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By Megan Tagami at Honolulu Civil Beat
The availability of year-round advice can be crucial for some, including recent high school graduates. But only about half of Hawaii’s high schools offer it.
Read the full articleEntering her senior year, Siena Ebert thought she was prepared for college. The Campbell High School student earned good grades, played sports but never sought one-on-one advising on the college application process.
While Ebert was accepted at six colleges, she graduated in May 2022 without committing to a school. Then she realized she needed scholarships and financial aid.
Fortunately for her, Campbell’s counselor offered summer advising on Ebert’s next steps. She ultimately decided to enroll at the University of Hawaii West Oahu to save money.
“You get out of high school and you have no idea what you’re supposed to do,” Ebert said.
Counselors say summer is a critical time for high-schoolers and recent graduates to prepare for their futures. When school is out, students have more time to research colleges and consider future career paths, and counselors can provide them with more individualized support and guidance.
But for some students, access to college and career counseling ends once summer break begins. Others don’t know how to use the summer counseling services available to them, and educational advocates say high schools need to offer more year-round support.
Not all campuses have the budget to offer year-round counseling services, and roughly half of high schools in the Hawaii Department of Education offer summer college and career counseling. Most DOE counselors only work for 10 months at a time, said Lynsey Bow, counseling and advising program director at Hawaii P-20 Partnerships for Education, a public program that collects data and supports student achievement from early childhood to higher education.
Even at schools that offer summer counseling, principals and counselors say it can be difficult to reach all students, especially those who are the first in their families to attend college. While first-generation students can benefit from year-round counseling, they may not think to get a head start on their college applications or meet with their counselors during the summer, Bow said. ….