Do Junior Conferences Help When Planning for College?

Arrowhead High School offers junior conferences available to juniors to help decide what path to take in the future. Arrowhead offers a variety of counselors such as:Therese Hayden, Ann Olson, Angela Rodenkirch, Kevin Lewandowski, and Todd Reineking.

Each psychologist is assigned to a different group of students, classified by last names. Therese Hayden is in charge of students with the last name starting with A-G. Todd Reineking is in charge with students last names starting with H-O. Angela is in charge of students with last names starting with P-Z.

They all focus on students scheduling and career planning, as well as emotional and mental health, The other psychologist help with mental and emotional health, and also help with the planning of careers, and scheduling says Paradowski, school associate principal.

Junior Tori Kafkas says, “They’re helpful and figure out what you’re going to do with your life and help with bringing up your grades and focusing on the things you need to succeed in to go far in the future.”

Students and parents attend the junior conference, so the psychologist can have a better understanding of what the child wants and what the parent wants.

Junior Barrin Griffin says, “They are helpful if students take them seriously, if they don’t then junior conferences are a joke just like anything people don’t take seriously. When students use their junior conferences effectively, then it can be very beneficial with helping them plan their future careers. ”

Griffin says that if students use them beneficially then they can be a very helpful tool in planning their future and also to keep them on track for their junior year, and future years of life.

Junior Gabbi Pancheri says, “Junior conferences are helpful if people take them and use them into their advantage, like if they ask valuable questions that would benefit the path they’re choosing to take.”

Junior Lucas Logelin says, “Junior conferences are a waste of time they don’t help you unless you have a plan of what you want to pursue in the future. They don’t help when it comes to deciding what you’re going to do with your life.”

Logelin says that junior conferences are a waste of time, and if you don’t have a plan they won’t help you choose or give you any options.

Junior conferences are one 40 minute study hall period.

Junior Cari Nelson says, “My junior conference didn’t help me feel any better about planning where to attend college, they didn’t understand my situation well enough to provide me with the response I was looking for. It probably would’ve been easier and more helpful if I had a plan for my future but they helped slightly.”

Students can also plan multiple junior conferences throughout the year. If they don’t make much progress in planning for the future they can always have the option of scheduling another one.