Five Ways to Support the #ReachHigher Initiative

The Reach Higher initiative is the First Lady's effort to inspire every student in America to take charge of their future by completing their education past high school, whether at a professional training program, a community college, or a four-year college or university. (The White House).

The initiative is focused on expanding opportunity for all of today's youth. 

According the the White House, the Reach Higher initiative will help make sure all students understand what they need to complete their education, including:

• Exposing students to college and career opportunities

• Understanding financial aid eligibility that can make college affordability a reality

• Encouraging academic planning and summer learning opportunities

• Supporting high school counselors who can help more kids get into college

So how can you support this initiative?

1. Join the SCOPE #ReachHigher Photo Project. Snap a picture with your SMART goal pertaining to the initiative and share it-more details here. Your photo and goal could make the final cut for the video project to be shared at the next #ReachHigher event. All photos are due by July 20. All participants will be entered in to a drawing for a free, signed copy of 101 Solutions for School Counselors and Leaders in Challenging Times! If you don't already have #101Solutions, a book every school counselor should have, this is a great way to possibly earn it for FREE!
2. On July 28 change your Twitter and/or Facebook profile photo to reflect a #ReachHigher photo to mark the date of the College Access event at Harvard in conjunction with The White House. You can make it your photo from #1 above, or just a photo of your goal--make it whatever you want, just use the hashtag #ReachHigher somewhere in the photo and share it across all of your social media accounts.
3. Snap a photo in your college t-shirt or at your Alma Mater and share it on social media with the hashtag #ReachHigher
4. Plan to work with your students, no matter what age group, to open their minds to the possibility of college and career opportunities. NOSCA has great FREE resources to guide your way. (Elementary Toolkit, Middle School Toolkit, High School Toolkit).
5. Share this Guide and this letter from Arne Duncan with your Principal, Superintendent and Regional Superintendent to give them ideas on how to work with you. Include cookies, a cake or something sweet to heighten the positive outcome.

How do you plan to support the #ReachHigher Initiative? Share your plans below in the comments section.

Here are more posts that might help you along the way:

• School Counselors & Scheduling-Create a Process around the Task
• School Counselors Getting to the CoreIllinois 
• School Counselors do more with the Corp