With AP exams just 5 weeks away; it’s never too early to start reviewing. The College Board offers study guides and review exams to help you prepare. Here is a link to the College Board resources.

Throughout the year we announce career and college opportunity exploration in our center and the community. We understand that often high school students roll with the moment BUT we would like to have your support in encouraging them to sign up and attend. Each of these might only happen once every few years. All these opportunities are imported to a GOOGLE calendar that ANYONE can add to their personal calendar. Note: ical can only be imported, it is not a hyperlink. This is the ical link: Connections Event Calendar

Here are short videos to walk you through the process. Video: HOW to add to your GOOGLE calendar

Video: HOW TO Add to your Outlook Calendar

Students can sign up in Naviance, under What’s New and get a pass sent to them.

It’s spring, which means scholarship season is upon us. Sure, you may be groaning with the thought of more applications to come after your actual college applications, but working hard on scholarship applications can save you tuition cost. Here is an article to help you get started.

Now is the time to plan ahead when preparing for the college admissions process. The spring semester of junior year is the final push before students start applying to college in the fall, so students need to get serious about their college plans. Here are some suggestions to help get started.

When applying to college, many students think they know which strategies will help them attract the attention – in a good way – of admissions officers. This article addresses the gap between perception and reality about what actually matters, and what matters most, when it comes to grades, test scores, extracurricular activities and other factors.

Skills, by definition, are the expertise, talent, and understanding needed to do a job or task. Freshmen completed a short inventory named Achieveworks Skills. Our goal was to recognize skills critical in the work world that can be built over time. These skills are conscientiousness, creativity, critical thinking, leadership, and social-emotional skills. When viewing these skills and recommendations for growth, the results highlight how skills can be built over time, and which employment and career opportunities have similar skills.

As job postings are adapting to a skills-based hiring practice, we want to prepare students to speak to and demonstrate their skills. A skills-based approach emphasizes Essential Skills, which are often innate, include adaptability, leadership, communications, creativity, problem solving or critical thinking, good interpersonal skills, and the ability to collaborate with others. Throughout high school, we emphasize the importance of recognizing these important skills. Want to try a similar inventory? https://www.careeronestop.org/toolkit/Skills/skills-matcher.aspx

At TCA

Next Week in Connections, Room 1104

* Tuesday, 4/4 10:30, BINGO
* Friday, 4/7 10:30, Career Chat: Physical Therapist /Athletic Trainer – Dr. Ben Saunders Being health conscious, supportive, compassionate, confident, social and determined are some top personality traits of Physical Therapists and Athletic Trainers. An athletic trainer specifically works with athletes while a physical therapist may work with any patient who has been injured or is dealing with an illness that impacts their physical wellbeing. Come to this Career Chat and find out if this might be the right career path for you.

In the Community

Nursing Information Sessions at Pikes Peak State College, Friday April 21 from 10am-12pm at the Rampart Range Campus. Learn more about the program, discuss the different types of nursing and have your questions answered.

Virtual

Save the Date for Spring 2023 NACAC Virtual College Fairs on April 23. All fairs will feature College MatchMaking which matches students to specific colleges and universities based on the criteria they provide. Register here.

PPBEA Summer 2023 Business & Social Impact Internship Program - Students have the chance to gain valuable insight and experience inside the world of business in various occupations including digital marketing, social impact entrepreneurship, event promotion and planning, economic development and more. Deadline to apply is April 16.

Interested in STEM? Check out these competitions!

At the Summer Discovery Program of the University of Texas in Austin students can take various specialized courses or academies in STEM, fashion, digital marketing, psychology, sports management, and more.

Qualia Global Scholars is a selective, four-week, online academic enrichment summer program organized by Stanford University undergraduate and graduate students for talented pre-college students from around the world with diverse interests and backgrounds.

Interested in advancing your career in IT? Plan Your Next Move with CompTIA's IT career path planning tool and check out their IT certification programs.

Want to learn more about Cybersecurity? Students can get free access to CyberStart America, an immersive cybersecurity training game with over 200 fun-to-play challenges that are perfect for beginners. Here they can unlock a hidden interest, progress from novice to expert and demonstrate their skills to win scholarships.

Are you interested in working for the US Department of State? Discover opportunities that allow you to contribute your experiences, knowledge, and expertise to work on foreign policies, technology, security systems, buildings, and more, around the world.

Are you interested in Artificial Intelligence? Click here for more details.

The Agriscience Discovery Zone is a free resource created to engage, inform, and inspire high school-level students to increase the number who pursue careers in the field of agriscience. Students will find challenges and activities, career profiles, videos and more.

Service Opportunity: The choice to create change is yours. You have the power to make a difference and change lives, including your own. Join AmeriCorps to channel your passion into service, kickstart your career, or leave a lasting impact. Video

At iD Tech students can get hands-on with the latest tech, find like-minded friends and expert mentors, explore a university campus, and ignite a love for future learning. In person and virtual camps available.

Join Distinguished Professor, Penina Axelrad for this lecture How The GPS Changed Everything on Saturday, April 15 from 2:30-3:15 at the Aerospace Engineering Sciences Building at 3775 Discovery Drive in Boulder on the CU campus. Self-guided tours of the Aerospace Engineering Sciences Building and virtual lecture available.

The Colorado Springs Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority is offering scholarships to minority students who reside in El Paso County. Deadline to apply is April 30.

RMACAC is offering fifteen $1,000 scholarships to three students from each of their region’s states, including Colorado. Deadline to apply is April 28.

If you are looking for scholarships for women, check out these links:

FastWeb Scholarships for Women

Scholarships for Women in STEM

The Women in Architecture Scholarship is available to female students studying architecture or landscape architecture. Deadline to apply is March 31.

If you are interested in becoming an aircraft mechanic or technician, check out the United Airlines Calibrate Program. United Airlines, Houston began an apprenticeship program designed to help ease a shortage of aircraft mechanics and technicians. Click here for more information.

Consider construction. Today, nearly 90% of construction companies nationwide are having trouble finding qualified workers, according to the Associated General Contractors of America; in Washington, the proportion is 88%. Ironworkers remain in particularly short supply, along with drywall installers and sheet metal workers. More