Lampasas High School is the lone high school in a rural Texas district, about 25 miles from Fort Hood, one of the largest army posts in the United States. We have about 1000 student enrolled, with 45% categorized as economically disadvantaged and 31% minority (US News & World Report). I observed in my first year teaching sophomore English that many of our students were disadvantaged when it came to applying to college and the workplace. Our counseling department, like many schools, was spread thin, especially with Texas' heavy end-of-course testing requirements. There weren't a ton of resources publicly available to students for college (obviously there is a wealth of information available online, but students didn't even know where to begin looking). In collaboration with my English department head and our school librarian, I started a series of after-school programming to give students opportunities to help teach and reinforce some of the skills needed for college and the workplace.
We started in the spring of 2012 with a hiring workshop where we gave interview and application tips for local employers and gave students time to create a resume in the computer lab with one-on-one assistance. We had around 12 students attend our first little meeting. In the 2013-2014 school year, we labeled our events "Second Tuesdays" and hosted them in our school library on the second Tuesday of every month. I started teaching AP English to juniors in the 2013-2014 school year, and offered extra credit to students who attended. Many of my AP students were the first in their family to have the opportunity to go to college, and were clueless on the process. Our 2013-2014 Second Tuesday September event started with how to sign up the SAT and ACT (I had students bringing me cash, not realizing they needed to sign up and pay online). I had a camera to take pictures of students, since the testing sites require a photo for identification purposes and many of our students do not have access to digital cameras and computers at home. Over 40 students attended this workshop.
We started in the spring of 2012 with a hiring workshop where we gave interview and application tips for local employers and gave students time to create a resume in the computer lab with one-on-one assistance. We had around 12 students attend our first little meeting. In the 2013-2014 school year, we labeled our events "Second Tuesdays" and hosted them in our school library on the second Tuesday of every month. I started teaching AP English to juniors in the 2013-2014 school year, and offered extra credit to students who attended. Many of my AP students were the first in their family to have the opportunity to go to college, and were clueless on the process. Our 2013-2014 Second Tuesday September event started with how to sign up the SAT and ACT (I had students bringing me cash, not realizing they needed to sign up and pay online). I had a camera to take pictures of students, since the testing sites require a photo for identification purposes and many of our students do not have access to digital cameras and computers at home. Over 40 students attended this workshop.
We hosted a study skills workshop in October 2013; working with my department head, we passed out copies of syllabi from several freshman college courses, and giant desk calendars donated from a local bank. Students worked in groups to lay out their class and assignment schedule for a sample semester. We discussed various note taking skills to use in lecture, and shared different experiences of our own working on long-term projects such as college courses demand.
In November 2013 our workshop was about college applications; several seniors came to have teachers proof their applications, and we talked to juniors about the online process and deadlines for various schools.
My December 2013 session focused on basic money skills for a new high school graduate. We discussed the importance of checking accounts, how to budget, and credit scores. This particular topic is near and dear to my heart; my husband and I teach Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University course at our church, and I believe financial literacy is one of the most under-taught areas for our students. We have a Money Matters class, but there is only one section per semester so no more than 50 of our 1000 students take it each year. This seminar and my discussions with students inspired me to teach a financial literacy lesson as a part of my English classes. I work it into the standards, I promise. I will write on that unit later.
Other Second Tuesday seminars were titled "Scholarships, Student Loans, and Financial Aid," "Resumes, Interviews, and Getting Hired," and "Relating in the Real World: Roommates, Professors, Bosses, and Stress." Our sessions were featured on our district's Facebook page:
In the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year I was on maternity leave, but after returning in October, I teamed up with our part-time coordinator from the Gear Up program. Gear Up is a federal program that seeks to provide resources to increase graduation and college attendance rates among low-income student populations. Our Gear Up cohort are current freshmen and sophomores, so I could tap the grant's resources to help my seminars. In February of 2015 I led another hiring workshop, attended by about 15 students during the two-hour duration. I've had over a dozen students in the last two years come tell me they got hired thanks to my workshops, so I see the impact the time is having on the attendees. In March and April, I am teaching sessions on college funding, with resources from Gear Up. In April I want to lead another financial literacy workshop.
In November 2013 our workshop was about college applications; several seniors came to have teachers proof their applications, and we talked to juniors about the online process and deadlines for various schools.
My December 2013 session focused on basic money skills for a new high school graduate. We discussed the importance of checking accounts, how to budget, and credit scores. This particular topic is near and dear to my heart; my husband and I teach Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University course at our church, and I believe financial literacy is one of the most under-taught areas for our students. We have a Money Matters class, but there is only one section per semester so no more than 50 of our 1000 students take it each year. This seminar and my discussions with students inspired me to teach a financial literacy lesson as a part of my English classes. I work it into the standards, I promise. I will write on that unit later.
Other Second Tuesday seminars were titled "Scholarships, Student Loans, and Financial Aid," "Resumes, Interviews, and Getting Hired," and "Relating in the Real World: Roommates, Professors, Bosses, and Stress." Our sessions were featured on our district's Facebook page:
In the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year I was on maternity leave, but after returning in October, I teamed up with our part-time coordinator from the Gear Up program. Gear Up is a federal program that seeks to provide resources to increase graduation and college attendance rates among low-income student populations. Our Gear Up cohort are current freshmen and sophomores, so I could tap the grant's resources to help my seminars. In February of 2015 I led another hiring workshop, attended by about 15 students during the two-hour duration. I've had over a dozen students in the last two years come tell me they got hired thanks to my workshops, so I see the impact the time is having on the attendees. In March and April, I am teaching sessions on college funding, with resources from Gear Up. In April I want to lead another financial literacy workshop.
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