The Tyee Educational Complex in Highline Public Schools hosts two high schools, the Academy of Citizenship & Empowerment (ACE) and Global Connections High School (GCHS). Karly Feria, the College & Career Access Specialist at Tyee, supports both schools and does an amazing job of organizing activities to engage every student during DiscoverU week.
Last year at Tyee, 10th and 11th graders took the PSAT and 12th graders took the SAT during DiscoverU week. Around the testing schedule, workshops and trips were planned, including career exploration tours for ACE and college visits for students from GCHS. After 11th graders finished their PSATs, they could go to different workshops facilitated by community partners such as the YMCA. About 60 career professionals took part in panels where they spoke to students about their career pathways and day-to-day work life. Tyee students also participated in a fun game of college bingo where they tried to find teachers who went to different colleges or participated in a variety of extracurricular activities, like playing sports for their college. The game allowed students to learn about their teacher’s experiences as they checked off squares on their bingo game boards.
This year, Karly said they plan to continue engaging every student on the campus. All 9th graders will go on a college visit to one of six different campuses: Seattle Pacific University, Pacific Lutheran University, UW Tacoma, Seattle Central College, Green River College and University of Puget Sound. The UW Dream Project and College Success Foundation will be working with 10th and 11th graders on various aspects of college access. And seniors will participate in workshops that provide information on exploring all college options, whether technical, two-year or four-year.
Wow, it sounds like there will be no shortage of college and career exploration activities at Tyee during DiscoverU – great work Karly and team!