Summary
In this session, families will learn about the benefits of postsecondary education scholarships, identify potential scholarships that could benefit their student(s), and review the requirements for the FAFSA.
Overview
Parents and family members are easily overwhelmed by the enormous number of requirements that students wishing to attend colleges and universities must meet. This family resource explores scholarships and FAFSA requirements that can enable their students to gain access to institutions of higher learning more efficiently.
Snapshot
Engage
Explore
Explain
Extend
Evaluate
Materials List
Session Slides (attached)
Note Catcher (attached; print double-sided and staple; 1 per participant)
FAFSA Checklist (attached; print on card stock and cut apart)
QR Codes handout (attached; 1 per presentation)
Brag Sheet - English (digital; forced-copy)
Brag Sheet - Spanish (digital; forced-copy)
Scholarship Tracking Document - English (digital; forced-copy)
Scholarship Tracking Document - Spanish (digital; forced-copy)
Flyer (attached; editable)
Large chart paper
Engage
Welcome participants and briefly introduce yourself and the Family Engagement session using the attached Session Slides. As participants walk in, pass out or have them pick up the attached Note Catcher, a red and green card, and a few sticky notes to record questions for the parking lot. (You may skip the sticky notes if you are using a digital parking lot.)
Show slides 3 and 4 to introduce the essential questions and lesson objectives.
Display slide 5 and introduce the Real or Fake activity to the participants. Inform them that you are going to show them a scholarship with a description. They will hold up a red card if it is fake and a green card if they think it is real. Each slide is formatted to reveal the answer on a second click. Present the scholarship to the participants and give them 10 seconds to decide if it is real or fake. Once participants are holding up their cards click on the screen to reveal the answer. Repeat the process with slides 6–10.
Display slide 11 and introduce the participants to the Parking Lot instructional strategy. Explain that, at any point during the presentation, they are welcome to add questions to the parking lot. These will all be answered at the end of the presentation. Point out where in the room the Parking Lot is or provide participants time to scan the QR code before moving to the next slide.
Move to slide 12. Begin by defining PSE as postsecondary education and that it will be referred to as PSE throughout the presentation. Review the different types of PSE options. Students don’t have to choose just one pathway. These pathways can be combined to help students obtain the career they want.
Display slides 13–15 and discuss the multiple ways families can pay for education after high school. You may want to explain tuition/fee waiver and direct payments to the student.