1. As an educated adult, how can I shape my community in ways that I think are important?

2. How will I approach major life decisions as I gain full responsibility for myself?

3.

3. Where will I go to college, and how am I going to finance it? 

PROGRAM GOALS

What we hope to achieve…

1. Students will learn the importance of registering and voting. They will develop a deeper appreciation of one issue important to them that is clearly impacted by the political process.
2. Seniors will develop tools for assessing themselves honestly, investigating situations they are faced with, and making positive decisions.
3. Students will develop an appropriate list of schools to apply to, and be admitted to a college that has a program that suits them. They will also have made application for financial aid. If they are not choosing to go directly to college, they will have an alternative job plan or plan to acquire work training.

PROGRAM OUTCOMES

A developed 12^th grader will…

1. a. understand the various ways they can have input in community decisions and will at a minimum be registered to vote.
2. be prepared to take control of their own lives as adults.
3. know what they are going to pursue after high school and will have taken the appropriate steps to enroll in college or seek employment.

CURRICULAR METHODS

Ways we will achieve these outcomes include…

1. All seniors will receive instruction on how the local, state and federal governments try to deal with social issues and what impact this activity has. They will then research one issue and determine if they find government action effective.
2. Senior classes will address various situations people face in life, such as job interviews, relationships, marriage and parenting. Students will use literature to examine such questions and practice decision making through role play activities.
3. All seniors will attend at least two college presentations in the fall. They will be given instruction in class on finding and filling out applications and the FAFSA form, and identifying appropriate financial aid opportunities.

ASSESSMENT

Ways we will measure the degree to which we have achieved our outcomes…

1. All seniors will have a graded issue paper completed. At least 75% of 18 year-old graduates will be registered to vote.
2. Students will report that they feel readier to live on their own and make good decisions.
3. At least 90% of the senior class will apply and be accepted to college. Those not choosing to apply will have a plan on file in the counselor’s office for what they do plan to do after high school. 

RESOURCES

External resources that we will use to implement our plan…

1. Materials from the Mikva Challenge and Close-up Foundation on voter registration drives.
2. Guest speakers from a variety of places, such as employment services and social service agencies.
3. Visits from college representatives. Staff at college admissions offices. 

TIMELINE

Major activities between March 2005 and June 2006 including planning, implementation, and evaluation…

April-June, 2005: Faculty will review the program planned by the Student Dev. Committee. Academic departments will build political issue projects and life skills curriculum into their standard curricula.

September, 2005: Political issue and life skills curriculum will be implemented in certain courses. Counseling department will take primary responsibility for college applications.

April-June, 2006: Student Development Committee will evaluate the success of the program according to the criteria established above.

PROGRAM STRUCTURE

We will use the following model(s) to implement our Student Development  Strategy…

We intend to follow model four in integrating student development into the curriculum of regular courses. This would involve giving particular departments responsibility for different pillars with different classes. We may make occasional use of advisory periods as per model one.