Scheduling for next year's students

     Mrs. Waston is all ready getting kids ready for next year. Last week she started with the Juniors getting their senior year all ready. Over the next few weeks she will helping other classes getting their scheduling done for next year.
    Scheduling is an easy thing to do there, but there is a lot of work and planning that takes place when making a scheduling. Course offerings and descriptions need to be made first (NEW this year all of our offerings and descriptions can be found on the guidance office webpage!). Mrs. Waston stated, "After that we take students' request and build a schedule that best fits the needs and wants of our kids." 

This year they are looking to make some pretty big changes in our “skinny” (1A & 1B) classes, moving them to 4th block instead of 1st.  Our hope is that students who miss classes due to activities will not miss as many core area classes and will have an easier time making a schedule.    
    Mrs. Waston stated, "I think Chadron High School has an amazing assortment of courses.  From my past experience at two Class B schools I can truthfully say that we have a much broader array of courses than I have experienced anywhere else." The school offers many courses in the areas of Fine Arts, Business, Industrial Tech and FCS and Health and Sciences. The school also offers dual credit and college course offerings. One of the classes Mrs. Watson would love to see grow is the Information Technology and Computer Science. "There are lots of 'techie' jobs out there now, so beef up those computer skills," said Mrs. Watson.

   There are always dislikes and likes in every job. Some of Mrs. Waston dislikes are trying to convince students that they should push themselves academically. "In order to truly be ready for college you NEED to take classes that are tough and challenging. Just meeting the graduation requirements of CHS and Nebraska is statistically proven to not be enough to be considered 'college ready.' Students really need to take four years of math, science, social studies, and English, in order to be college ready, along with taking electives that are career and future focused.  Courses should line up with your future goals and aspirations." 
She also says, "Taking tough classes help you do better on your ACT.  Students who push themselves to take tough classes (including AP courses) score much higher on standardized tests such as the ACT."

Scheduling is Mrs.Waston's favorite thing about being a school counselor. She loves having conversations with students about what academic and career opportunities they would like to pursue after high school. She also loves talking about after high school opportunities. She stated, "Many students think that a four year degree is the only option IT IS NOT! Many tech schools and community colleges are offering two years."