January 2018 - Simplifying Planning for College

By Lindsay Czech, Director of College Advising, Perrysburg High School

It has been my pleasure to serve as the Director of College Advising at Perrysburg High School since this position was created in 2013. Throughout the last several years, my number one goal has been to make sure that students and families going through the college application process know that they are not alone. I understand that it can be an overwhelming and intimidating process at times. I want every Perrysburg family to know that they have a resource available to them for anything to do with college – whether that is applying for college, applying for scholarships or navigating through financial aid.

One of the hallmarks of my job is communication. In order to do my job well, I need to communicate effectively with students, families and staff. I try to achieve this through group presentations, emails, quarterly newsletters, Schoology posts, one-on-one meetings and workshops.

When students start at Perrysburg High School as freshmen, the first thing we do is introduce them to Naviance, which is our college and career planning software. Every PHS student is given a Naviance account and parents/guardians are able to make an account as well. With Naviance, students may take career interest inventories and assessments, set goals, perform college searches and search for scholarships. We meet with students as sophomores to again demonstrate Naviance and its various tools and resources. The hope is that students will be using this resource throughout their high school career. Senior year, we use Naviance to send transcripts and letters of recommendation to colleges electronically.

The college search ramps up during junior year. The school counselors and I do one last Naviance workshop with juniors and, at the end of the school year, I do a “college kick-off” presentation for juniors with goals and instructions for them to work on over the summer. Students are encouraged to take the ACT during junior year and all PHS juniors take the SAT during a school day in April. This school year, one of our school counselors, Dawn Burks, and I have been offering a monthly workshop to interested juniors called Lunch N Learn: College & Career 101, where a different topic related to applying to college is discussed each month during students lunch periods.

Beginning in August of senior year, I work closely with students to get applications completed. Our first event of the year is a Common App Boot Camp, which takes place before school starts. The Common Application is one online application that students fill out and may then send to over 700 colleges and universities that are a part of the system. This application opens each year on August 1st and, through this boot camp, seniors are able to get started on the application right away, while receiving assistance from myself and college representatives. Throughout the fall of senior year, there are numerous presentations and reminders for getting applications, transcripts, test scores, essays and letters of recommendation submitted to colleges.

Once applications are submitted, the seniors and I switch our focus to scholarships and paying for college. One of the most important ways to secure funding for college is through filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA becomes available each year October 1st, so in September, PHS hosts a Financial Aid Night for parents and guardians to learn more about completing this application. Throughout the second semester of senior year, seniors are encouraged to use Naviance to find scholarships as well as complete the Local Scholarship Common Application in order to be in the running for local scholarships. Perrysburg is fortunate that we have had many very generous donors, and as a result, we currently offer approximately 50 local scholarships to our high school seniors.

One of my favorite days each school year is Decision Day. May 1st is a nationally recognized deadline for students to commit to the college or university they plan to attend. Each year on or around May 1st, students are encouraged to wear a T-shirt from the college they are going to attend and, throughout their lunch hours, they sign banners, have food and celebrate their plans for their next steps. On this day, we also share information with them about our robust alumni network and all of the benefits that they will continue to have access to as Jacket Alumni as they move through college and into career. Staff also wear their college shirts and it is a wonderful opportunity for students in the younger grades to see the wide variety of collegiate options available to them.

In my role, maintaining strong relationships with colleges is essential and as such, I am an active member of both the National Association of College Admissions Counseling and the Ohio Association of College Admissions Counseling. Through these organizations, I am able to stay current on trends in the field and network with college admissions representatives. College reps are always anxious to meet with and talk to Perrysburg High School students and this past fall we had 53 different colleges visit us at PHS during the school day to talk with students about their institutions.

Since this position was created and I joined the school district in 2013, we have surveyed students every year and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. I have received calls from other school districts that are now adding a similar position, asking about how we approach it and the value it has brought our students and families. I think we are on the right track, but also every day we come up with new ideas on how we can do more outreach to students and families to try to make it as easy for them as possible to plan for that big next step.