Educators from ten Adirondack schools convened at the CFES Center in Essex, NY on Wednesday with the common goal of planning how to immerse their students in the three College For Every Student core practices — Mentoring, Leadership Through Service, and Pathways — that have proven successful in getting students college and career ready.

“The CFES workshop gets us motivated for the year ahead,” said Shelly Webster, English Teacher at Saranac High School. “It’s about creating college and career readiness. It’s about excellence.”

Also participating with Saranac High School were: Ausable Valley Central, Beekmantown Central, Crown Point Central, Elizabethtown-Lewis, Keene Central, Lake Placid Central, Peru Central, Plattsburgh High School, Ticonderoga Central, and Willsboro Central. Educators shared best practices with schools from Indiana and Connecticut, who are all partners of College For Every Student.

“Our focus today is to really ramp up our program and extend it into our high school,” said Eric Refsnider, teacher at Windsor Locks Middle School in Connecticut.

“We have seen the impact we are making in the middle school,” added Eric’s teammate, sixth grade reading teacher Lauren Balboni. “We want our students to build on that college and career knowledge and the enthusiasm to attend college that is strong in middle school. We need to make sure there is consistency with the CFES program at the high school level, as well.”

According to Balboni, a student survey indicated that only 42% of incoming sixth grade students were planning to go to college. After three years of participating in the CFES program, that same group of students was surveyed upon entering ninth grade, and 94% of students indicated that college was in their futures.

Giving Students Opportunities

“It’s not just about going through the process or just visiting a college,” said CFES Program Director Steve Boyce to the roomful of educators. “It’s about exposing them to opportunity and making an impact.”

To go along with the schools’ mid year assessment of school plans, CFES has instituted an evaluation rubric that helps schools to rate themselves on student engagement in the three core practices.

“We want our Scholars to see themselves as leaders,” CFES Vice-President of Programs Tara Smith exclaimed. “Teaching leadership skills empowers students to take advantage of opportunities and take charge of their futures. We teach these leadership skills through service in schools and communities.”

During the wrap up session, Ginene Mason, Principal at Ausable Forks Elementary School, talked about expanding college visits to fifth graders, as well as sixth graders, getting community members involved in mentoring and career information talks.

Beeekmantown and Keeseville plan to partner and bring their students together to work on college projects, learn college terminology, and compete in a college-knowledge quiz bowl.

“It’s so important to give our students all the opportunities we can and help them understand that college means many things: vocational and technical training as well as two and four-year options,” said CFES College Ambassador Andrea McDonald. “Many of our students in the Adirondacks will be first generation college students and getting them on campuses can be even more challenging because of our geography. The excellent plans created today will create opportunity and awareness for our Scholars and their families.”

Related articles

• Seven Adirondack Schools Recognized for Excellence (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
• CFES: From the Islands to the North Country (Valley News) (denpubs.com)
• Adirondack Educators Plan for Success at CFES Center (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
• CFES Students Train to Become Leaders (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)