Scholarship tally is $41 million-plus for Class of ’23
The School District of Lee County’s graduating Class of 2023 earned more than $41 million in scholarships, attending colleges, universities and technical centers across the United States.
“We are always proud of our senior class with the financial haul they pull in,” district School Counseling and Mental Health Director Lori Brooks said.
As of two weeks ago, the total they had was not inclusive of the full Bright Future Scholarship amounts, as the state was still calculating those numbers. Brooks said Bright Futures will qualify some students at the end of a senior student’s first semester. Many qualify at the eighth semester, after graduation.
The district tries to educate students about scholarship opportunities in information sharing events. It is the starfish theory, she said, as they work with each student to help them with a personalized pathway.
This coming school year will see the launch of Naviance, a career exploration, personal development and post secondary pathway that facilitates access to college applications, scholarship reporting and tracking where students end up in 10 years, with their permission.
The app can be used by students, parents, college and career specialists, and counselors for a more real-time access of pushing things into students and parents portals to review at their convenience.
“You no longer have to do Google Classrooms for scholarships,” Brooks said, as Naviance is district scholarship based. “Parents can search it and see where my child has been in Naviance.”
They can push out such reminders for deadlines of SAT and ACT during the student’s junior year to both students and parents.
She said the great perk of Naviance is parents and students can view it 24 hours a day.
“You can log into the Naviance portal and engage on a deeper level and monitor everything,” Brooks said. “It is going to be more convenient for students and parents as an additional tool. Scholarship postings and where the child is on their pathway of discovery and connecting interest with career and preparation.”
Students can apply directly through Naviance for post secondary institutions and have a scholarship database at their fingertips.
“Now more than ever they will be able to engage in that directly in the app,” she said.
Of the students who provided information, 1,987 will be attending a four-year college or university; 1,392 will attend a two-year community college or state college; 682 will attend a technical college or school; 455 will enter the workforce directly; 193 entered the U.S. Armed Forces; 525 were still uncertain of their future plans; and 432 chose other.
“From the time students enter grade nine, our schools help them focus on the beginning with the end in mind. Everything matters from performance of day one in ninth grade, through actions taken to plan for their career of choice,” Brooks said of their education for career of choice, technical college, state college, university or an apprenticeship program. “We focus on each student and what careers they may have an interest in and how do we get them there.”
The students are guided in taking the appropriate courses and experiences to truly understand what that career looks like, which may include shadowing or work-based learning. The impact of a grade point average, courses and electives taken, as well as ACT and SAT, are discussed.
“We are always about the career path,” she said, adding the district provides guidance on how to get there.
There also is a focus on college applications and scholarships as it is a four-year process.
“In our district it is a K-12 process and in middle school, career exploration and exposure (begins),” Brooks said. “In high school we up the ante in four years, everything about the future.”