When Kellye Harrison-Ayala gives career advice to students, she uses herself as an example.
Her first career was in administrative work as she advanced through college. Then, she moved into criminal justice. Now, she’s in her third as the Crispus Attucks college specialist.
She wants students to understand it’s normal to have different interests and a nonlinear career path. Her guidance comes as part of IPS’ expanding Future Centers — which are advising hubs across the district that help students prepare for college and career opportunities after high school.
“Workforce data tells us that in this day and age, most people will have three to four distinctly different careers,” Harrison-Ayala said. “It’s important that students are aware that we are multifaceted individuals.”
Expanding support for students
The Future Centers work hand-in-hand with another high school resource, the IPS Writing Centers. Together, the specialized staff help with resume building, essay writing, class scheduling, scholarship applications and the completion of federal student aid forms.
Their work has become especially relevant now that state education officials are increasingly focused on preparing students for entering the workforce. And, with discussion of new high school graduation requirements on the horizon, IPS educators say they know students will need a support system to help navigate changes and find a path that best matches their interests.
“That’s where we come in,” said Derrick Slack, a graduation coach. “As educators, we’re not only interested in just those standards that the state has. We’re interested in what’s going to be successful for you.”
IPS first launched its Future Centers — one in each high school — in 2018 with help from a $2.87 million Lilly Endowment grant. The district continued operating the centers in part by using federal funding awarded to schools during the coronavirus pandemic, and piloted some new roles last school year that saw success.
While other parts of the country saw steep declines last year in high schoolers’ completion of federal student aid forms, IPS saw growth. More than 60% of IPS students completed the FAFSA form last year compared to 46% of students nationally and 45.4% in Indiana.
Seeing these results, district officials decided to not only keep the piloted positions, but to expand the centers in each of IPS’ four high schools. To do it, the district is now using a combination of money from the district’s budget, alternative federal funding and philanthropy.
Working as a team
Arsenal Tech, Crispus Attucks, George Washington and Shortridge now all have five different positions at each school with a full-time focus on one specific part of a high schooler’s journey.
Districtwide specialists also float between schools for additional help.
The educators work together to create a team of support for students. For example, at Crispus Attucks, the graduation coach works with students who are falling behind in classes to get their grades up and make a plan to graduate on time.
The postsecondary readiness counselor works with underclassmen to explore which colleges and programs might appeal to them.
Then, the college specialist works with seniors on taking the next steps to apply to those schools, visit their campuses and keep up with the requirements of Indiana’s 21st Century Scholars program, if they’re eligible.
Writing center specialists can step in if students need help with a specific essay or writing prompt needed for graduation or scholarship applications.
And, the work-based learning and career-related program coordinators can help students explore dual-credit or other credentialing programs, such as in cosmetology or welding, so that high schoolers can be ready to enter the workforce directly after graduation if that’s what they want.
These resources have always been available to IPS students, Slack said, but never formalized in such a way. The goal, administrators say, is to provide support for students in the same place from ninth grade through graduation and beyond.
Reaching beyond high school
In addition to supporting individual students, the team schedules field trips to schools and college recruiter visits during students’ 30-minute advisory period.
The students meet within their grade level and the talks are catered to what a high school student might need during that specific year of school.
An underclassman, for example, might want to learn about the different subjects that students can pursue as majors and minors at a college, while seniors might be more interested in learning about university applications and fee waivers.
The goal is to reach every student — including some who aren’t sure how many college classes they’ll take one day.
“In order for us to have equitable access to education, we need to have equitable exposure,” Harrison-Ayala said. “College is for everyone. You might be a foreman with a union, but if you want to be a supervisor, you’re gonna take somebody’s college class somewhere.”
The Future Center team says their work is about more than just improving graduation rates. The specialists want to make sure students who graduate are receiving a quality education. That means exposing them to ideas for what they can do beyond high school and ensuring that when students enroll in college, they know what to do next.
Some IPS graduates might be accepted to a university, but get hung up on scheduling classes or attending their first orientation. Harrison-Ayala is there for that too.
[Many students intend to go to college but never enroll. IPS has a plan to help.]
This summer, before IPS classes were back in session, Harrison-Ayala met a student outside Ivy Tech’s North Meridian Center who didn’t want to go through orientation alone. She stayed with them as they walked through the financial aid process, admissions questions and a knowledge assessment.
With Harrison-Ayala’s help, the student started class on time.
“That’s going to be how I measure my success,” Harrison-Ayala said, “is knowing that students are actually following through with plans.”
Mirror Indy reporter Carley Lanich covers early childhood and K-12 education. Contact her at carley.lanich@mirrorindy.org or follow her on X @carleylanich.
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