By: Rachel Livingston, VP of Programs
The summer is a busy time at Fulfillment Fund. College Counselors and College Advisors are hard at work putting together meaningful programming for the students we serve. We know summer is an important time for students to relax, recharge, and get ready for the upcoming fall. Fulfillment Fund summer programming aims to support them with those goals by hosting a series of workshops and webinars designed to engage our students in the areas that are important to them.
In College Access/CAVE, we will be taking high school students on four virtual college tours, giving them an opportunity to virtually “see” colleges and universities they may be interested in applying to in their senior year. Virtual college tours are a fun and engaging way for high school students to find out more about a school and its programs, check out the school’s environment and location and hear from current and former students. Virtual college tours are open to all of the high school students we serve.
College Access College Counselors will be hosting several events this summer for rising seniors. In July, we will host two webinars designed to help incoming seniors prepare for the college admissions application process in the fall. Both of these webinars — “Understanding the 4 Systems of Education in CA” and “Creating your College List” — are designed to educate students about the college options available to them. Through fun and interactive presentations, students have an opportunity to ask questions about the colleges and universities throughout CA, ensuring that they understand the differences between them. Our college counselors will support rising seniors in managing all the different factors that go into creating their “College List” so that they will be ready to get their applications started in the fall.
In August, Fulfillment Fund will host a three-day Writing Workshop designed to help our seniors with creating and writing their college application essays. These workshops will provide personalized support and expert guidance from our four amazing college counselors. Students who participate will go through each step of the writing process and end with strong essay drafts for their college applications. Because we know not all our seniors will be able to attend these important writing workshops, they will be recorded and posted on the website for students to access later in the summer and fall.
Our college students will also be having some great programming this summer. The College Success team has created a series of workshops designed to stop Summer Melt — the phenomena of incoming freshmen being incomplete on their enrollment tasks for college and thus not being present at college in the fall. These workshops will support our incoming freshmen with their transition to college. They will receive personalized one-on-one support from their College Advisor to ensure that all of their enrollment tasks (including enrolling in classes and filling out financial aid documents) are completed! For our returning college students, we have several great webinars planned on topics to support them as they continue their future career exploration — “Managing Finances” and “Professional Etiquette.” Both of these webinars will give our college students an opportunity to build important skills while learning from experts in the field. The College Success team will also be hosting some fun virtual Community Building events to bring the college students together for some team building and laughs.
Summer programming is a way for us to stay connected with our students and provide some fun learning opportunities to help our students be prepared and ready for the fall.