Aspirations Workshops
As part of the ongoing mission of the nonprofit Maine College Circle to help Maine students get more information about their opportunities in education beyond high school, and at a younger age . . .
Maine College Circle, in partnership with the Mitchell Institute and Mitchell Scholars, offers College Aspirations Workshops for all interested school districts. In the past twenty years, these workshops have reached over 70,000 Maine students, mostly in grades 3 – 8, in 119 Maine communities.
Depending upon the grade level, these workshops will discuss:
- What, when, where, and why college is?
- Why all students can go to college. Why we think all students should consider it. And, why we hope all students will continue their education beyond high school.
- "College" vs "trade school." The unnecessary battle. Is one better than the other? Our broad definition of college and why we use the term to identify a wide range of educational opportunities beyond high school.
- The benefits of a good college education.
- College majors, which ones you might like, and careers beyond college.
- Which "college" or "colleges" might best match your current interests?
- The truth about how much college costs and what you can do to make it more accessible, more affordable, and more rewarding.
We hope that these workshops will help students gain a better understanding of what college is. We hope to raise their aspirations for higher education. We hope these workshops will create some excitement about the opportunities they can create for themselves in the future.
Workshops are usually scheduled for 50 - 60 minutes. Two combined classrooms of 40 or so students often seems to work well, but larger assemblies or smaller classrooms can be done.
Comments from teachers, students, principals and counselors about these workshops and why these workshops matter.
