Helping students, families navigate college

The Shelton School District is among about two dozen in the state receiving help from a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant because a low percentage of its graduates go on to college.

At the Shelton School Board meeting on Nov. 14, Superintendent Wyeth Jessee talked about the program. He said he attended a Gates Foundation gathering the previous day, and two statistics "rang out" to him: that Washington ranks 49th among the 50 states for the number of high school graduates who go on to two- and four-year colleges, and that "in the future, 70 percent of the jobs that will be around in the year 2035, I believe, will require a two- or four-year degree."

The Gates Foundation grants pair the school districts with colleges, and Shelton School District's partner is The Evergreen State College in west Olympia.

"We have a long-held history with Evergreen State and things going on there," Jessee said. "We're in the right place at the right time in the Shelton School District because we've done so much work around our (career) pathways at all three high schools, there's lots of work going on getting ninth-grade kids those credits, but also around our orientation, about what it is to be in High School and Beyond plans, and seeing where they can go.

"So we're looking at ways to further that work because it's one thing for us to talk about it and think we know about it, but there's lots of details that both students and families need to know, but it's also the staff understanding all the things that are going on, not only at Evergreen State but at other local colleges, so that they know about all the little details to help them navigate it, because handing off students to two- and four-year schools is not as simple as it sounds, and I think we do wait, in education we do wait way too long, to assist a lot of our families that need a lot more of our support in this area and get them in this area and get to them a lot earlier."

Jessee said the Gates Foundation grant helps local students in their college applications, and "an all-around awareness of 'What is higher education? What are the things it can offer me, and for my students?' "

As for the need for a degree, "I know there's this movement, 'You can get by without college,' " but honestly, it is an economic mover for most families and most families in Mason County, having that two-year or four-year degree is really going to help and provide a lot more economic viability and career opportunities for our students, and so we do owe it to them, and make them aware what is out there and help them with the transition, if they so choose," the superintendent said. "Of course, we do a lot of work with career here as well, and we will continue to do that as well ... We want as much choice as possible without limiting that for them."