1. College Readiness Night Class of 2016

2. 9 th Grade Planning Guide Get serious about post high plans! ◦Explore Programs and majors  Career Cruising  What’s Next Illinois Start to or continue saving $$$ ◦College Savings Account ◦College Cost Calculator  What’s Next Illinois Talk to the school counselor, family members, close friends ◦What are the options? ◦Where have they visited? ◦Any advice?

3. 9 th Grade Planning Guide Use a plan of study to keep track of courses and grades ◦Graduation Status Report ◦Career Cruising Portfolio ◦What’s Next Illinois Keep track of college admission requirements ◦4 years of English ◦3 years of Math (4 preferred) ◦3 years of Science ◦3 years of Social Studies ◦2 years foreign language, music, visual arts, theatre

4. 9th Grade Planning Guide Find out about college entrance requirements of schools that interest your child ◦College Matching Assistant  Career Cruising  What’s Next Illinois Create a file of important documents/ Career Cruising Portfolio ◦Lists of awards and honors ◦Community activities ◦Volunteer work

5. 9 th Grade Planning Guide Take the EXPLORE test ◦Tests skills in English, Math, Reading and Science  Good practice  Identifies strengths and weaknesses ◦Identifies career interests Use summer for more than just vacations ◦Volunteering ◦Educational programs ◦Summer School Encourage independence ◦Responsibility around the house

6. Career Cruising Internet based career exploration and planning tool Can be used to explore career and college options and develop a career plan. Career Cruising can be accessed from school, from home, or wherever your son or daughter has access to the Internet.

7. Career Cruising Career Matchmaker ◦Assessment tools to help your student identify his/her career interests, skills, abilities and learning styles

8. Career Cruising Explore Careers ◦Thorough and up to date information about hundreds of occupations, including direct links between careers and related college programs

9. Career Cruising Explore Education and Training ◦Provides comprehensive college, university, and vocational school information to help plan your student’s education and training

10. Career Cruising Career Portfolio Tool ◦Allows you and your student to keep track of all of his/her career exploration activities

11. Career Cruising Employment ◦Resume Builder ◦Employment Guide

12. Career Cruising Access from anywhere there is Internet! ◦www.careercruising.comwww.careercruising.com ◦Username: Huntley ◦Password: careers

13. Career Cruising Parent Portal ◦Allows you to view the information your child has stored in his or her portfolio and learn more about careers and schools your child is interested in ◦http://www.careercruising.com/Parenthttp://www.careercruising.com/Parent

14. Parent Panel Advice from the Experts ◦Seth & Cassie Peterson  Miranda(Randi)- Senior  Max- Junior ◦John & Mari Aldridge  Christian- Freshman at Carthage  Emily- Sophomore ◦Dan & Kristin Seitz  Erin- Senior at Western Illinois University  Kelsey- Freshman at UW-Oshkosh  Trey- Sophomore

15. Parent Panel Questions for the Panel How did you go about picking the right academic classes with your child as they moved from 9 th to 10 th grade and what factors are important to you and your child? What did your talk about the importance of academic rigor and GPA look like? When did you start talking about college/careers as a family and when did you start visiting college/university campuses? What is your recommendation for a successful college visit experience? Where/When/How… When did you talk about the costs of college and where it falls in your family budget? How did you handle this discussion? What were the highs and lows you and your child experienced during high school and in the college search? If you were to give one “gold nugget of advice” in parenting a child successfully through high school/the college search process what would it be? What “extras” did your child/you do to make the college search/college/academic culture work? Summer Camps? Travel? Job shadowing? …..