Former High School Counselor: How Scoir Keeps Students at the Center

As I think about the various features released in Scoir to help students and their supporters, it makes me reflect on my work both prior to Scoir and at Scoir. 

Before Scoir, I spent four years working in the Community-Based-Organization space supporting marginalized communities of students, primarily Title 1 schools and school districts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden City, New Jersey.

During my time working in both communities, it became increasingly clear to me that students needed the resources and spaces to pursue their post-secondary plans; whether it be in the workforce, taking a military path, pursuing trade school, taking a gap year, or pursuing a 2 or 4-year degree. While I didn’t have access to Scoir when supporting my students, these mentions below (and more!) are some key reasons why Scoir truly benefits students and their supporters.

Scoir is student-centered. Scoir continues to modernize and streamline building blocks of features to deliver what students need most: a user-friendly interface that encourages discovery from the very beginning.

Here are some of my favorite features of Scoir as a former CBO advisor.

1. Scoir Counselor Curriculum
2. Career Readiness and PrinciplesYou
3. Resume Building
4. College Search and Discovery
5. Accessibility to Scholars

1. Scoir Counselor Curriculum

The Scoir counselor curriculum is built for counselors to implement with their students, and includes resources to share with their supporters. It encourages students to begin thinking about their postsecondary next steps starting as early as 9th grade! Too often, students shelve thinking about what post-high school means for them until senior year. By that time, they may have diminished or even dismissed their options. We see this curriculum catching students that might not have awareness of local scholarships, or students who might disregard highly selective colleges because they think the cost is too high, or perhaps a student who might simply misunderstand the college process.

Featuring 55 lesson plans in total, each 15-20 minutes in length, this curriculum can easily be adapted within your curriculum for the upcoming academic year. Our College Readiness Curriculum is for all students, from first-generation and high-achieving low-income students to those who will continue the college-going tradition but still feel the pressure of making the right decision. Topics include:

• Creating a summer action plan during freshman year
• Building a college timeline for juniors
• Understanding financial aid award letters
• Learning about military careers for seniors
• And many more!

When these things are all tied together, it makes navigating a stressful system that much more manageable. 

2. PrinciplesYou and Career Readiness

An incredible recent update for students came in the form of a career discovery and aptitude assessment. PrinciplesYou, a shorter assessment than its predecessor, allows students to take a simple assessment within a class period or less. At no extra cost, PrinciplesYou’s integration with Scoir is the first of its kind in the college and career readiness space. Once completed, students have access to comprehensive information regarding careers and students can customize their search using Filters like “My Matches,” “Career Clusters,” and “Education Needed.” As was the case before, students can also save careers of interest to provide further visibility for their supporters, parents, and guardians. 

Also new to this functionality is the idea of Archetypes. Students can assess their Archetype breakdown once they’ve completed their PrinciplesYou assessment and learn more about their top matches within the Archetype report.

Speaking of careers, we recently released our early-access Career Readiness solution for middle and high schools! You can learn more about our different packages on our pricing page.

3. Resume Building

A common workshop that I facilitated with my students was resume building and career workshops. Something I wish I had during my time in my previous positions was a tool to more easily compile this information, both for my students and for myself, to further assist and advocate for my students. 

In Scoir, students can quickly export a resume directly from their student profile once they’ve added any information to their “Activities and Achievements” section. This feature encourages students to share what they’re involved in within high school and beyond proudly, and with ease. As a supporter of high school students in my previous position, this would have saved hours of time both adding to and configuring a resume. 

Plus, Scoir’s career assessments pair well with a student’s ability to easily access a ready-made resume on their own terms, whether college is a part of their next steps or not.

4. College and Career Search and Discovery

Scoir recently improved the student discovery experience as well. In addition to searching for colleges in Scoir, students can research careers of interest and even tie-in their career assessment results when researching careers in Scoir. Students can also search for specific #Posts and Events linked to colleges.

These key pieces of exploration come in conjunction with social media during the age of finding a student’s “why?” We aim to connect students to applicable and purposeful opportunities. This could look like encouraging students to attend a virtual session on Environmental Clean-up, or even learning more about Music Therapy at a college directly through Scoir.

If a student likes what they’re reading on a specific post, or even after viewing a college’s profile in Scoir, they have the ability to compare colleges side-by-side. This paints the picture for them after they’ve done the initial research.

In College Compare, students can measure Admissions Statistics, Student Life and Demographics, Academics and Popular Majors at each college, a Cost Comparison, and view Location and Proximity. Once completed, a student can then decide if they want to Follow a college (this adds a college to their list) or Unfollow a college..

 It doesn’t get much easier to discover colleges than this.

5. Accessibility to Scholars

One final thing of note: Scoir comes at no cost to students. In other words, a student does not need to be connected to a high school in order to utilize Scoir and all it has to offer—making Scoir accessible to any and all students at any moment of their path during or after high school. Everything mentioned above operates the same, whether a student is connected to a high school or not. 

In my past work, my students would have greatly benefited from accessing a free platform with helpful resources, a resume tool, college and career search, and more; not to mention parents and guardians having the same access as well. 

In continued support of our mission to expand college access and improve student outcomes, Scoir will discount these prices 50% for students eligible for free or reduced price school meals. 

Want to learn more about how Scoir can support you and your students? See what it's all about and sign up for a free Scoir account.

Want to learn more about how Scoir can support you and your students? Explore what’s coming to Scoir for students by viewing the Building Better event replay. You can also sign up for a free Scoir account.