Paving the Way for First-Generation Students: Denise El Habach on Innovating College Preparation and Career Readiness

Ever wondered what it takes to truly empower first-generation college students? Denise El Habach, a fierce advocate and a Gear Up Coach at Youngker High School, Buckeye, Arizona, has some answers that might surprise you. With an insider's perspective, Denise takes us on a journey into the inspiring and challenging world of working with first-generation college-bound students. From helping these students navigate the maze of college admissions and FAFSA, to fostering a supportive, college-going culture at school, she's got it covered.

We'll  unpack the powerhouse tool - the College, Career, and Future Ready Toolkit. Denise and her colleagues have poured their expertise into developing this toolkit, designed to demystify the post-secondary transition process and engage families in their children's academic journeys. From summer counseling sessions to unravelling the complex steps of the college enrollment process, Denise's approach is all about simplifying and reducing confusion. She also touches on the potential impact of the delayed FAFSA timeline on students.

In the final segment of our conversation, Denise offers insights on how to nurture a college-going culture, the importance of celebrating milestones like Decision Day and the vast pool of resources available for first-generation students. She stresses the importance of equipping students with the information they need to confidently navigate the college enrollment process. Wrapping up the discussion, Denise invites listeners to share their feedback or express interest in joining us as a guest on the podcast. This is an episode that promises to leave you with a deeper understanding and appreciation of the challenges and triumphs of empowering first-generation college students. Tune in!

The College, Career, and Future Ready Toolkit can be found here.

Denise's bio
I have been in education since 2004 as a high school teacher, a school counselor and now a GEAR UP Coach.  My role is to help students and their families understand the options and steps of post secondary transition and to establish a college going culture.  I've been a Gear UP coach since 2020 and I truly believe I found my dream job!  I also love being outdoors like camping, fishing, hiking etc spending time with my husband, our two beautiful children and our dog!  

Please help others find this podcast by rating and reviewing wherever you listen!

You can find me at https://www.firstgenfm.com/ and on LinkedIn. My email is jen@firstgenfm.com.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:14

Hi and welcome to First Gen FM, a podcast for educators who want to learn more about serving, working with, celebrating first generation college bound and college students. Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. Thank you, denise, who is my guest today. Denise Elhabish is here and she is from Yonker High School in Buckeye, arizona, and she is a gear up coach, so I'm really excited to talk to someone who is in the high schools working with first generation college bound students about what they're doing and how they're doing it, and so we're going to look at the college career and future ready toolkit. We're going to talk about establishing a college going culture and Denise is going to be our guide today, so welcome, denise.

Speaker 2: 1:05

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited just to talk about probably my favorite topic of all time.

Speaker 1: 1:12

Oh, I'm sure, I'm sure, but let's start with a little bit of your story. What was the spark that got you into education and, specifically, you know, wanting to work with first generation college bound students?

Speaker 2: 1:24

I think people will be shocked to know that I was super shy when I was younger in the public education system and I wasn't a great academic student, but one thing I really did well was math and explaining it to others Well, so that was my spark was I got so almost in a drunken rush of being able to teach my peers or my friends how to do a math problem and they were so excited that they understood it, and then they would send more people to me and I kept doing it again. It was awesome and so that was kind of like kickstarted my path to education and I taught health for a while is really intrigued with the mental health, social, emotional side of it.

Speaker 2: 2:10

And so I got my degree in counseling and found my way to Arizona. Someone called me up and told me about this position. I'm like this sounds like a dream job. I can't wait. Hopefully I get it. I'm grateful that I'm here and, yeah, I got the position and that's where I'm at now.

Speaker 1: 2:27

That's awesome. So do you do? Do you still use your your finely honed math and math teaching skills and your counseling sort of together in this work that you're doing?

Speaker 2: 2:37

So I think the math is coming off. It's a different now, but the story behind it and letting kids know you really have the power to do whatever it is you want to do. You just got to make up your mind that that's what you're going to do and move forward with it. And I share my story of how I struggled. It was not a great high school student, you know. I didn't know what I was doing. It felt very lost and not realizing at the time. I was also first generation and so, just like letting them know, like human to human, like I, just my mind was made up to do what I was going to do and I just went for it. And so, yeah, the math has lost and that's like another language, but the counseling skills and just the understanding of the post-secondary transition piece of it is a huge part of what I do.

Speaker 1: 3:27

Yeah, and that is a huge transition and I don't, I don't think students give themselves enough credit for, for getting ready for and making that transition for sure, and we might touch upon that a little bit later. So tell me about this what are you called the college career and future ready toolkit that you use?

Speaker 2: 3:45

So we had the opportunity to submit a proposal to present at a conference and I've never done this before and like, wow, this is exciting and nerve wracking when people don't come, or what if they get up and leave, like we're like. So we really started brainstorming with my crew so there's more gear up, people that I work with in the state of Arizona and what would we want to get out of a session. And then we kind of started from there and we created the toolkit for people to use borrow, steal whatever idea they can, as much as their heart desires, so they don't have to reinvent the wheel, so not just hearing about it, actually giving them the tangibles. So anything we created presentations, the worksheet, flyers, all of that of our best practices, of where we really saw success is all in the toolkit that anyone can add Access. That's great.

Speaker 1: 4:42

And what kind of conversations did you have about what you would put in there and what is in there?

Speaker 2: 4:49

So we really started talking about at each site.

Speaker 2: 4:52

Right, we all been there, done that, we all have the same goals and we all do things a little bit differently.

Speaker 2: 4:59

So we started talking about our superpower, right, like what each campus has, if they're super out power, and then we all put our two cents in and we're like, okay, this is amazing.

Speaker 2: 5:09

So things like growing a college, going culture what does that look like? Increasing knowledge and experience with the process, with students and really getting them to understand what it means for post-secondary transition. Increasing family engagement, getting parents on board we do a big senior family night kickoff for the beginning of the school year, so all the tools for that as far as how we invite them, how we promote what we send home, how we get the kids involved, what we order for food and all these other tips and tricks to increase participation and then them walking away with. What we're hoping for is the connection between what we've been telling their kids and what they can be doing to help at home, kind of marry at that point. And so that's kind of the highlight of the toolkit when we get to the end is everything that we've done has laid the foundation, and then, once we get to senior year, we kind of piece everything together for the action step.

Speaker 1: 6:18

Yeah, I love that. I love bringing the families in, because there's such an important support system that sometimes get overlooked or sometimes not looked at as allies as much as they should be. So I love that you bring them in kind of in the senior year and say like, hey, look at all this. So now I have all these questions based on what you said. What do you find are some of the myths that students or myths or misinformation, however you want to think of it that students are coming in with about going to college?

Speaker 2: 6:50

I think two big ones. One they think it's too hard, Like they can't do it.

Speaker 1: 6:57

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 6:58

I can't go to college, it's too hard. I think the other one is that I can't afford it. And so we break that down with kids a lot and we're going to talk about you as an individual in self-discovery and understanding the potential that's out there, and why are you limiting yourself and where is that coming from and how do we move past it and things like that. And we just let them know about you. Hear that it's hard work, it's a transitional period, just like leaving eighth grade to go into high school is a transitional period. But so we really help them get more confident about the process and that there's more ways to get from point A, which is graduating high school, to point B, which is their career. I really feel like helps them feel more empowered and less intimidated. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 7:50

Yeah, I'm just going to say too is that it's hard? Is that about just the admissions process, which, granted, is hard because it's not really all that transparent, or is it about the work that they're going to have to do in college to get to the careers? Is it a combination of those things? Or do you find students are just so freaked out about admissions that they're not even thinking about what's next in college?

Speaker 2: 8:16

I feel like for our students where they're at a lot of that, yes, but not even the admissions. Once they do admissions, I agree that it's not necessarily intuitive, but when we're there doing it with them and then it happens, and then they get accepted, they're very excited. For me, where the barrier really comes with the enrollment process, I feel like all those steps that come in after the application is so cumbersome and so intimidating for a kid, where I think it's easy for them to throw their hands up and say, okay, I'm done. I don't get this, I don't understand this terminology, I don't know what they're asking me. I did this already. All those things come to mind. And so we offer summer counseling. Oh, fantastic. Once they graduate, we set up appointments all summer to help them with all that.

Speaker 2: 9:05

It is not intuitive. I'm looking at this. I'm like kid, I don't know either. Let's call Right, right. It doesn't make sense to me. I don't get it either. Let's figure it out together. But I can see for a lot of kids they were doing it on their own, especially if they don't have anyone else, I've done it. It falls by the wayside, but yeah.

Speaker 1: 9:26

Yeah, so are some of those things, maybe responding for verification requests from financial aid or and housing information and probably like, oh, do you need insurance or should you wave insurance? Are those the kinds of things you're talking about, that they're working through?

Speaker 2: 9:44

Yes, and it's some kids. We have really good opportunities here in Arizona where kids can get free tuition and fees and their campuses are drivable, close, so they won't live on campus but they're getting their four-year degree for free. So those kids, for example, there's a process to disconnect or discontinue the housing. Part of it is not intuitive at all. Now they're getting billed for housing and their amount of living. I thought Ari told them they wasn't. So it's so fine Interest things. That's all case by case and everyone's in a different scenario, connecting their FAFSA, like you said, verification, or simply with our community colleges. They don't even know. The kids filled the FAFSA out like mid year, their senior year. The community college won't process it until June, sometime in their class to start in August. So they're panicking because they're getting billed Like you're all right, don't pay it, we already have it covered. It just takes a while just for them to understand timelines and all those fine pieces that are really just nerve-racking for a kid who's never done it before.

Speaker 1: 10:53

Right, right, and how would they know? And that financial aid piece I shake my head but I also have to laugh. I mean, it's just so backwards. It's like we know you're going to get financial aid, but we're going to bill you, so first we're going to cause you to just worry, and then suddenly then we're going to take the worry away as we disperse your scholarship.

Speaker 1: 11:14

It's like there must be a way to say like let's not bill these students yet because until we show them that it's like zero or a small balance in order, there must be a way to change that policy. Although, knowing what we know now about when the FAFSA is going to come out and when the colleges are going to get that information, this is probably not the year maybe to change all that. So if anybody so if anybody's listening hasn't heard, the FAFSA is not going to be available now to December 31st, but they're going to be delayed processing the information to the colleges. So the colleges are probably going not going to get anything until the end of January. So that's just going to delay everybody from getting their package, especially any early action and early decision folks. So kind of another hurdle.

Speaker 1: 11:59

And for first gen students figuring that out and is it me? Is it something I did? Is it something I didn't do? I'm so glad they have you, denise, and people like you to sit down with them through that, especially in the summer, because I think when school counselors leave, when school gets out and they're not really in college yet orientation hasn't started. They don't have any connection to the university they're going to yet, and their high school is out of session, so they're just like having to do things on their own. So what you're doing is phenomenal, thank you.

Speaker 2: 12:32

Thank you. So rewarding, so rewarding, but it's a little stressful. I feel like I should try to. I think about all the kids that don't come in or that I reach out to, that don't respond, and it's like I think they're OK, I'm hoping they're OK and I'm looking at some of this and I want to know what to do. I was on my own, so hopefully that comes more and more part of our college going process, as I'm knowing we're here all summer Like come on in, the door is open.

Speaker 2: 13:01

We'll have a snack coming out, yeah.

Speaker 1: 13:04

Yeah, We'll have a snack and we have air conditioning. I imagine you say that a lot too, right, being in Arizona. So it's interesting. You talk about a college ready and you talk about career and future ready. So are there different parts of it where you don't necessarily skip the college part, but maybe some students we know not all students go to college, but you talk about the career and futures. And what does that look like for your program and your toolkit?

Speaker 2: 13:32

I feel like we have a spoiled set up in a way, because we are grateful to have a class, and this spirals from the Gear Up Grant that's called Future Ready. It's required for all of our juniors to take as an elective and we're able to slide that in because we're on a block schedule. We don't have a traditional six hour or six class 55 minute class periods. We have four classes a semester. They're 90 minutes long.

Speaker 2: 14:04

And so it's allowed to have more flexibility with CTE programs and completers and things like that, and so the Future Ready classes built at that time, and so we laid a foundation with 9th and 10th grade. We do presentations, we invite them to workshops or field trips and things like that, and then we get to Future Ready and it's all about them, since we're down right from the get go. It's all about self discovery and exploration and really taking the time to learn what's out there, because we're honestly ignorant. There's so much out there for every kid. That is just like that. Don't feel like you have to fit yourself in the typical. I want to be in business, I want to be in medical Like that's great if that's what you want to do. But let's really be more specific. Like what about it? Do you really want to do? I'm not sure. Okay, let's get after it. So we start right away with personality assessments and career assessments that really bring it down, not just with pathway, but like specific careers that they would do well.

Speaker 2: 15:08

That based off their personality and their skill set and their academics. Then we either set up job shadowing opportunity so they can see and learn what it's like, or a very popular one just a little bit easier to manage is phone calls. We have a huge directory that we collected over the years so that kids have access. Oh, this is Barbara. I want to be a Barbara. All right, call three different barbers. These are the questions you can ask them. You can ask them your own questions too, but if you're stuck or you get nervous, you don't know what to say, and this is what will help you really learn what the job is like. These are questions that you can ask, and so it's an assignment that they work on to really learn. Is this really what I want to do or is it not? Either way that's successful to me. Then we jump in as gear up coaches and we present a lot, do workshops, a lot on pathways. How do I become a barber?

Speaker 1: 16:03

There's more than one way to become a barber?

Speaker 2: 16:05

How do I get into nursing there's more than one way to do that and really detailing their plan. Then we tell them pick two and go after both of those plans as if you're your plan A. You're opening up the door for success when you do that and opportunity and you go through the process and then we see what happens. I feel like really gives them that sense of security and confidence to move forward with the action steps when they become a senior.

Speaker 1: 16:33

Yeah, I love that. Have a plan A, have a plan B, maybe even a plan C or D, and keep your options open until you have to make that decision and continue to collect more information as you're going through. I also love that you give them some questions. If they're a student who's either particularly shy or just doesn't even know where to start, they're like oh, I have some questions I can ask to get me going. My guess is the people who signed up to take the phone calls from the students are going to warm up and help those students, just come into their own and then start to ask the questions that they really have.

Speaker 2: 17:10

Yeah, they just wrote about it. It's super cute, Like we hear. Well, the kids record it so that we can help them. Do you know what they were saying there? What did you think about this and whatever. It really gets them excited about the process and they're not so intimidated. It's nerve-wracking. I told them I was a kid as a junior.

Speaker 1: 17:32

I wouldn't be doing that.

Speaker 2: 17:33

We give them a lot of encouragement and empowerment from it. I was like look what you just did. Now you know, now you have connections. You haven't started yet and you're already making connections. You're 16 years old, yeah.

Speaker 1: 17:48

That networking piece and that I mean it's really that willingness to ask for help, to go out there and say I don't have the answers to this, I'm going to reach out to someone. Even though you've said it all up, they have to do it and I think that, whether they go into a career or whether they go to college, having that experience of oh yeah, I just called this person, I can do that now in college, I can ask for help, I can reach out to people. I love that. That's such a wonderful program.

Speaker 2: 18:20

Okay, thank you. Yeah, we're super lucky.

Speaker 1: 18:22

Yeah, was there anything when you were putting it together that you were just like, oh my gosh, like I hadn't thought of this and maybe somebody else had? This is such a good idea and I'm going to do it all the time now.

Speaker 2: 18:36

I think with the parent engagement piece really involving students in the process. We went to one of the gear up conferences.

Speaker 2: 18:49

We went to a session that talked about increasing parent engagement. Now impactful it is to have students film and then inviting their parents to come. I had a video of my kid inviting me to something. I could have thought it was the silliest thing in the world. I was like, yes, kid, I'm going to go, I'll go to your elementary school, applejuice Fighter, whatever. Because they invited me, I pulled out your heartstrings and so really having kids or the aftermath. We started our senior family nights, a very now built and I feel like, to our school culture deal. Having the people that went through it already, videotaping them and inviting the people to come to the following year one and what they got out of it and why they thought was so successful for them, personally, I feel like really helped us. Then doing as much as we can in the languages that people speak other than English.

Speaker 1: 19:51

We have a high Spanish population.

Speaker 2: 19:54

Even if they do speak English. They are more comfortable with Spanish Studying home, not just like the verbiage, but the videos. We had seniors who graduated speaking in Spanish with a QR code. It's scanned to a YouTube video on the postcard when we mailed it home Like please come to senior family night, that's all in Spanish. Then scan this and then they're talking more about it and get really increased. Then our population of Spanish speaking families and we hosted their own Spanish speaking session. Then it feel like they were sitting there in the dark not knowing what was going on.

Speaker 1: 20:31

Right, or then the student has to be there too to translate while someone speaking. Yeah, I love all these things. Clearly they all roll into creating a college going culture. What have you found to be successful at Yonker, or most successful, or how long have you been doing this, even at Yonker, to get the college going culture? Have you seen changes?

Speaker 2: 20:57

So your grant is unique in a way. The first year the coaches are not even involved at all. I wasn't even involved in the process at all of creating the future ready class, not the idea that they had. So year two was actually my first year working with the grant with COVID. So that was a unique again in itself. So year three, which was my second year, was my first time really on campus. Throughout an entire year I just realized visibility and consistency. I really has springboarded Like this natural off, like our tongue, like we talked about. We have a senior law in sky that kids get Right and so they document all of their things that they're doing, their college application stuff, their fast but things If it is a trade school and whatever military, whatever it is they want to do. We're documenting the steps with them and their timelines and it's just like common nature that we always ask them do you have?

Speaker 2: 22:01

your lunch guide. Oh yeah, yeah, it's just part of their day now. Anytime they meet with us, they have their lunch guide with them. When we talk about fast, well, we always compare to the year before. So we're on the announcements all the time. This is where we are this week. We're trying to beat the class from last year and it's just a common thing. A lot of juniors come in to have a half-utu ready. Yet Can I do my fast stuff? Not yet. Kiddos next year, but you know.

Speaker 2: 22:27

And then same thing with senior family night. We promote it, we talk about it, we have signs everywhere. It's on the marquee, and so even the younger grade, they are expecting this is their fate because they're hearing about it all the time. We have a lot of juniors volunteer to help out at senior family night, passing out the folders, escorting families from their car or where they're supposed to be in what session, so they can see it. And we tell them this is you next year. Like your turn, you'll have your turn next year and all these things. And so it's just really about being visible consistency. I feel like our PA announcements are huge for us because it's part of our culture that we're quiet At that time you're listening. They're important information and the word just gets out about what we're doing. And now it's just how it is yeah.

Speaker 1: 23:17

Again love the system of involving the juniors in the senior night so they can see everything that's going on. So when they get there it's not new to them or a surprise. They're waiting for that opportunity, and the fact that you have somebody come in and say, can I fill out the FAFSA early Like that, should give you like bonus points and gold stars and all kinds of things.

Speaker 1: 23:38

I mean that's really amazing, because I'm sure there's not too many people who are excited about filling out the FAFSA. I was gonna ask you a question about the college going culture piece, so what I wanted to know is how do you then celebrate and show that, hey, these students are going to college and or these students are getting scholarships to go to college and it's paid for, to kind of counter some of those myths that we talked about earlier.

Speaker 2: 24:12

So we celebrate our seniors is another thing they feel like they now know is a thing because we've been doing it consistently. Every year we celebrate decision day in May. We have a huge banner that every single senior gets to sign off of. They're the class of now coming 2024. And they do. It's a big red carpet event out in our quad where everybody can see we get lunch for them on us. They sign in, they pick up their signs for whatever schools they committed to going to or pass Like whatever it is they committed to. They have a sign waiting for there for them. So then they go down the red carpet, we take their photo paparazzi and they celebrate and they come and sign the banner and then they grab their lunch and they're all celebrating together. So that happened during. We have two lunches, so both lunches. So again, the underclassmen can see how we're celebrating these kids with their journey and their path, regardless of what path they are and regardless if they got scholarships or not.

Speaker 2: 25:22

We invite parents. Last year was the first year we invited parents to come. I'm really surprised how many kids brought their parents. It was super cute. I was like gosh, you guys aren't too cool for school. I love that. So we're gonna do that again and promote it even better than the first time. We were a little weary. We were like I don't know if kids are gonna want their parents to come or parents can come because of work, and so like that was unfair judgment. We should have done that. Next year We'll make sure we advertise it better. But as far as the scholarships again a lot of it we're so grateful to have that future ready class and that we go into the younger grades, like ninth grade, 10th grade we let teachers know we love to come present.

Speaker 2: 26:00

Let us know if you're having to stop that day right to make their life easier, we'll come in and present or if there's any time that works in your schedule for us to come in and we showcase our own kids that have received those scholarships. So this is a real living, breathing Yonker High School student that just got this big time scholarship and this kid is no different than any other kid in this room and then we're like we always go back to trusting the process. That's like instilled in their brain trust the process, go through the steps and then see what happens. We can't guarantee you're gonna get it, but we can guarantee you won't get it.

Speaker 2: 26:40

I love what you said. I've been using that a lot. If you don't apply right and so you're in the same boat you're already in and again it's given that courage and confidence and support. It will help you along the whole way. But let's just see what happens and then that's it, and so that's a big piece of it. It showcased all of our campus, like we have monitors everywhere, we use Canva a lot and so you know their face and the scholarship is like being run through, like they see it all the time and they're like I had that kid in my culinary class right.

Speaker 2: 27:13

Like they do that, we also do the workshop. They keep using that word because it's designed for kids to sign themselves up, or, like we target kids, to personally invite them to them as well. But we also have the chance to make the decision of what workshop they wanna come to, kind of like we do when we go to a conference right.

Speaker 2: 27:38

Like pick our own professional development and so we'll have alumni. I can't wait. We have a university session coming on Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and so they're off, so they are gonna come back and talk about their life as a college student Like a first year college student.

Speaker 1: 27:53

Oh, I love that.

Speaker 2: 27:54

And then we'll have so we're talking to juniors, so they're gonna come and co-present with me, and then we have the seniors that are actually at our school right now gonna come co-present also. So they're gonna talk about their experience, about applying, getting ready for the FAS, going after these scholarships. Some of them are doing the honors college, some of them have already done both. They are taking advantage of two plans. So they did the university applications, they already did their community college application and going through the process of that. And then the college student talking about their first year. And it's just, it's magical, it's so fun Because one the juniors chose to be there.

Speaker 2: 28:34

So they wanna learn right. Then you got the seniors in the mix of it, Like this is your fate in a year, right. And then you got the college kids and like, oh my gosh, they're super star all of a sudden right in their eyes, like this kid, and they're all talking and it's almost I don't even really have to present. It's almost like this. It's this kind of open discussion and them learning and taking notes and sharing, and it's super cool.

Speaker 1: 29:00

Yeah, the synergy of all of them together. And we know from experience that students really listen to other students and so, even if we've said it to them five times, if a student says it, or someone who's in their position a year ahead says it, they're like oh, that's such a good idea. And you're sitting there saying but I've been saying that. But they're.

Speaker 2: 29:20

What do I call it?

Speaker 1: 29:21

Yeah, no, that's such a good idea. So, as we kind of wrap up like, what advice do you give to a listener who is working with college-bound students, who's trying to get a college going culture, what kind of advice would you give them?

Speaker 2: 29:42

I'll go back to that. Visibility and consistency.

Speaker 2: 29:45

It's the buzzwords and just go for it. I hear some people I'm worried, I'm going to host this and no one's going to come. I had that same fear too. And you just build off of it. You just keep trying, you just keep going after it, you just keep doing it and eventually it evolves into something that is just part of your years. We're doing it. That's just it, Really just finding your priorities and just giving yourself 100% into it. Then see what happens and everything's success. Five people, 10 people, 50, whatever it is the word of mouth starts getting out there. You keep doing it all the time. Eventually it's going to get there where you're going to see the success.

Speaker 2: 30:30

But I think there is a myth that parents are too busy or they don't know or they don't care. We've seen that that's not true. They're eager and they're excited and they need the confidence and the empowerment too to really help their student. You'll be surprised the turnout, but also advertising the way that's going to appeal to them. Sorry, I'm cutting in and out a little bit. I noticed I'm not screened. Can you hear me okay?

Speaker 1: 31:04

Yeah, the sound has been great, so you're good there.

Speaker 2: 31:07

Okay, I'll keep going. So, for I always keep going back to the senior family night. But we bring in our cap and gown company. We talk about graduation, the process of graduation. We have such a good relationship with our cap and gown company. Now they offer free cap and gowns and so there'll be a drawing if they come that night. Things like that that really help get the parents excited about the process and senior year and not just the post-secondary stuff, because that's the stuff that makes them nervous or they're scared or they're intimidated by and even though that's a highlight for us, it's not necessarily a highlight for them until you get them there and then they go through the night. But we really stress a lot about the fun that comes of being a senior prom and other things that we talk about.

Speaker 2: 32:02

I'm trying to blink a little bit. Like all those things like oh, they're homecoming week and senior powder puff, and like so we lay out all the events that are important to the senior and for a lot of the families that are important to them, and then we get into now what's next? How can we help you? This is what we've done already.

Speaker 2: 32:18

This is where we're at and we even transformed with our culture. Like at first, we gave them everything like here's the system we wanted you to know everything that's in our brain and now, with the help of future, ready and just establishing the culture and laying down the foundation, they get to senior year. I already know what my plan is. I already know what my plan B is. Okay, now what's next? So, just like what we do with the workshops with our own kids, we allow the parents to pick and the families Like what session do you want to go to? Do you want to go to the university session? Do you want to go to the community college session, the trade cool session, the trade and teching military session? Like, what session do you and your family want to go to?

Speaker 2: 33:02

Now that you know what you want to do, what's next? What does it look like when you apply to the college and you've been admitted? What does it look like to get after their scholarship portal? Now, the fastest changing these are the changes with the FAFSA, all those things, and so it's really cool how it started and where it became, and it's just going forward. I guess it's. My best advice is don't be afraid to go after it and utilize your resources. I'll be more than happy to share anything from our toolkit for any of our listeners out there that are interested.

Speaker 2: 33:39

We'll send you all the info and coordinate and you don't have to reinvent the wheel. It's too hard.

Speaker 1: 33:44

Yes, so you'll give me a link that I can put in the show notes so that if anybody wants to see that. Oh, that's. Thank you so much, denise. That's fantastic. My next question, though, is for the folks like me who are in the college, who are listening what should we know about the students that you're sending us?

Speaker 2: 34:03

They are very excited and eager, but they still don't know. They don't know. I get this almost irritated tick when I hear, oh, they should know how to do that already. I'm like, are you kidding me? You try it. I'm not going to tell you how old I am Way older than these kids and I'm looking at this and I'm like, gosh, I don't even know what they're asking.

Speaker 2: 34:30

And so to know that they want to be able to do these things and they want to be independent and they are, but they've never done it before. They have never done this before and it's never changing. Even if they had a sibling that did it, it might be different than when their older brother or sister did it. You just never. I feel like you have a good understanding of that. But people have an understanding that how are they supposed to know, To get moved away from what they should know that already? Or they should read through it, read through everything. I get it. That's a great skill and that's amazing. If it's written poorly, I'm sorry, I'm not going to understand what you're trying to tell me. So you know, give it on the skills, but give them the support to help them out so that they feel more confident in what they're doing, they're going to get there.

Speaker 2: 35:22

They'll figure it out on their own, but they need that love and support and understanding. They've never done this before.

Speaker 1: 35:27

Right, right, why make things more complicated? Why not simplify it? And then also, in conjunction with what you're doing over the summer you know a lot of colleges are starting to do this and have done this, some have done this for a long time is reaching out to their first gen students and saying you know, welcome to the university. And then here's some information you need, and being very cautious about overwhelming them with emails at the same time, which I think is the other, you know, sometimes the issue of college it's like, you know, we're so excited to have you, we're going to send you five emails a week for the next three months before you get there, and that's just. That's asking a lot.

Speaker 2: 36:05

And cause is a lot of confusion. I think too yeah, because they're like they're doing this already. Wait, I saw this one, this is a repeat. And then some of them are automatic, right, like even now when they're seniors like make sure you send your transcripts. I sent my transcript, I thought I did, because it's automatic, like it was, we already did it, don't worry about it, you know they're so, they're trying to take it very seriously. And then they get confused. They don't know.

Speaker 1: 36:30

Yeah, yeah. So anything we can do to lower the confusion level, I think is is a key. Well, this has been fantastic to talk with you, denise. I've I've learned a lot. I love the college, career and future ready toolkit. I am definitely going to look at that and and I'm sure you are too, as you're listening. So, denise, where can they find you if they either want to follow up or they have a question about the toolkit?

Speaker 2: 36:53

And so email Great, I can access it anytime. Do I say it now or do we put it?

Speaker 1: 37:00

I can put it in the show notes, but you can also share it right now if you want.

Speaker 2: 37:03

Okay, so it's my first name Denise, so it's D E N I S E dot the first part of my last name. So, EL dot have it so H A, b, a, c. A, that's my district's acronym, so B U A S D dot org.

Speaker 1: 37:35

Dot org. You said All right, great. Yes, I will definitely put that in the show notes and and the link to the toolkit will be in the show notes. So if that's something that you want to take a look at, uh, as you know, steal it's not really stealing because it's it's been given to you, and if you want to use it in any way, uh, by all means, take a look at that.

Speaker 1: 37:56

Uh, you can always find me at first gen FMcom or you can email me at Jen at first gen FMcom. That's Jen J E N at first gen FMcom, and I'd love to hear from you if you have any feedback about the podcast. If you want to be a guest on the podcast, I'd love to talk to you too, and I'd love to have you great and review the podcast, because that helps more people find it who are working with first gen students, whether they're in college, like I'm working with, or their college bound, like Denise is working with Um. We all want to create a web of advocates to best serve our students. So thank you so much for joining me, denise. I appreciated our conversation.

Speaker 2: 38:36

Appreciate the invite. Anytime, I love to come back or follow up and please, please, please, reach out to anyone out there that's listening. Um, it's so much fun just to connect with others and share ideas. Jen, really healthy kids yeah, absolutely, thank you.