GUIDANCE

 

COUNSELING

The Guidance and Counseling Department strives to serve the needs of each student regardless of his/her ability or background, nurturing the student’s self-worth, encouraging the student to reach his/her potential and educating the student about issues relevant to achieving those ends.

Students meet with counselors in individual and group sessions. Conversations between counselors and students are confidential.

*College Information: All of our current students have registered on Connect!, our college and career counseling resource center.  Parents may also set up a free account at www.connectedu.net. You will need to ask your student for their unique ID number and your email address to set up your account.

In My Profile and My Portfolio students enter their activities and awards each year so that the data is easily accessible when college or scholarship applications request it. That is the source for all Fall and Seniors Honors recognition. Access Connect! at www.powerscatholic.org. Click on Academics, then College Counseling.

GUIDANCE SERVICES

Course selection freshman through senior year is one of our primary services. We want students to be successful. Appropriate placement is the first step toward that goal.

 

CAREER EXPLORATION
8th and 9th grade EXPLORE or 10th grade PLAN results can help begin the decision-making process. Juniors complete the Self-Directed Search.
 
COLLEGE PLACEMENT
Because almost 100% of our graduates go to college, students and parents can attend group sessions on admission requirements, scholarship and financial aid. Seniors will also be able to meet with college admission reps when they visit Powers Catholic.
 
GROUP GUIDANCE
We want to make the transition to Powers Catholic High School as smooth as possible. Beginning with Freshman Orientation (or Transfer Orientation), we try to help with the adjustment. In the Life Skills program counselors talk about situations faced by freshmen and sophomores in their school and family life as well as friendships. Junior and Senior years focus is college and careers.
If you need someone to listen, see your counselor. Talking to someone trustworthy usually helps. A counselor is an objective adult whose job is to help. And it’s confidential.
 

RESOURSES

Come to the Guidance Office for college and scholarship information.

Contact Information
Phone: 810.591.4741
Guidance Office FAX: 810.591.0265
Office Hours
Monday – Friday, 8:00a.m. – 3:15p.m. Earlier or later appointments are also available on request.
High School Code
231-490
ACT Test Center Code
193110
  

GUIDANCE & COUNSELING – SUMMER NEWS

*The Guidance Office is closed from the end of June until mid August.

*Community Service: Encourage your student without a summer job to use some of his/her vacation time helping others. The Humane Society, the North End Soup Kitchen, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the Red Cross, your church’s Vacation Bible School are just a few of the many service organizations that would welcome student volunteers. Not only is your student demonstrating a caring heart and responsibility, they are also earning service hours toward graduation and/or National Honor Society membership.
Colleges are much more impressed by a service commitment than by bits and pieces of service hours earned. Students enter service hours on Connect!, complete the paper form and return that form to school. Service hour forms are available at school or you may download them from our forms page.
*Employment: Your student will need a work permit in order to be employed at a fast food restaurant, grocery store, or retail establishment. They are available in the Guidance Office.
*College Visits: Take some time to visit a college campus or two this summer. It will help your younger student begin thinking about what s/he would like from the college experience besides a good education.   The better “fit” the more likely the student will complete a degree at the first college attended, saving you money in the long run. Returning to campus for a second visit when classes are in session is an important next step in the college choice process.
*ACT/SAT Test Preparation: Both Princeton Review and Kaplan offer intensive (and expensive) summer courses in the Ann Arbor and Birmingham area. Sylvan and the Learning Center on Miller Rd. also offer summer test prep work. Self-motivated students can benefit from one of the many test prep books or computer programs available. Go to www.actstudent.org or www.collegeboard.com for free practice test questions. Reading is one of the best, and least expensive, methods to improve test scores.
  • Wednesday, September 9th at 6:00pm, prior to Meet the Teacher at 7:00pm, all rising juniors and their parent(s) are encouraged to attend College 101 in the auditorium to receive information about the college admissions process. Save the date.
  • Students with a diagnosed learning disability, who want to qualify for extended time for the ACT – part of the Michigan Merit Exam – or SAT as well as services in college must be re-certified in the 10th and 11th grade. Please contact Mrs. Melissa Welsh in the Guidance Office for assistance.
  • Online registrations at www.actstudent.org will open in late July. The ACT will also be offered here at Powers Catholic October 24th for Seniors. Registration deadline is September 18th.
  • Rising seniors who plan to play a sport for an NCAA Division I or II university must submit a Clearinghouse form for academic eligibility. Their website is www.eligibilitycenter.org
  • Caution your students about what they post on the internet: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. The information there has negatively impacted college and job applications along with scholarship opportunities.
  • Seniors will attend Senior Guidance on Tuesday, September 8th to receive information about submitting college applications & ordering transcripts. During the summer rising Seniors may work on their essays for college applications.

The services and resources of the Guidance Department are also available to parents. Parents are encouraged to contact their student’s counselor for any academic, personal or family question or concern.

Ken Pelc – Director of Guidance and College Counseling
Melissa Welsh – Guidance and College Counselor
Linda Arndt – Guidance Office Assistant/Registrar
Students are assigned alphabetically by class to homerooms. A counselor is assigned to each homeroom group. Students remain with the same homeroom, and therefore the same counselor for four years.
If a student is more comfortable with a different counselor, notify Mrs. Arndt, Guidance Office Assistant, with a request to change.