When GPA Transition Coordinator Jeff Dalrymple visits the school’s younger classrooms, part of his goal is to introduce them to possibilities they may have never imagined.
He understands that their experience and expectations may not include college or advanced trades. For some, it comes as a surprise that their upper school schoolmates have already charted a course to these exciting outcomes.
GPA’s Transition Program offers a variety of vocational options: Horticulture, Auto Mechanics, Cosmetology, Carpentry, and Culinary Arts, and all are visible every day with just a walk around the school. But other opportunities are harder to see. Younger students may not recognize options for post-secondary training programs or higher education.
“Many of our younger students haven’t given much thought to training and educational programs after high school,” says Dalrymple. “They may not have family members who had these opportunities, so they may not believe that it’s a path for them,” he continued.
Dalrymple tells younger students about the benefits that further education and training can provide. He shares stories of GPA grads who’ve followed those paths, with the school’s help.
Most of our students didn’t think they could do these things when they started. But then they start asking questions. They get interested and get motivated.”
– Jeff Dalrymple, GPA Transition Coordinator
In addition to helping students develop resiliency, critical thinking, self-awareness, and confidence, the school’s transition program helps them manage the details of post-secondary education and training. Through college visits, students see and feel what college life is like. SAT preparation helps to ensure they’re ready for standardized testing when necessary. One-to-one help completing applications and financial aid forms helps smooth and expedite the process. Understanding self-advocacy prepares them to secure the accommodations they may need. And exposure to additional training opportunities helps them imagine other possibilities.
Recently, GPA has been helping students apply for and enroll in Job Corps, a program of the U.S. Department of Labor. Job Corps is the nation’s largest free, residential career training and education program for low-income young adults, with 24 program centers nationwide.
To date, GPA’s Transition program has enrolled 10 students in the Job Corps program. Eight students have completed the program, including one who received his Diesel Mechanic certification in New York; another who earned a Medical Assistant certification in Rhode Island; and another who earned her Master Carpenter certification in Florida.
“These students didn’t think they could do these things when they started,” says Dalrymple. “But then they start asking questions. They get interested and get motivated. By talking to students when they’re younger about the older students who are making these exciting choices, they’re much more likely to engage earlier, and feel the same success,” he concluded.
