Hold Fast To Dreams: Counseling, Youth Voice and Strategies for College Access and Success November 4, 2014

GRADUATE NYC! A college completion initiative of the NYC DOE and CUNY that aims to spur policy and practice change to impact the college readiness and completion outcomes of the more than 1.5 million NYC students in K-12 & college Four Key Areas of Impact College Planning & Advisement – NYC College Line Identify & Scale Best Practices with Schools, Colleges & CBOs Data Sharing, Research & Policy Academic Readiness 2

AGENDA Learning Objectives: What will I know – or be thinking about - at the end of this day? 1.What are the unique problems of practice in counseling low-income, first generation college bound students to select best-fit (most likely to be successful) colleges? 2.How do college access counselors balance advocacy and respect for student voice in effective counseling? 3.How can effective counselors incorporate youth voice and an understanding of the challenges of college success into practices and routines that support school or program-wide college-going cultures? 3

AGENDA 8:45 – 8:55: Welcome: Lisa Castillo Richmond, Executive Director, Graduate NYC! 8:55 – 9:40: Hold Fast to Dreams: Student and Author Panel 9:40 – 10:45: Reflections on Problems of Practice: Counselor as Advocate 10:45- 11:00: BREAK 11:00 – 12:00: Best Practice Highlight: Tools to Support Youth Voice in a School-wide College Going Culture 12: -12:30: LUNCH 12:30-1:15: Panel: College Success Programs 1:15 – 2:00: Learning from Our Students 2:00 - 2:30: College Application Week 4

Office of Postsecondary Readiness (OPSR) Resources 1) Publications: College Planning Timeline Parent Guide: Planning for Success Student College Planning Handbook 2) Free College Counseling Training: NYC DOE is offering Effective Postsecondary Planning training in order to develop the capacity of all high schools to provide college counseling. Schools can register at: 3) College and Career Planning Monthly E-Newsletter OPSR’s monthly newsletter with best practices and strategies for improving college and career planning. For latest edition click here. To subscribe to newsletter 5

College Application Week: Nov A statewide effort to raise awareness about the importance of college planning and to support schools in helping low-income, first generation college bound students apply. Here in NYC, we’d like this week to be a citywide celebration of college-going cultures in our schools and an opportunity to bring extra supports into schools. Our goal is to have 100% of all NYC DOE high schools participate! For more information about this initiative and to register visit: Citywide College Application Week Activities and Services CUNY-led workshops on financial aid and admissions in NYC high schools College Week Live, virtual college fair. To register click here.here Application assistance at high schools from volunteers from local community-based organizations, CUNY and the College Board App-a-Thon: Training on using college access “apps” with students 6

Questions about OPSR Resources? Contact: Sugeni Pérez-Sadler Associate Director, College and Career Planning NYC DOE Office of Postsecondary Readiness 7