WBHS holds informative meeting about college

Juniors at Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School are getting ready to make that next step to senior year and arrange their plans for college.

Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School Guidance Counselor Stephanie Gruber gave a presentation on what both students and parents can expect for the future as students finish their junior year.

“They have to be the builders of their future, I can’t tell them what they are going to do after high school,” said Gruber. “I can definitely help them get there though.”

An audience of 15, including both students and parents, were in attendance to gather the information they need to finish building their resumes and start applying for colleges.

In the presentation, Gruber explained that, with the COVID-19 pandemic, some schools are not requiring that students have to send them their ACT scores.

“What I have been telling students is that, before you schedule to retake the ACT, let’s talk about it and see if some of the schools that you are interested in are even requiring it,” said Gruber.

Gruber also mentioned that in order to become summa cum laude in high school, that students must achieve a score of 26 or better on the ACT.

When talking about FAFSA, Gruber discussed that if the student or parent doesn’t believe that they will receive aid from scholarships or grants, to just fill out the forms anyways.

“There are scholarships out there that require the FAFSA to be filled out in order to apply,” said Gruber. “If students don’t want to do their FAFSA, they most likely want to do scholarships, so I would have that filled out.”

Gruber also mentioned that, through Northcentral Technical College, a financial aid meeting and workshop is in the works to be scheduled for mid-October.

“Families are strongly encouraged to come to that,” said Gruber. “NTC usually comes here and presents on what loans are, the scholarships and grants that you can get and everything else financial aid related.”

Gruber added that the representatives from NTC will help families fill out the information regarding financial aid at the meeting.

Gruber, who has spent five years as the guidance counselor at WBHS, has worked with many students and parents. She found that holding a meeting to discuss what the next steps in a student’s post-high school career are can be beneficial.

“The meeting has benefits for students because, instead of the students having to inform their parents and relay that information to them, it can be more of a conversation,” said Gruber. “This way, the parents know what the students should be doing and they can figure that out together.”

This is the second meeting that Gruber has hosted with an emphasis on post-high school plans for parents with students in 11th grade. Last year, the meeting was done virtually, where Gruber made a slide show and recorded herself talking over it.

“I like holding this meeting in person more because I am able to present to them and they can ask questions as we go along,” said Gruber. “There is a little bit more of a conversation, whereas with a Google Meet or Zoom meeting, trying to go back and forth can be a mess.”

With the meeting, Gruber has also put the slideshow of her presentation on the school’s website, https://www.wittbirn.k12.wi.us, for those parents and students who may have missed it.

Gruber mentioned that, in a small school setting, she has more time to sit down with students and families to help them plan out their future.

“I love the small school setting,” said Gruber.

According to Gruber, public feedback from this meeting and meetings in the past has usually been pretty positive.

“Feedback is usually pretty good,” said Gruber. “Usually its just parents saying that it was an informative meeting and they give me suggestions on what I can cover on in the future.”

Gruber went on to establish how important it is for students to have post-high school plans.

“I would say that it is very important for students to have plans for after high school,” said Gruber. “I try to view high school as being used for four years to prepare for the future.”

lreimer@newmedia-wi.com