IN-Tech Academy celebrated the opening of its brand-new student college and career office on Oct. 16. The new space provides a physical home for college and career guidance counselors, and students looking for help in a quiet place to study.
The school’s partnership with Futures Ignite and Gear Up played a large role in making the new career center happen.
Principal David Weissberg said, thanks to those partnerships, the school has six full-time staff members working. One of these staff members is a city education department college counselor focused full-time on the seniors. Two more of the staff are supplied by Futures Ignite and work in collaboration with the rest of the staff to ensure all of the high-school students have the opportunities to explore what could be next for them .
These counselors are expected to work with students on things like their federal student aid, college applications, interview skills, presentations and working with students with undocumented families to ensure they are successful when applying to college.
The last three full-time staff work on the academic side of counseling, mentoring students to ensure their success before they reach college.
“Whatever we can do to limit the barriers,” Weissberg said.
Bronx Institute GEAR UP Network partners with city schools to ensure students are prepared to graduate high school and proceed with their higher education. They also provide a part-time staff member on campus a few days a week to ensure all students can reach their full potential.
GEAR UP has been operating within the school since the current 10th graders were in the sixth grade, and part of their process will be to follow the students through their first year of college to guide them to success, whatever that may be.
Futures Ignite is a city-based nonprofit dedicated to providing counseling, support and advocacy to students of color so they are prepared for their college and career futures.
Futures Ignite Executive Director Molly Delano said the organization is small but mighty, with plans to grow.
“We believe our young people deserve more,” Delano said.
The newly designed space is meant to serve as a physical location for students, “a second home” as Weissberg referred to it. Students note the inviting atmosphere of the physical space and the potential it creates for more students to feel welcomed by the office’s services.
For Weissberg, all of these programs and services are entirely about giving the students access earlier to provide them with the chance to understand what is available to them and make an informed decision that is supported by their counselors and peers.
Weissberg says the partnership with Futures Ignite gives both the school and the students further access to college tours, grant money and internships. Together, the school and the organization arrange overnight trips in which they take students to visit multiple schools to help them explore their options.
“It’s giving them exposure to what’s possible,” Weissberg said.
In addition to their organization partnerships, IN-Tech is also part of the city’s Future Ready program, which uplifts students by enabling schools to integrate different experiences. Participating schools select a pathway to be supported in — IN-Tech selected technology — and with their selection, they are able to expand their career and technical education program to further develop their computer science track.
Weissberg says funding from this program is part of what granted the school the new facility.
According to data from Futures Ignite, the average city high-school guidance counselor is assigned an average of 333 students to oversee. Beyond that, on a national level, the average high-school guidance counselor is assigned 482 students.
Weissberg said one high-school guidance counselor is expected to follow up with their students to ensure they graduate, write their college essays, complete their applications, and ultimately go off to college — a lot of work for one person to complete for more than 300 students.
IN-Tech senior Jumahlai Castillo has been attending the school since the ninth grade and feels lucky to have been granted the resources available to her.
Ianna Lee, another IN-Tech senior who has been attending the school since the sixth grade, said she hopes to continue her education to pursue a career in early childhood education. Lee said, in the first two years of her high-school education, she was unsure of what she wanted to do post-graduation but the resources and opportunities her school provided helped find her passion.
During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, a handful of students read excerpts from their college essays. Lee’s essay delved into her experience attending Korean School on Saturdays growing up and eventually being asked to become a
teacher’s assistant for the same program, a decision she said she was uneasy about but loved every second of it.
For Weissberg, the success of all of the programs and initiatives available to the students is measured in more than just how well his seniors do.
“What I’m noticing this year in particular is the younger students, ninth and 10th grade, really understanding the possibilities of career and college,” he said.