Blog
So Much More than Just a Colored Piece of Paper
All it took was cardstock, labels, some scissors - and a lot of patience – to turn the Vallejo High School counseling department into a colorful display of college success!
The idea is simple: If you've applied to a college, show us proof - an admissions letter, a confirmation email - and you get a colored pennant with your name on it placed on the main wall of the counseling department.
We want the students to know that this whole going-to-college "thing" is a collective group effort. Each individual who applies contributes to the completion of this project and for students to see how much it grows day by day, it's really powerful! Even if a student's motivation is just to get their name on a flag, a submitted college application is a submitted college application and they deserve be up there with everyone else!
And as an added bonus: students who are regional or national scholarship winners get glittery, vibrant cardstock that stands out from the rest!
Here’s a look into that creative journey which was sparked by a concept that we all seem to forget about so often: recognition. Many schools in California are facing lots of adversity due to budget cuts, lay offs, everything-negative-that-you-can-think of and that dark cloud always seems to cast shadows on the positive things that are happening in our communities and with our students. The college wall is a true representation of the great progress that DCAC and the counselors have made to create a college-going-culture on this campus; and we're thrilled with the results so far.
Currently, the counseling department with full support from Destination College, is in the midst of a 3-day “College For All!” workshop in an attempt to get every senior to sit down in front of a computer and have the opportunity to fill out a college application.
Within the past 2 days, we’ve collected over 100 completed application confirmations and we still have 1 more day left.
Looks like I've got a lot of cutting to do over spring break, but I honestly wouldn't have it any other way!
About Kristi:
Hi all! My name is Kristi Lozano and I am from the Bay Area, California. If there is one word to describe me, I think "random" sums it all up. I grew up in an incredibly diverse household - my mother is Japanese and my father is Mexican! As a result, I was blessed to be raised in a very accepting environment. I had always excelled in academics but when I was younger, my true passion was gymnastics. I trained hard for over 10 years before having to quit due to...old-ageness! The life of a gymnast is short but the lessons I learned from it are timeless. I truly believe that my dedication in the gym and all the lessons I learned from it - perseverance, hard work, and enthusiasm - taught me how to be a fighter. Those qualities were essential to my success in a math and science program and life in general!
My advice to you all: Work hard. Never Quit. Enjoy the struggle!
Here's a pic of me and my gramps!
Comments
Kevin Wasielewski
Kristi Lozano
What we did was target every 12th grade English teacher's class. So, for instance, on March 10th we had "Miss Smith" agree that for every period she taught that day, she would bring her class to the computer lab where the counselors and myself could help students log on and apply to the community college of their choice. Then on March 11th, we had "Mr. Jones" agree to bring every class that he taught on that day to the lab. So on and so forth.
Lucky for us, many of our seniors applied to CSU's and UC's - those students weren't the target of our workshops. Even though it's just as important for them to have their safety nets, we really wanted to reach out to the kids who didn't quite meet the GPA minimums or had trouble getting access to internet/computers at home. So if the lab was full, we made sure that those who hadn't applied anywhere got priority.
We each had roles during the workshop as well - many of us would float to answer questions, another sat in the front to do a sign in sheet, and another printed out all the community college assessment information: we had 4 separate piles for the top 4 community colleges that our students usually transition to, and that person handed each student the individual assessment information they handed us their application confirmation page and exited.
It ran SO smooth, we were all a bit surprised! It was a month of planning and quite intense during the execution of the workshop but I must say...we were pretty darn efficient!!
Jennie