Kristin Klotter started a new class this year specifically for seniors because she saw that students needed more opportunities to get assistance filling out college applications such as, FAFSA/ORSAA applications and scholarship applications. Klotter decided she could be the person to fill that need.

Her plan for the fall semester was to help students fill out applications to four year universities.  The plan for spring semester is to help students fill out applications for community colleges.

Filling out applications is not the only thing learned in Senior Success.  Through the class, students also learn how to use college level language when filling out the applications.  Klotter explained that she teaches the students about how people in different socio economic groups think.

To be in Senior Success, students do not have to know where they plan on going to college or the career path they want to take. Klotter started the class this fall semester with different activities to help guide students towards career paths which may interest them.  

One of the activities is that students complete a personality inventory project.  Then they compared their answers, to the inventory which matches them to possible careers that would fit them, based on their answers to the personality inventory.  “I didn’t think it would be as helpful as it was” stated Domonique Andrews.

This class seems to have positively impacted the students who are taking it.  When asked if he would recommend this class, Ronnel Quintanilla stated, “Yes, as a senior you become busier trying to distribute your time is hard, having a designated time to fill out applications is good.”  

This is one of the reasons Klotter saw a need for Senior Success at CHS, she said “I noticed there were students saying they want to go to college March and even May, but they had not started filling out any applications.”

I sat in during one of the classes and noticed the working environment was very self-driven with Klotter walking around the room helping students as needed and making sure students were staying on task.  She starts the beginning of class with announcements and lets students know when there are going to be guest speakers. The day I attended she had a guest speaker who was there to talk to a few students.

There are statistics so far this semester that show the class has been a success.  

One hundred percent of the students in the class applied for the FAFSA Pell grant and sixty-one percent qualified.  In total those students were given 32,000 dollars according to Klotter, ”The statistics look great.”

Senior Success counts as an elective credit for students and Klotter stated,”My goal is to stay in touch with all of the students in the class now, so they can apply during second semester too.”  This means that even students who finish the class can still get help with applications after the class is completed.

Students currently in Senior Success have said they learned many things.  Student Megan Blaga said,”It taught me how to fill out FAFSA and apply for different colleges.”  Senior Success has had a positive impact on students who are currently taking it.

Juniors who are forecasting in the spring should definitely consider taking this class their senior year.