ICS College Committee

Event Planning Guidelines

College Info with the Pros

• Targets 9-11th grades. September.
• Two college counselors discuss college selection and application strategies for ICS high school students.
• Planning begins in August. Mid-month, confirm September date with Kathy Comeau. Past speakers have been Claire Nold-Glaser (College Planning Help) and Debbie Cossey (Ranier College Counseling). Purchase gift cards for speakers. Determine who will introduce speaker and obtain speaker bio if needed.

College Financing

• Targets all grades. October or November.
• David Aramaki, a financial planner in Bellevue with experience in planning for college expenses and navigating financial programs speaks to students and parents about financial issues. Possibly include someone to speak about scholarship resources and/or a panel of parents who have experienced the financing process. In 2008, Kathy will also walk through the 10-12 grade sections of the college planning outline.
• Planning begins in August. Mid month, confirm October date with Kathy Comeau and determine who will contact David Aramaki. Info regarding Western Undergraduate Exchange, www.wue.wiche.edu can also be provided. Financial aid office at UW, Western Washington University or WSU may have staff interested in talking about scholarships. Try to find parents with mixed funding choices. Ask parents to discuss what worked well, what didn’t.
• Purchase gift cards for speakers. Determine who will introduce speaker and obtain speaker bio, if needed.

Career Fair

• Targets 8th-9th grade students. January or February.
• The Committee solicits persons from outside of ICS to come and talk about their career paths. In the past, we’ve had speakers with backgrounds in law enforcement, teaching and martial arts. The speakers are asked to comment on aspects about their job experiences, such as their funniest moment or who was most influential along their career path, and how their education assisted them in pursing their passion, changing career paths and following opportunities as they arose.
• Schedule date with Kathy in September. November: solicit parent volunteers to help identify speakers. Consider persons in sports, music, art, business, law, software development, aeronautics, entrepreneurs, government, charitable/humanitarian organizations, education and medicine. Begin inviting speakers in January. Work with Kathy on sending ICS profile to potential speakers. Purchase gift cards for speakers. Determine who will introduce speaker and obtain speaker bio, if needed.

Mini-College Fair

• Targets 9-11th grade students. May.
• Colleges that continue to show interest in ICS students are invited to a mini-college fair for ICS students and their families. The college reps discuss their schools and give our students a chance to ask questions and learn more about their schools.
• Call UW in September or October to at least two dates when they would have someone available in May (after schools are done with the college application process). Work with Kathy on selecting a date. Arrange for a room with separate tables for each college rep. Try for 7 schools. Kathy arranges for the schools to attend.
• Solicit 1 parent volunteer for each school attending to host rep. Announcements should suggest that students come prepared to ask reps questions such as what makes their school special and what are some little known facts about the school.
• Purchase gift cards for reps.

College Visit Focus Week

May.

Kathy would like to lead a focus week trip to visit Oregon colleges. She’d like a parent volunteer to assist planning and chaperoning the trip.

Study Skills and Test Taking Course

Currently on hold.

College Planning I and II – Make the Best of Your Education

Note: This outline will need to be reviewed and updated annually. Kathy is considering how best to schedule a meeting with parents and students to review outline.