Chicago Champions College and Career Week Staff Resources

To promote preparation for and success in college and career for all students, CPS has designated Oct. 7-15 as Chicago Champions College and Career Week. CEO Jean-Claude Brizard has said: “A high school diploma is just the start – students need education and training beyond high school to have access to America’s middle class.”

Educational and Career Stories

• Share stories about leaders’ education and career journeys. Please share these video and print vignettes in your classes, workshops, on your website, and anywhere you can think to use them.
  • Rahm Emanuel, Mayor of Chicago (video)
  • Jean-Claude Brizard, CEO, CPS (video)
  • Dr. Noemi Donoso, Chief Education Officer, CPS (PDF)
  • Shonda Huery, Chief of Schools-Fulton Elementary Network, CPS (PDF)
  • Cheryl Hyman, Chancellor, City Colleges of Chicago (video)
  • Jesse Ruiz, Vice President, Chicago Board of Education (PDF)
• Encourage your principal, APs, teachers are others in the school to share their education and career story. You never know who a student might connect to.

College Apparel Day

• Encourage all staff and students to wear college apparel on Fri, Oct. 14

Ready-to-Use Presentations

Please use these presentations to support your activities, and feel free to cut, paste and modify so the presentation fits your needs.

• Why Does College Matter and How Can I Make the Most of College Fairs?
  Two presentations in one. Why Does College Matter? Can be used with students of all ages and parents. How Can I Make the Most of College Fairs? is geared towards students who are attending College Fairs
• Show Me the Money: The What, Why and How of Financial Aid
  This financial aid presentation can be used for students or parents. Thanks to ISAC’s College Zone for providing the presentation. Visit http://collegezone.com/index.htm for more information.
• Put Your Best Foot Forward: How can I be a Strong Candidate for College and Career? (High School)
  This presentation for high school students reviews the characteristics, qualities, experiences and achievements that colleges and employers are looking for in students and employees. It also reviews the importance of the Individual Learning Plan.
• Making Wise Choices: What should I do today to prepare for College and Career tomorrow? (Elementary School)
  This presentation highlights five areas where elementary students should make wise choices in order to set themselves up for success as students today and in the future.

College Fairs

• Oct 10 - NACAC National College Fair
• Oct 11 - National Hispanic College Fair
• Oct 12 - Performing and Visual Arts College Fair
• Oct 15 - 100 Black Men of Chicago College Scholarship Fair

**When possible, students should pre-register to save their time at the Fair! We are working to get CTA passes for students who show they are pre-registered. Talk to your specialist.

Dual Enrollment Program

Join City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) for an Information Session to learn more about the Dual Enrollment program where high school juniors and seniors can earn FREE college credit while they are still in high school! We have 700 free seats available starting in the Spring Semester. The session will also cover general information on attending one of the CCC’s. Information sessions last 60-90 minutes and provide important information about enrolling at and courses of study within a City College. Students and parents are welcome to attend.
Who Qualifies for Dual Enrollment?

• Junior or senior in high school
• Have a minimum GPA of 2.5
• Have a 90% attendance rate in your high school
• Have an ACT reading score of at least 19 and/or a math score of at least 21

To register for an Information Session: http://www.ccc.edu/ChicagoChampions/Index.aspx
For more information contact: Jill Regen (773) 553-1370.

Guest Speakers and Outside Partners

• Invite recent high school alumni to speak about their experience after high school.
• Invite university partners to host an on-site application day or present about their university.
• Go on a college tour.
• Invite an area business or community leader to school to present to students on their college or career journey and/or assist with some part of the college application.
• Promote dual enrollment opportunities with the City College.

Decorate Your School

• Create a college and career bulletin
• Post college materials and pennants throughout the school – not just in the College and Career Lab!
• Ask teachers to post their education stories in their doors
• Decorate classrooms and bulletin boards with college and career themes
• Assign hallways, floors, groups of classrooms, corridors, etc. by type of school, i.e., Ivy Leagues, The Big Tens, HBCUs, State Universities, City Colleges, Technical Schools, etc.
• Participate in door decorating, poster and essay contests, and award prizes for the best in each category
• Hang up NACAC, 100 Black Men and other Fair promotional materials at the school
• Display college and career going messages and promote activities on the schools’ marquee

Other Ideas

• Announce Chicago Champions College and Career Week on your school marquee
• Develop grade level college (and career) related vocabulary lessons, cross-word puzzles, word search games, college Jeopardy, etc.
• Create grade level math exercises and word problems using college and career issues and scenarios, i.e., tuition costs, travel expenses, earning potential for high school graduates, bachelor’s degree, master’s, etc. for college, cost of living and career earnings
• Assign family projects using the “I am going to college” or “I am going to be” theme
• Complete a subject based lesson in WNI in classrooms (WNI has a lesson plan “What Can I Do With A Background In……”)
• High school students visit their elementary school to talk about their journey to high school and what they are doing now to prepare for college or career
• Promote college and career at a high school sporting event