Middle School: Get Ready for The Next Steps - 2 hour workshop
GET READY FOR THE NEXT STEPS
Make Smart Choices. Build Your Future. Be Ready.
Grade Level: 7th - 8th grade | Interactive workshop | Duration: 2 Hours
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION
Prepare for high school while discovering the possibilities that lie beyond it! Designed specifically for eighth-grade students, this interactive two-hour workshop helps students understand high school expectations, build positive habits, make responsible decisions, and begin preparing for their future.
Through engaging games, team challenges, and real-world scenarios, students will explore the importance of grades, GPA, attendance, and course choices; learn how volunteering and extracurricular activities can help them develop skills and explore interests; and discover how positive relationships with teachers and mentors can support future opportunities. Students will also explore college options, career pathways, and different routes to achieving their goals.
Students will leave with greater confidence about the transition to high school, a better understanding of how their choices can influence future opportunities, and a personal action plan to help them take their next steps.
Workshop duration: 2 hours
WORKSHOP STRUCTURE
- Icebreaker: Who Am I & Who Could I Become?
Explore personal interests, strengths, and aspirations through an engaging activity that encourages students to think about their future possibilities. - Welcome to High School: Level Up!
Discover what to expect in high school, including schedules, responsibilities, attendance, time management, extracurricular activities, and asking for help. - Grades, GPA & Your Academic Game Plan
Learn how grades, GPA, attendance, study habits, and course choices can influence future educational opportunities through interactive examples and student scenarios. - Choices Have Consequences
Explore real-life situations involving peer pressure, social media, school rules, bullying, and responsible decision-making while practicing strategies for making positive choices and seeking support. - Build Your Future Portfolio
Discover how volunteering, extracurricular activities, leadership, and community involvement can help students develop skills, explore interests, and prepare for future opportunities. - Teachers, Mentors & Letters of Recommendation
Learn how to build positive relationships with teachers, counselors, coaches, and mentors and understand how these relationships may support future educational applications. - College & Career Quest
Explore careers, personal strengths, and different pathways to the future, including universities, community colleges, technical programs, and apprenticeships. - My Future Starts Now
Create a personal action plan with academic goals, positive habits, experiences to pursue, and next steps for preparing for high school and exploring future opportunities.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this workshop, students will be able to:
Identify strategies for managing high school responsibilities, including attendance, time management, organization, and seeking academic support.
Explain how grades, GPA, study habits, and course choices can influence future educational opportunities.
Identify strategies for responding to peer pressure, making responsible decisions, and understanding the potential consequences of their actions.
Recognize how volunteering, extracurricular activities, leadership, and community involvement can support personal growth and future opportunities.
Describe the importance of building positive relationships with teachers, counselors, and mentors and explain how these relationships may support future letters of recommendation.
Identify different education, training, and career pathways that align with personal interests and strengths.
Develop a personal action plan with at least two practical steps to prepare for high school and explore future goals.