Earlier this week, 14 Southeast Polk junior and senior EL (English Learner) students toured Grandview University and DMACC.
Post-secondary enrollment within one year of graduation for EL students from Southeast Polk High School is 39%, much lower than the overall rate for our high school. This is why several of our staff are working together to promote post-secondary opportunities for our EL students.
Laurie Wyatt, District Learning Supports Coordinator, has been working with our Southeast Polk PK-12 College and Career Readiness Coordinator, Darell Butcher, and Southeast High School ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teacher, Christine Drabek, to provide this opportunity through an awarded grant that financed the trip.
Students met with staff from both Grandview and DMACC to discuss opportunities and learn how to submit admission applications. They also toured the dorms and classrooms.
Ms. Drabek shared, “I am very excited for the students to have a clearer picture of what is possible for them after they graduate. Many of them don’t know what opportunities are available to them. Even students that have a parent/s who was college-educated in their birth countries don’t know how the system works in the United States. I hope this event will help the students to understand our system better and empower them in their ability to make decisions about their futures.”
