Career Center Update
October 2021
Hello Rocky Families,
Mrs. Mills is our new career center assistant this year and she has been working steadfast on helping Rocky students with setting up their Fast Forward accounts, and submitting funding requests. The dual enroll portal is now closed for fall, but she has done a great job helping our students and I am extremely grateful to have her help at Rocky this year. She is also a great resource for your students if they have questions.
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ROCKY SENIORS!
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ASK YOUR SENIORS ABOUT…
College and Career information was presented in Senior
English classes September 16th-27th. The PowerPoint presentation
used can be found on Rocky’s College & Career website. We went over all the pathways after high school as well as each step of the college application process. Seniors were given a calendar to keep them on track as well as a handout on how to apply to scholarships. Please have your senior log into their RMHS Career Center Team for more information and to complete their "senior plan".
Idaho College Application Week
Idaho College Application Week will be celebrated at Rocky October 11-15, 2021, in the library. Seniors will participate during their English classes in this national event and will use this time to apply to college programs, work on scholarships, start their FAFSA, schedule the ASVAB, or complete any tasks that they need to work on to prepare for life after high school. We will have college reps and our Rocky counseling team on hand during the event to help students complete these tasks.
A task list will be provided to seniors to keep them on track, once completed they will receive a raffle ticket to to possibly win some great prizes from the donations we received from local businesses and colleges. Idaho schools are free to apply to and we have an Idaho common application called Apply Idaho that helps students submit one simple application that can be sent to most Idaho colleges. If your student want to apply to an out-of-state college during this event they will need to be prepared to pay the application fee's. .
We are very excited for this event and please make sure your students knows their social security number if possible, it is often asked on college and financial aid applications!
FAFSA
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid will open on October 1st! This is the online application that families use to see what types of money the qualify for to pay for college. Please keep this task in mind as part of your college application process.
Senior Financial Aid Night 2021-2022 at Rocky
Calling all parents of Seniors! We are hosting a college financial aid night on Wednesday, October 27, from 6:30-7:30 pm at Rocky. Our guest speaker Peter Lien will be presenting on scholarships, the FAFSA, and important things to know as parents of seniors! Registration is required and the link is below and seating is limited. If this date does not work for you please feel free to register (below) for the financial aid events for all grade levels. These presentations are different but both are valuable and contain important helpful information.
Seniors Remind
Seniors are invited to join the career center on Remind to receive updates via text messages about scholarships, college visits, deadlines and events.
Last names A-F text: @grizz12a-f to 81010
Last names G-L text: @grizz12g-l to 81010
Last names M-Z text: @grizz12m-z to 81010
Poll for Parents of Rocky Seniors
Individual Senior Planning Meetings
A Big Shout Out!
A College Fair for Juniors and Seniors!
The Pacific Northwest Association for College Admission Counseling (PNACAC) is hosting its annual Treasure Valley College Fair this fall. Over 50 colleges from the Northwest and beyond plan to be at the annual fair.
Treasure Valley College Fair
Date: Saturday, October 9
Time: 1–3:00PM
Location: Boise State Student Union Building, Simplot Ballroom
Parking: Free Parking is available at the Lincoln Parking Garage
Students can register in advance at StriveFair.Com
Your students can register for the fair by going to strivefair.com and filling out a quick form. When they sign up, StriveScan will send them a barcode via text message and email. At the college fair, students can present this barcode to college representatives to receive more information.
The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB)
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Rocky Juniors
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Junior Team!
Juniors - Idaho Higher Education Spring Tour ~ Coming Soon!
The Higher Ed Tour is an opportunity for Idaho Juniors to learn about Idaho's colleges and universities. The program will be hosted in the spring, and we encourage parents to also participate! Here is the book from last year that contains information that should be updated very soon, but you may find still valuable. A junior calendar can be found in your students junior team, to track events and tasks.
Juniors Join Remind!
Please encourage your 11th graders to join the career center Remind for updates!
Last Names
A-J: Text @Grizz11A-J to 81010
Last Names
K-Z: Text @Grizz11K-Z to 81010
Scoir for Juniors!
YouScience is a one-of-a-kind career discovery profile designed to help students better understand their natural abilities, broaden awareness of career opportunities, and make more informed decisions about their individual pathway from school to career. Instead of the traditional interest assessments given in the past, YouScience utilizes interactive activities/games to assess student aptitudes and interests, leading to information that can be helpful when identifying “best fit” career options. Since YouScience measures aptitudes (or natural abilities), this is not the type of assessment that students take multiple times throughout high school. With this in mind, YouScience can only be completed one time per account. School counselors cannot reset this assessment.
To take the assessment log into your Scoir account, go to "Profile" and scroll down to the You Science button. This assessment takes about two hours to complete but is broken down into fifteen minutes tests that can be saved, so you do not have to complete it in one sitting.
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ALL ROCKY STUDENTS
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All Grade Levels Financial Aid Night!
WHO: Any 9th-12th grade student
WHEN: Thursday, November 4, 2021
TIME: 6:30 am- 7:30 pm
WHERE: Rocky
HOST: David Ries, an expert college financial planner is our guest host
COST: Free!
Sign-up Here! Please note we have a senior financial aid night in October for just seniors, so please look above first and see if that event works for you and if not, feel free to register for this one!!
Scholarships
To help students understand the value of scholarships I encourage them to break down the time they spend working on them into an hourly wage. If a student spends 20 hours applying to scholarships and earns $1,000 that is $50 and hour! That usually puts it into perspective for them.
Scholarship Tips!
1. Apply to as many local scholarships as you can, you have a better chance at winning!
2. Don't stop after just a few, it is important to put in as many as you can because you never know what ones will pay out.
3. Make sure that you are eligible and follow the rules. Small errors on a scholarship application can quickly make you ineligible and cause you to waste time.
4. Create a well polished essay by having someone edit it and adjust it for multiple scholarships.
5. Remember merit aid! Colleges give away the largest pool of money and it usually based off of a students GPA, make sure that scholarships are stackable and can be combined together,
6. Spend time finding scholarships! A good place to start is using a database and I have a list of databases on my website.
Freshmen and Sophomores - A Time to Explore!
Plan Smart - Explore how much the life you want for yourself will cost!
Watch Career Videos- What do air traffic controllers do? Watch videos to learn about different careers.
Strengths and Skills Self Evaluation- Evaluate your own strengths and skills using this framework.
What Can I Do With This Major?- Explore majors and what careers they lead to.
ASK YOUR FRESHMAN ABOUT…
The information presented in Freshman Cornerstone classes regarding the importance of getting involved at school and in the community and how it relates to scholarship applications. Students were given a list of clubs/sports at RMHS, as well as a list of volunteer opportunities in the community. All freshmen will receive a presentation starting in December and through January on the importance of GPA in the college process and study skills.
How Will My Credits Transfer?
There are three basic tools to help parents and students in this process and the first is a course equivalency tool. Each college typically has a tool that allows you to view how classes from other colleges transfer into that college. The second tool is a colleges four year plan, this lists the classes required for a specific major. The last tool are the lists of dual credit class offered at Rocky, through IDLA, and through the various colleges in the area.
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Ms. Teseo- College and Career Counselor
Email: teseo.sierra@westada.org
Website: https://www.westada.org/domain/6777
Phone: (208) 350-4362
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockyMountainHighSchoolMeridianID
Molly Mills- Career Center Assistant
Email: mills.molly@westada.org
Phone: 208-350-4340
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockyMountainHighSchoolMeridianID