Grads Return Program - 2018 Edition

The 9th Annual Grads Return Program at Columbia HS is scheduled for Thursday. Dec 20.

The Grads Return Program has around 100 speakers - all recent CHS grads now in college, community college, military, law enforcement, grad school, medical school, or taking a gap year.

The speakers sit on 30 panels distributed around the high school - library, main gym, auditorium, cafeterias and the Black Box Theater. Teachers sign up their classes and bring them to various panels. Last year, since some students got to go to more than one panel, some 5000 attended different sessions.

The panels focus on specific topics. One group focused on race and free speech on college campuses; another series focused on safety on college campuses; others focused on specific areas of study like STEM, performing arts, fine arts, social studies, journalism, comp sci. 

Other panels focused on community colleges, financing college, changing majors, playing D1 and D3 sports, studying abroad, adjusting to college and other topics.

The program is supported by the CHS Cougar Boosters and the CHS HSA. Their donations allow us to give a $25 gift card to Words Bookstore to each speaker. 

As far as we know this is the largest such "Grads Return" program in the country. 

This year there is an additional Grads Return set of sessions scheduled for the evening on December 20.

These sessions will have, again, recent CHS grads sitting on panels in the library, auditorium, cafeteria and Black Box Theater. 

The speakers are addressing parents about their experiences, about their anxieties going off to college, should they change schools, majors or drop out. Issues about race and free speech and safety on campus will also be discussed. 

The final set of topics will be set in the next couple of weeks.

The evening sessions are a big step forward and, we hope, provide two generations with insight into today's college experience - the recent grads and the parents.

As we get closer to the event the schedule, times and topics will be published.

We are asking parents, especially those of 11th and 12th graders at CHS, if there are some specific topics they would like to hear recent CHS grads discuss at the evening panels on December 20.

Please feel free to make suggestions here. For example, a panel on kids who might want to quit college, or kids who are finding it difficult to adjust, or kids who want to change their college or major. Or major field of study specific panels like STEM or performing arts, etc.

If I remember correctly, there were some silly rules around who was able to attend which panels--I believe I heard that an entire class had to attend a certain session versus allowing individuals being able to choose which panel session they joined.  Could be mistaken, but don't think I am.

Problem we have is # students is larger than 2000 and we do not have ANY WAY of simply allowing all students  to go to any panel they want. Rules might be silly from one point of view, but 2000 kids going where ever they want is really a disaster.  Rooms have capacities.

A panel of students who started at a two-year college and transferred to a four-year university might be informative, since more and more families seem to be considering that as a wiser, less costly path.

Another possibility: I’m a little surprised by the continuing popularity of fraternities and sororities, at least on big state campuses that I’m aware of, in these times. Parents might be interested in hearing students discuss what remains appealing about Greek life, or the downsides therein.

A topic that should also be discussed is Mental illness https://www.onlinecolleges.net/for-students/mental-health-resources/

Jude said:
Problem we have is # students is larger than 2000 and we do not have ANY WAY of simply allowing all students  to go to any panel they want. Rules might be silly from one point of view, but 2000 kids going where ever they want is really a disaster.  Rooms have capacities.

Allow seniors to sign up for their top choices individually and then freshmen, sophomores, and juniors attend by class.

Grads Return is 10 days away. We are approaching 80 speakers with close to 20 added since Friday. Goal is 100 speakers.

The evening panels very tentatively will be in 4 locations in the building: Auditorium, Library, Main Cafeteria and Black Box Theater.

We are planning on these topics for the evening panels:

Library - anxiety, changing majors, quitting school, changing colleges, taking. a gap year, financing school. These topics are of interest to many of our students and many parents of college kids may have had such discussions. We plan on 2 sessions. One at 6:45pm and the second one at 7:40pm.

Continuing the evening schedule:

Auditorium: the many issues of race and free speech on college campuses. Mr Whitaker runs a great set of panels during the day and the kids have a lot to say on this. Same times as Library.

Black Box Theater: issues of safety on college campuses. How do schools and the dorms protect students, fo students feel safe. Same times as the other sessions

Main Cafeteria: how to adjust to college, managing your time, extracurricular activities, sports in college. Same times as other panels.

Topics can change and these will be posted in advance

Hope a lot of you can make it to the 1st evening session of grads return.

As for letting kids pick their panels we have the following constraints:

A) if a teacher is letting kids go to panel of choice and teacher stays put as kids may be going to as many as 8 different panels, we have complete lack of supervision in the panel location. Now, teachers bring a class so there is some supervision possible.

B) We do not have the technology to check in the kids if they go on their own. I will be completely blunt: this District does not enforce ID cards for students. What cards we have are state of the art around 2000, not 2018. The Board and administrators and many parents have opposed or refused to require and enforce ID cards.

So, with no simple way of checking in kids with their ID cards, it becomes a mess. A real mess.

C) if you want kids to pick their choice of panels, harangue the Board of Ed.

In the meantime, as of today, kids go with their class and teacher.

How do Grads sign up to be a part?

recent grads must contact me with their:

college, gap year, military option, work option

Major/minor field of study

Email

Mobile #

Topics grad can speak about

Grad should PM me or contact me at school.

MrT

Jude said:

B) We do not have the technology to check in the kids if they go on their own. I will be completely blunt: this District does not enforce ID cards for students. What cards we have are state of the art around 2000, not 2018. The Board and administrators and many parents have opposed or refused to require and enforce ID cards.
So, with no simple way of checking in kids with their ID cards, it becomes a mess. A real mess.
C) if you want kids to pick their choice of panels, harangue the Board of Ed.

 I never understood why the IDs cards didn't have a barcode that can be scanned as students move around the building.  Would come in handing when exiting and entering the building as well!

The tentative layout for the evening panels on Thursday, December 20 is:

Auditorium: Welcome to Freshman Year - all the anxiety and frustration many kids have -- changing majors, changing schools, should a kid quit college, the work load is too much. Many parents hear these issues and some recent grads will discuss these.

Black Box Theater: How Do Students Know What They Want To Be? -- picking a major and realizing it is not what you that it was, how do students figure out what they want to major in - curiosity, likelihood of employment after parents and student loan debt becomes monstrous.

Safety and Diversity on College Campuses -- National issues impact the day-to-day lives of students. How do colleges protect students, navigating the history of race and free speech, assaults on women. The echoes of the Vietnam War, Civil Rights and the Assassinations in the 1960s are familiar to older generations (well, my generation). Back then colleges even shut down, massive upheavals in cities -- all affected how students viewed the  world. And it changed their lives.

Other Views/Other Approaches: taking a gap year, studying abroad, community college, playing sports in college, working while going to school, the military option.

If you can attend -- our tentative schedule is 6:45PM for the first round and then a second round at 7:40PM. 

Jude said:
The tentative layout for the evening panels on Thursday, December 20 is:
Auditorium: Welcome to Freshman Year - all the anxiety and frustration many kids have -- changing majors, changing schools, should a kid quit college, the work load is too much. Many parents hear these issues and some recent grads will discuss these.
Black Box Theater: How Do Students Know What They Want To Be? -- picking a major and realizing it is not what you that it was, how do students figure out what they want to major in - curiosity, likelihood of employment after parents and student loan debt becomes monstrous.
Safety and Diversity on College Campuses -- National issues impact the day-to-day lives of students. How do colleges protect students, navigating the history of race and free speech, assaults on women. The echoes of the Vietnam War, Civil Rights and the Assassinations in the 1960s are familiar to older generations (well, my generation). Back then colleges even shut down, massive upheavals in cities -- all affected how students viewed the  world. And it changed their lives.
Other Views/Other Approaches: taking a gap year, studying abroad, community college, playing sports in college, working while going to school, the military option.
If you can attend -- our tentative schedule is 6:45PM for the first round and then a second round at 7:40PM. 

Kids can go where ever they want for evening panels?

Evening panels are wide open as any students in the building at this event are not under direct supervision of any teachers. Presumably a lot of parents will be in attendance and the students will more than likely to be relatively interested! I doubt we will have hundreds of students coming over for the panels.

Panels are aimed at parents and if students want to come or parents want to bring a student that is fine with us. 

During the day with our sign-up lists for faculty we have about 2000 students signed up via their classes.