Students Take Steps Towards Adulthood
From the time students enter seventh grade, until they graduate from high school, they are constantly participating in activities that prepare them for college. Throughout junior high and high school, students constantly have conversations with teachers and advisors about their futures. By their junior year, students are encouraged to start job shadowing, and go on college visits to get a sense of where they want to go, and what they want to get a degree in.
“Job shadowing is a big tool students have at their disposal. If you can see your career of choice first hand, it can either solidify or redirect your path,” academic advisor Stacia Barrett said. “Some students have done a job shadow and ended up with a part time job thereafter, gaining them useful work experience for their future career.”
Barrett says the biggest tip she gives to students is to know yourself. She states knowing yourself will help you decide what you really want out of college, or the major you decide to go into. Many students at Chase County take additional electives like journalism, art, agriculture, carpentry, welding or business-related courses to get a better sense of what they want to do. When students figure out their major, they can start figuring out what college they want to attend. With that, comes scholarships.
“I have been applying for scholarships and housing,” senior Avia Banks said. “My biggest challenges were definitely figuring out where would be the best college for me and what scholarships to apply for.”
For juniors, figuring out what they are interested in takes more time. As a junior, you can start taking college classes through Butler Community College. With these classes, students can get prerequisite courses out of the way, for a cheaper cost. These classes also transfer to most, if not all, of Kansas community colleges, as well as universities.
“I am currently taking college classes in high school to get them out of the way for college which will make things easier on my family and I financially,” junior Kinzie Rogers said. “I have also started looking at colleges that would be good for me and for what I’m wanting to be when I’m older.”
Students have a variety of opportunities for preparing for college. Not only can they do classes through Butler, they can also enroll in dual credit classes through the Flint Hills Technical College (FHTC). Students can also attend college fairs, Wrangler Rallies at FHTC, and can also dual enroll with FHTC. Students can also take advanced courses, such as physics, advanced math and advanced journalism. These classes also help students get a better understanding of what they want to major in.
“The curriculum and teaching structure at CCJSHS highly prepares students for their post-secondary education journey. Our teacher’s course rigor is top of the line and it shows,” Barrett said. “We have students come back constantly stating college is a walk in the park and they felt totally prepared.”
Senior Ashlee Williams takes notes for her college class. Williams will be attending McPherson college to major in publications as well as pre-dentistry. Williams participates in taking health related college courses. “I’m doing all the generic prerequisites in high school so once I go to college, I’ll be able to start myself out on all the classes specific to my Pre-Dentistry and Digital Media Technical Major,” Williams said.
Learning College Algebra, senior Cal Kohlmeier takes notes about graphs. Kohlmeier is one of many students who take advantage of a local scholarship that pays for most of the tuition for college classes. These classes are taken through Butler Community College. “Not only do I just get the college courses out of the way for less of a cost, but I feel like they also help prepare me for college and get me a jump start on my program,” Kohlmeier said.
Senior Chayla Owen dissects a sheep brain while in her Anatomy and Physiology class. Owen plans to major in Physical Therapy when she attends Wichita State University. “Taking anatomy has helped me prepare and choose my college major for next year,” Owen said. “I will be majoring in exercise science and taking the physical therapy route, so anatomy is something I will have to know.”
Working on printing her scholarship applications, senior Emily Miser works with principal Alberto Carillo. Miser will be attending Kansas State University in the fall. “Scholarships are helping me prepare for college by relieving a little bit of financial stress,” Miser said. “I’m going to a Division One college, so it’s going to be expensive. Scholarships will help me pay for college.”
Working with kindergarteners, senior Grace O’Brien participates in job shadowing at the Chase County Elementary school. O’Brien plans to attend Butler Community College in the fall, and shadowed to get an idea on what her major was going to be. O’Brien shadowed several grades, including Kindergarten. “I have always wanted to go into elementary education because of my love for kids but job shadowing really made it official,” O’Brien said. “I think it really helped prepare me because I now have some insight on what it’s like on the daily.”
Senior Jake Sollner reshapes a pipe to create a windmill for his engineering class. In the class, students have to create a working windmill. “My hands-on classes have helped me because I’ll be majoring in agriculture and wildlife which are a lot of hands-on majors,” Sollner said.
Principal Alberto Carrillo sets up computers in the library to be able to print. Seniors have local scholarships to apply for, before February. Carrillo helps students print the essays and applications for those scholarships. “Coming up soon, seniors have big scholarships due,” Carrillo said. “Our community has been gracious enough to provide seniors with scholarships they can use for college.”
Senior Paden Jahnke participates in a mock trial in government class. Jahnke plans to attend the University of Kansas to study history related courses. “I believe that our history program is superb with the current teachers, as it really helps you start questioning why some things happened,” Jahnke said. “Why did the Ottoman Empire rise? Why did Persia control the Silk Road? Why did this happen then? As someone going into Archaeology, the question of why is a pervasive one, and I am glad that our classes have allowed us to ask why.”