

Applying to Colleges

Organize !!!!!

• Narrow down your choices and complete the College Application Organizer.
• Record the college name.
• Do you have an application? If not, send for one right away.
• Check to see if they will accept the Common Application or College Link (If you can do the applications on the computer, you can save a lot of time)
• When is the application due? Use a big calendar at home to mark deadlines.
• When will you take the SAT? Try to take it twice. Do you need to take the SAT II?
• Do you need to write an essay? What is the topic. Often you can use an essay for several schools.
• Do you need an interview?
• When is the FAFSA due? Note when you actually file it.
• Do you need to do the profile? Note when you actually file it.
• When did you complete and send in the application?
• Use the College Application Checklist to plan out your year and stay organized!

** College Application Checklist

** College Application Organizer

Financial Aid

Financial Aid is assistance provided to families to help them meet the cost of college. There are two types of financial aid: gift assistance and self-help.

Gift Assistance= $ Grants + $ Scholarships
Self-Help= $ Loans + $ Work Study

Grants are outright gifts which do not have to be repaid. These can be from the federal or state government or from the college itself. Grants are based on need, and when the need is high, the grant aid tends to be high as well. The grant aid may be made up from various sources, including:

• The Pell Grant, which is the largest single grant program, available through the federal financial aid program administered by the U.S. Department of Education.
• Massachusetts State Scholarship
• Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (SEOG), which is awarded by an individual college aid office from funding made available by the federal government.
• Individual institutions

Scholarships are a form of financial aid based on merit, not need. There are relatively few awards of this sort and the competition for each is heated. Some are given to the student who exhibits a particular ability or skill such as athletics or music; others are awarded for academic achievement. Scholarships are often renewable for each college year, usually contingent on the student continuing to engage in the activity that prompted the award; or, in the case of academic achievement, maintaining a certain achievement level or grade point average. Students can search for scholarships using FUNDFINDER on Expan or on the internet in the College and Career Center.

Loans, like borrowing to purchase a home or a car, must be repaid, usually with interest. Most financial aid packages will include loans. Carefully consider how much debt you can assume.

• Loans are based on need and awarded to the student. Usually, these loans, like grants, can come from the federal government, institution or private lenders; and the greater the need, the larger the loan. This deferred method of payment takes various forms, and the time frame involved can be for as little as two or three years and as much as twenty years.
• Many colleges and universities, banks and lending Institutions now make special loan programs available to parents to help finance their student's education. These loans are not necessarily based on need, but can help stretch the family's budget over the years of schooling. Institutions and bank loan programs will have differing interest rates.

Work Study is another form of aid based on need, sometimes combined with a grant or loan. In this case, the student must earn the money awarded, often working on campus or with an approved off-campus employer. While such a program can be very helpful, some caution must be advised. Students should not fall in the trap of trying to earn more than is realistic. Remember that in work study plans:

• Withholding taxes are taken out of earnings.
• Most work study job pay is minimum wage
• The student must allow time for schoolwork and study
• Sometimes students already have a good-paying part-time job. It may be better to keep this job than accept a work study job at lower pay

Assessing Student Need

The kind of financial aid we're talking about here is the specified amount of money that is offered to a student to help pay for educational expenses. Most financial aid is given because the student is determined to have need for it, and the amount of that aid is limited to the student's calculated need. As costs go up, student need also rises, but parent resources remain the same. Simply stated, a student's need is determined as the difference between the total cost of attending school and the family's financial resources. The FAFSA and the Profile are used to determined need.

Cost-Family Resources = Need

Family Resources Include:

• The amount the student's parents should or will be asked to pay from their income and assets.
• The amount the student can contribute from earnings, plus savings.
• Any gift amount that the student receives.

In all instances, the student and parents are responsible for paying what they can; financial aid is intended to supplement such efforts, not substitute for them.

Most schools vary in their ability to meet student need. Applying to a variety of schools and including a State school can help ensure that you find a school you can afford.

What do you need to do?

To apply, students must complete The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Although you cannot file the FAFSA until January 1, it helps if you can organize your financial and tax papers so that you are ready to file promptly. Many colleges (usually selective colleges) will also require the Financial Aid Profile and/or their own institutional aid form. Students must check to see what their colleges require. Students must be aware of deadlines!

Once a student is accepted to a college, the college will send a Financial Aid Package to the student. Students should compare the packages offered and then determine what is best for them. If aid is inadequate, students can always call and speak with the college financial aid office. Financial aid packages may sometimes be adjusted because of personal circumstances.

Help is available. Call the school and speak with the school counselor!