At a school where nearly all graduating students pursue higher education, the College and Career Center plays a large role in helping students make crucial choices about their future. Last year, Mira Costa hired two new CCC counselors, Gail Currey and Katherine Folkman. These women have improved the center by thoughtfully guiding students, actively encouraging students to consider out-of-state options and utilizing the available technology.
In place of previous years’ incompetent counselors, the current CCC counselors have a completely different approach. The first thing the counselors ask senior classes during their first visit to the CCC is who would be applying to private schools and who would be applying out of state. The counselors said that students should consider applying to private, out-of-state and international schools, even if they don’t think they can get into or afford going to that school.
Currey and Folkman encourage students to apply to schools which will fit their personalities, interests and abilities. They don’t expect all students to make due with the state university system. Also, because California’s budgetary shortages have caused subsidies to the state universities to decrease, the UC’s and CSU’s are accepting fewer applicants and cutting back on spending for better programs. Other states have less financial trouble than California, making their state schools better options for many students. The CCC caters to students applying outside of California very well.
The counselors also have done an excellent job of integrating Naviance into the application process. This year, they made students more aware of the website’s search capabilities and the information it provides about scholarships. By adding this information, students with limited financial means can attend private schools with specialized programs or individualized attention.
Next year, the counselors plan on using the site’s teacher recommendation function so the letter of reccomendation process will be more efficient and less tedious.
Although they manage 2,300 students, Folkman and Currey allow seniors to schedule individual half-hour conferences for students and teachers. During snack and lunch, they are almost always available to talk to students with questions. They also coordinate all the college representative visits, putting the schedule on Naviance so students can easily find out when representatives from schools they are interested in are coming.The change deserving the most praise, however, has been the change in attitude. The counselors encourage students and help with smiles on their faces.
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