Maureen Huthman Alterations This year Moving the check in table away from the auditorium and into

the cafeteria improved the crowding that was an issue last year. Attendance was about 50% last year and we wanted to boost that. One of our biggest efforts was providing seniors with a continental breakfast at the beginning of the seminar. After hearing that the AP English teacher was basing an assignment off of Essay session, we approached other English 12 teachers to see if they were interested in offering a small extra credit assignment in order to boost attendance. Attendance was also addressed more in the meetings before the seminar, warning students it was a required day of school and attendance would be taken. It was very effective; attendance rose to 80%. Effort was put into making the interview session more interactive and to clarify the purpose of the session. This was to be a job interview session, not a college interview session. Although the request was certainly there for college interviews, it did not work out to have a college interviewer. However, to rectify this issue, presenters were informed to discuss with students how many of the skills you use in regular job interviews can be used for college interviews. Per suggestion of a parent last year, the interview session focused on mock interviews, which got great feedback. Job Hunting Skills was a new session that replaced the job and scholarship search session. The old session just utilized a computer lab and really didnt have anyone interacting with the students. The new session had a presenter from the VEC who talked about networking, resumes, personal statements, and other job hunting skills. It seemed a little dry, but the kids responded positively to it. College Athletics session was added and very successful. Both volunteers and students responded positively. Presenters talked briefly about the NCAA clearing house, and generally about the responsibilities and whats expected of student athletes in college. The Alumni panel worked better than last year with the prompts for the presenters (a suggestion from last year), although I am not sure how much the second Alumni session followed that. The first session had young teachers here who graduated from WAHS, which I dont think all students realized, and they did a great job. It was difficult to find Alumni. The PVCC presentation was much more effective with an actual representative from PVCC. Next year Perhaps we should scrap the Financial Aid workshop. It was reported to be boring last year by students and parents; we had a different presenter this year and it was still boring. There is also a Financial Aid Night in January for parents of WAHS students. It seemed

Maureen Huthman Alterations as though these sessions were more directed toward adults anyway, per results of the feedback from parents and students. It was obvious that there needs to be work on teacher buy-in. While the addition of the English teachers providing incentives to their students was extremely helpful in increasing attendance, the actual teacher volunteers were minimally participatory. Staff were e-mailed their duties a week in advance, which is enough time for them to read it, but not too much time that they forget about it. Several were not where they were supposed to be during the morning rush, which contributed to the chaos of the morning. Perhaps next year a short debriefing session in person with staff about what should be going on in the morning organization would be helpful. I heard mixed things about volunteer supervisors. Several parents felt unneeded and extraneous, like there were too many of them in the rooms. However, I also heard from one teacher that she was the only one in the room, and another time I personally went into a room that had no teacher in it. I did feel that 4 volunteers per room may have been extraneous, but I am hesitant knowing the lack of involvement of the staff. Next year, perhaps the parents should be put more to use with set-up and clean up, and then be dismissed if they so choose. However, this will require teachers to be more responsible about being in their assigned rooms. Only two staff members responded to the e-mail survey about how they thought the event went. Buy-in and a debriefing will possibly help this issue as well. Have separate job and college interview sessions. A session on credit from the Credit Union people may be good to add; many students requested it. Also, the budgeting session could be more interactive. A suggestion would be to have the students guess how much the cost of monthly bills are and then reveal the actual cost. Perhaps this credit session could also focus on real-life budgeting, as it appears the budgeting session that is currently running largely focuses on budgeting for college. Improve survey responses to Needs Assessment, a significantly lower number of students answered the post-survey than the pre-survey. I think staff investment and making sure they know their duties will also help with this. There was way too much food in the hospitality suite, and it still wasnt utilized quite as much as it could have been. Perhaps just making sure to remind presenters and volunteers that it exists and where it is would make it more useful.