Press Start to continue

By KEITH COUSINS

Staff Writer

COEUR d’ALENE — At North Idaho College Monday, 55 area educators gathered to learn and share about the best ways to get students ready to continue their education after high school.

The Student Readiness Symposium, sponsored by the Idaho State Department of Education, brought together high school, college and career advisers, high school counselors, and school administrators and guided them through eight hours of hands-on training. Matt McCarter, Idaho Department of Education director of student engagement, said there has been an increase in support at the legislative level to encourage Idaho kids to continue their education after high school.

“This is the cultivation of a professional community through guided discussions and networking,” McCarter added. “We are preparing the professionals in Idaho schools to get students involved and getting the most out of the new opportunities available to them.”

One of the activities at the symposium involved attendees working together on helping a student, who had a fictional name attached to a real set of experiences, navigate their way through high school on the right path for what they desired to do following graduation.

Attendees ended their day going to five separate roundtable discussions, led by experts, on topics ranging from academic planning and advising to financial aid literacy.

“What I love the most about these is networking with other professionals in the field and getting new ideas,” said Brittany Preston, who attended the event and is a college and career adviser at Lake City High School. “This also grounds us in the knowledge of how many opportunities are out there for kids and how we can find creative ways to expose them to these opportunities.”

On Monday night, parents were invited to attend an event focused on answering their questions and gathering information about what the state can improve in the realm of access to information and other educational resources.

“We want to de-mystify the process and what it means to go on after high school,” McCarter said of the event for parents.

Symposiums like the one at NIC will take place throughout the state this week. The events are co-sponsored by the Idaho Digital Learning Academy, Idaho Department of Labor and Idaho Career Technical Education.

“We are excited to pull people together from secondary schools and higher education from across the state to talk about successes, best practices, and how they are supporting students as they strive toward their hopes and dreams after high school,” said State Superintendent Sherri Ybarra. “I also am thrilled that we are offering a parent outreach at three of the sites.”

The daylong event will offer participants hands-on activities focused on how to help students with different needs navigate the path to graduation and higher education.