It's already time to start thinking about the next school year! January is a key month in the educational landscape, particularly here in Lake Oswego, where preparations for the upcoming academic year are in full swing. Join us for a new episode of Learning in Lake Oswego, where we delve into the essential process of student class forecasting. As we gear up for the next school year, we're excited to have school counselor Carrie Trullinger share her expertise. She'll show how class forecasting shapes our schools and benefits students and their families. Tune in for an informative discussion on preparing for a successful academic future in Lake Oswego.
Lake Oswego Middle School Counseling
Lakeridge Middle School Counseling
Lake Oswego High School Counseling
Lakeridge High School Counseling
Dr. Jennifer Schiele, Superintendent, LOSD
Mary Kay Larson, Executive Director of Communications, LOSD
Carrie Trullinger, School Counselor, Lake Oswego Middle School
Welcome to Learning in Lake Oswego, a podcast providing educational insights for an engaged community. Lake Oswego School District Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Shealy will discuss what's important to our learning community. She'll be joined by experts examining various topics, answering important questions, and sharing upcoming events and activities you won't want to miss.
And now, it's your host. Lake Oswego School District Executive Director of Communications, Mary Kay Larson.
Welcome back to Learning in Lake Oswego, your go to podcast for insights into the educational landscape of our community. I'm Mary Kay Larson, joined by Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Scheele. Believe it or not. In January, we start thinking about the next school year. It's an important time when students start thinking about what kind of classes they want to take for the next year.
And today on this episode, we've invited one of our amazing middle school counselors, Carrie Trollinger, to help us explain and understand how that process goes, what students and parents should be thinking about, and also a little preview of some upcoming classes that kids get to choose from. One of the things that makes Lake Oswego School District really special is all of the choices that our students have when they are figuring out their educational path.
Not only do they have a lot of different topic options, but they also have a lot of depth in those options. They can really explore new interests and pursue passions all the way from middle school through high school. And that's one of Carrie's jobs is help students and families figure that out. I'm going to turn it over to our superintendent, Dr.
Jennifer Shealy. Thank you. And hello. Welcome to all of our listeners. I'm thrilled about today's episode. One of the greatest pleasures we have in education is assisting students in discovering new interests and following their passions. And this journey of choosing different classes for the first time begins in middle school.
So as you know, I worked in a middle school for half of my career. I loved it. The wonder of middle school students is It's just fantastic. It's kind of this blend of curiosity, imagination and enthusiasm, and they show that as they explore their world. And if you have a middle schooler, if you've had one, you've seen this happen almost daily.
And at this stage of development, Students kind of find themselves at this interesting crossroads of childhood and adolescence and where every experience, you know, is a potential source of or inspiration. And it's, it's just kind of interesting to watch that unfold. As I mentioned, this is the first time our students encounter that concept of forecasting, where they actually get to make some choices, and that's a pivotal process for, for selecting classes for their upcoming year that will kind of determine, you know, the, the different pathways that they may take later on in their not only high school but post high school.
So our school counselors help our students and their families navigate this significant phase and we're so fortunate to have Carrie here. I've known Carrie for a long time. Her wealth of knowledge and expertise in this area is invaluable and I'm sure we're gonna gain some great insights from her experience.
So Carrie, it's a pleasure to have you with us today. Thank you for taking the time to join us. Thanks so much for having me. Really appreciate it. Yeah, before we jump into forecasting, can you just tell us a little bit about yourself? How long you've been a school counselor? How long have you been at LOJ?
Any other kind of personal information that you'd like to share? So I can't even believe it. I'm into my 21st year as a school counselor, all of it at LOJ, which has been fabulous. Although I had previously to that done several internships around different schools and different levels. In Lake Oswego, I was at Lake Ridge High School, LO High, Lake Grove Elementary, lots of different experience at the different levels, which really helps with the forecasting process, really helps with networking, getting to know all the other counselors in the district.
I also coach a lot of athletic activities around the district over at the high school, and also at LOJ, which is a wonderful opportunity to get to know kids outside of school, outside the classroom and outside of counseling. So I am so fortunate to have spent so much of my time here in Lake Oswego. I just love it.
Love LOJ. Can't say enough. Yeah. Thank you. That's awesome. 21 years. Thank you for your dedication to our students and our families. As I mentioned, we're coming up on this unique time which is forecasting. So can you explain what forecasting is and why it's important part of the academic planning process for our students?
Forecasting always feels like a pretty big word for kind of such a simple process. It's actually a communication process, and the purpose of it is really for students to let the school know what elective classes that they would like to take in the upcoming school year. And so we are. system is just to reach out to students and network with the elementary school teachers and counselors, and then also work with the ninth grade counselors at the high school to help students choose which elective classes they would like to take in preparation for the next school year.
It is crazy to be thinking about choosing classes in January, preparing for the next year, but it's a great opportunity to start looking forward. And, and I think people always have a hard time understanding why would we start that in January? Why is that so early? And, but you have to remember that in order to know what teachers we're going to need the next year, we need to know what classes are going to be offered.
And so it's all very connected. And we like to get out as early as possible when we're hiring. So we get the very best people. And so it's all kind of interconnected. But as a middle school counselor, I know that you're helping students, as you said, kind of in the middle there. You get to go down to the elementary schools and then also work with the high school.
How do you think those two processes are similar, and then what do you think is the difference between the fifth graders coming up and the eighth graders going to the high school? Well, the way that the processes is similar is really planning, thinking forward, and talking with kids about themselves, which they love about their strengths, about the things that they enjoy doing, about talking with families, about their school experience and what they want from that experience and how that experience can help them and their students do better and have a more positive experience and have fun.
So I think it's different at the fifth to sixth grade level in that it's more of an exploratory, the electives are more exploratory. There's a little bit less choice, but still an opportunity for so much more fun and engagement and selling LOJ and getting them excited. Not too excited. Fifth grade teachers don't always like that, but I do remember that.
Right, right. So kind of Just providing information on systems and processes for the sixth to seventh grade and seventh to eighth grade process. It becomes much more personal, much more centered around what the students want, looking at academic planning as well. It becomes more personal. They're a little bit more choices and talking also about balance and what type of experience they want to have.
Yeah, and I know you actually visit the elementary schools to talk with the students, which I remember being so much fun and going to each of the elementary schools and meeting with the counselor and the principal and all the students. And, you know, when you, when you think about that, what is the key message that you're trying to tell sixth graders about?
L O J, or coming to a middle school. Interestingly enough, our 8th grade, our current 8th grade counselor does a lot of the heavy duty lifting because they are actually transitioning two classes. They're transitioning the 5th graders up to 6th graders and they will also be transitioning the 8th graders over to 9th graders.
The counselors do something called looping at the middle school, which means that they pick up a class in 6th grade and then they're with them for the whole entire middle school experience. So After the eighth grade counselor transitions their class to ninth grade, then they come back down and pick up another sixth grade class.
So they do double duty and they love it going down to the elementary schools and getting to know all of their new kids. We have an elementary school parent night. Fifth grade to sixth grade parent night, which is really exciting. The primary message that we wanted to deliver at those elementary school visits really centers around what electives are because they, like you said before, this is the first time they're going to be experiencing that.
And what role that they will play in their middle school and high school experience. We don't really expect them to completely understand that in its entirety, but just starting those conversations and really kind of a vocabulary lesson about what it's going to look like. And it's a great opportunity also for the counselor to start talking about our rainbow schedule and the logistics, not to mention sprinkling in some teasers about their own lunch and being in the cafeteria.
And PE and just kind of all of those things are just going to be a little bit different, a little bit more independent, and kind of get them excited for the whole junior high experience. Because I know some of them, like their families and their parents, if they're new to the middle school process, can seem a little bit unsure, a little bit daunting, worrisome, but we really try to.
And it's a great way for kids to use those opportunities to sell them on while this is a new experience and still focus on academics, it can also be fun and exciting and enjoyable and personal to them. And you mentioned having a parent evening. And I think that's really important because as you said, a lot of the kids are nervous, but so are the parents.
I mean, it can be an anxious. thing for a family when you, when you switch any school, but that transition, especially. And I remember talking to parents about middle school being so unique because you have kids who are, haven't hit a growth spurt yet. They might still be carrying a Spider Man lunchbox and then their best friend might be, really tall and has his armor on a girl, and it's, it's very confusing.
And so I think it's important for parents to hear that counselors are there for them, the entire step of that transition. When you think about families, how do they participate in the forecasting process? It's like, what. And why is their involvement so important? Like I referenced before, we have a parent night where fifth grade students come and hear pretty much the same delivery of information that their students did on the visits when the eighth grade counselor goes down.
And we talk about the logistics, we talk about the schedule, and we talk about the forecasting process. Having parents involved is huge. We really want them. them to have all of the information before they make, before they sit down and talk with their students about making decisions about classes. Just because there are critical questions about, am I going to continue with my music?
Am I going to do the exploratory wheel? What do I want my future seventh and eighth grade experience to look like? Inviting them to participate in that process, providing them with all the information and all the resources is really the most beneficial way that they can be involved. Like you said before, to let them know that we are here, that they're not doing this on their own, that they can ask questions, that there are opportunities to change their, to change their minds.
And that while We like to get all of the information ahead of time so we can talk about staffing and so that our administrators can work because they work tirelessly on the schedule to try to get everybody what they need. And having parents involved in all of that just kind of helps smooth the way to make it much more a smoother transition.
So what factors should students consider when they're balancing that, you know, their interests and their academic strengths and challenges? And, you know, as a counselor, what advice do you give them when they're, they don't know what to do? We want students to know is all of the information pieces. So what the process actually looks like and then and letting them know what is offered so that they can make an informed decision.
So like our curriculum guide is essential. Alex Loeber, our fabulous VP, does a great job of putting together the curriculum guide so that it is an excellent tool and and resource for students and families so that they can find out all the information and navigate the process. We talk with students about the balance between fun and academics, the balance between school and home life, what their previous experience looked like, what they want their future experience to look like.
And that's why I really feel like the looping process where we pick up one class in sixth grade and go with them all the way through is essential because we really get to know our kids. So we can have those informed conversations with them about how things are going. You know, do they want to do higher level academic classes?
Do they have time for those outside of school? What does their time commitment look like? And really just making it personal to them. I feel like the kids are always so excited to forecast because they get so excited about what the new opportunities are. And then bringing the parents on board and just having that level of excitement around school.
It's really fun to work with. Speaking of new opportunities, each year new courses are proposed and then added to our curriculum guides. And this year students at LOJ have the opportunity to forecast for Introduction to Fiber Arts. Can you tell us a little bit about that new class and what makes it exciting or valuable for our students?
Yeah, this class sounds like so much fun. I wish it had been offered when, when my own daughter was going through, it's an art class and so it will help kind of bolster our art department that is already full of wonderful classes, but we've had so many clubs outside of school that have focused on fiber arts like our knitting clubs and our sewing clubs.
We've had a batik club. We do already do batiking in our 3D art class and really It's primary focus is really on more hands on activities, kind of getting kids away from screens, giving them materials to work with, building up, you know, critical thinking skills, more hands on activities, providing a cultural awareness to areas around the world that involve this on more of a daily activity in their cultures.
So it's one we're really excited about. It should be super fun. Yeah, we're excited to see what happens in that class. So let's switch a little bit to rigor. So sometimes you hear, and I've heard this before as a counselor and a principal, that you come to middle school and there is no more rigor and it's kind of this lost ground of academic challenge, which I disagree with.
And so I'm just curious about your thoughts on that. And how do students have that more rigorous experience if that's what they're really looking for? So one of the things that we talk with students about is, like I said before, balance. Really kind of comes down to what they want to do, what their interests are, what their family plan is.
What their own personal goals are and really kind of how things have been going so far. So one of the things that we always talk with students and parents about when transitioning to any level is when a really good indicator of how things are going to go is kind of how they're going now. Our teachers are fabulous at knowing about students ability levels, where they're at, helping them through, really just kind of making that whole process personal to the student.
and what their families and goals are. We do have some high school classes offered at the junior high, which is really great for some kids, but not always the best option for other kids. So one of the high school classes that we offer are our language classes. And some students have a passion for that.
and are keen to jump in and take on that heavier load because they are high school classes with high school level tests and assignments and projects while other students aren't quite there yet. And that's completely okay. And it is part of our job that we are thankful to have in talking with parents about like, maybe your student isn't quite ready yet.
And that's okay that not everybody has to be at the same level and not everybody has to be advanced. And there are. Plenty of students who get their language requirements at the high school, and so that's that personal piece again in knowing your families and knowing the students and really curtailing it to them so that they can achieve that, that perfect balance between, you know, not having Too easy load, but also and you know and having some opportunities in there that challenge students, but also not overdoing it for kids that do outside clubs or two or three sports or have other family commitments outside of school.
Yeah, the one thing that keeps coming up is the personalization, which I just love and I want everyone to make sure that they understand that because not every school or school district has that and Lake Oswego does. So I feel very lucky that our kids all have such a caring adult who knows them personally and wants to challenge them and work with their families to make sure their goals are met.
And that kind of brings me to the next idea that I want to talk about, which is how does this like forecasting or looking forward help them for their high school or after high school goals. And then like, can you provide any examples of how like a course selection could influence. their future opportunities.
Yes, the electives are critical because they offer exploration and what I feel are kind of those are not, they're still as important, but they're kind of those soft skills that aren't specifically. tied to academics. So leadership skills, networking skills, specific skills in like photography or yearbook, the art classes which provide opportunities for creativity and stress release and opportunities to have fun throughout the day.
Electives are also a great opportunity for that self exploration in finding out what you like. While we would love to have everybody be a math or science or English person, that's not always. going to be the case for everybody. So giving them other opportunities in which to learn and grow and learn more about themselves is the primary focus, I feel, of the electives.
So not only just focusing on the areas of life such as your career. or your work or your job, but also your hobbies and the things that make you happy and the things that balance out your life and make it more well rounded and something that you enjoy. The middle schools are starting a new program for them.
It's not new to the district. It's a program called Naviance. And it's something that the high schools have been using for a couple of years. And we've just started it in our advisory classes and the Naviance, the new Naviance program is an excellent segue because it is focused on those career and after high school opportunities.
And so the Naviance new lessons are. leading up to helping students make those choices and learn more about themselves and what they would like to pursue so that when they do forecasts, they know more about themselves. They know things that they may like things choices, problems that they want to solve and can really help them.
Create more of a pathway moving forward and make those questions more relevant to them as opposed to high school and college kind of being this, you know, mystical illusion in the distance. It now becomes kind of more applicable to who they are, their plan and what's happening for them at LOJ. So it is a good the forecasting process, Naviance, is a good segment into helping them plan and develop for future activities.
You asked about a story, and it's one of my favorite forecasting stories and scheduling stories. I had a student a number of years ago, 10 years ago or so, who just, I, for whatever reason, we were unable to get him exactly what he wanted, and he ended up taking a band class. And what, you know, just was not happy, was not a band guy, would not into music whatsoever.
And it was, but the end of the story is, is the ended up getting his master's in music at a small private school. And it's just the warmest, best story ever in the world, because what was a potentially uncomfortable and disappointing opportunity really turned in. To a lesson for life and was able to carry him through and he found a new passion and he found a place where he had not pursued before and didn't think he belonged and it became his life passion.
And so I think forecasting, scheduling your experiences that you have can really shape what, what you think you want, but maybe also maybe a little bit about what you may not know about yourself yet. So I think there are opportunities, learning opportunities in all of those scenarios. Yeah, I love that too.
What you don't know yet. It's always the yet after something. You said something I want to make sure I highlight, which is Naviance. So families out there who are listening, the word Naviance is going to be very important to you. So you should talk to your middle schoolers and your high schoolers as well about Naviance.
It is a program that, It really does help set up interest inventories, helps you write your first resume, it can help you do college selection. It is a very powerful tool and we would love for more families to understand it and use it so that our students get used to using that definitely in middle school and in high school.
So thank you for bringing that up. And then back in the day, back in the day when I was a counselor, we used to use these things called forecasting forms. And I know now sometimes we do it more digitally. Do we, do we still have a form like that and then do families still review it and sign it so that they know what the classes are or is it all done electronically?
It is actually all done electronically. We have stopped using the forms for a couple years now. Most of our students after sixth grade know how to, it's all done through our Synergy program. They log in there are helpful videos and that's part of the process of visiting with the students, talking with them in advisory is.
Really to provide the logistical information about how to sign up and how to request those classes. And I should make a distinction there that students are not signing up for the actual classes, like they're not putting their name on a list. They're requesting it. They're letting us know what they would like to take.
And it is all done online for current sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. Fifth graders, we will have them fill out a form, usually through their Google Classroom, that lets us know which type of electives they would prefer. Okay. So things do evolve over time. I, that's good to know. So what, you know, finally, my last question really is, is what key advice would you give to students and families to make the most of this transition to middle school and then out of middle school?
So what we would like for families to know Especially for parents, if you can attend the parent nights, that's ideal. That'll be where they get all of their information, their logistical information, information about LOJ. However, I believe that that information is also available on the website. We know that not all parents can attend those and we want to make sure that everyone gets the information.
Reading the curriculum guide is huge. Just knowing what is offered, knowing what the process is. Again, we work really hard to get that information out. I know it can be overwhelming because it seems kind of a thick read, but there are areas in there that have really important information, especially moving forward.
And although You may be a 5th grade parent. It's always helpful for them to know about what's happening in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade classes too. So, that's going to be something that's really important. One of the things that I always thought seemed really obvious, but it wasn't obvious to me until I was a parent and having my kid go through is actually the communication that happens between the student and the parent.
Parents can have one idea. Students can have another. There is no form that parents are required to sign, but We really talk with the students. We talk with the parents about making sure that they're checking in, making sure everyone's on the same page. Students get really excited. The fifth grade students get really excited when we come down and see them, and they really want to sign up immediately, and we really try to coach them to wait, have conversations with their parents, look at the communication guide, making sure everyone's on the same page before filling out that form.
And for Sixth and seventh graders also talking with your parents, you know, students can get real excited about the idea of higher level language or higher level academics, and then just making sure that you're communicating that everyone's on the same page about what that's going to entail and what that's going to require.
And then two more things, making sure that If you have questions to ask them, we are here. We want everybody to have a great experience. We don't want it to be a mystery. We want to make sure that we want it works in everyone's best interest for the student to have as positive experience as possible in their junior high years and beyond.
So we want to make sure that if you have any questions, please reach out, please ask. And that the last thing would be that Changes are possible. If you find yourself realizing that, Oh, shoot, it's March. What did my kid forecast for? Totally understandable question. You can always ask. You can always reach out.
Things change. We also make schedule changes for kids throughout the school year. If you know they They thought they would really enjoy something, but it's not working out for them. I know students always want to make schedule changes to be with their friends. One of the things that we try really hard to coach them on during the forecasting process before they get their schedule is to choose classes that really they are interested in.
What inevitably happens is that students say, Oh, what are you forecasting for? What are you forecasting for? And they sign up to be with their friends. Only to be placed in classes that they signed up for without any of their friends. So we don't want that for them either. We want it to be personal to them.
We want them to be able to set up the best academic exploratory experience possible so that they can enjoy their time. Yeah, sounds like communication, communication, communication. And as we all know, who any of us who've had middle school students and they are not always the best at communicating with us.
So as parents, we're going to have to definitely reach out to them probably even more during those years to make sure that we're understanding what they're understanding and make sure that they're connected. Carrie is amazing. Thank you so much for being here today, and I will say, you know, Carrie is one counselor in one of our middle schools.
We have three counselors at each of our middle schools, but the process of forecasting is very similar at both schools. So everything she said really kind of fits into both at Lake Ridge Middle School and at LOJ Middle School, which is what I like to call LOJ. So anyway, thank you so much, Keri. Our students and families are in great hands with you and our other counselors, guiding them through this whole forecasting process.
And it's so fun to remember that our students futures are just filled with endless possibilities, kind of fueled by that belief that they can make a positive impact on their world, and they can start with the classes they get to choose to take. Thank you so much for having me. This has been great. Yeah, thank you, Carrie, for being here.
I will say I have two children who went through the system and both of them have picked paths based on their elective experiences, both in classes that they took that they realized this isn't for me. And then others that they dabbled in and they found out. Wait, I have a real interest in this and this is a path I want to take.
So I agree those electives are very important as they figure out who they are as people and as academics and as thriving citizens of the world. And I have to also say that every time we talk about classes, it makes me want to go back to school. I love all the choices that our students have and, man such incredible opportunities.
And part of why we can offer these classes is through our community's generous outpouring of support through the Lake Oswego Schools Foundation. So for the past 40 years, the foundation has rallied our community to raise funds to put more teachers in our schools. And we need these teachers to be able to offer so many amazing course offerings.
So thank you so much to the LO Schools Foundation. Yeah, this is a perfect podcast to highlight the foundation and what it offers our students. And speaking of the foundation, Jen, where are you going to be next month? That is so funny, Mary Kay. One important place I'm going to be is the Lake Oswego Schools Foundation's second annual gala at the Iron Light in Lake Oswego on February 3rd.
And I hope everyone listening will consider joining me. It's a wonderful event that brings. people together and residents around our district to celebrate our schools. It's, it really is a fun event of food and dancing, so it can be, it can be fun for everyone. You can find out more information about it on the Foundation's website, which is L O S Foundation.
That reminds me, I need to get my tickets. I, I, the foundation holds a special place for me. I was the director of it for a couple of years and I will have to say that it's so amazing to be around people who are so grateful for our schools and the, and value education and support each other. So, and this is a, this event is a great way to bring everyone together from around the district.
As well as residents who, whose kids have come and gone and they still are very supportive of our schools. It's a really fun event and I encourage everyone to, to join us. Speaking of the future, coming up on our next podcast, we're gonna go back to elementary school. school and really focus on the science of reading and talking about how exactly do we teach students how to read and foster a love of literacy.
So really looking forward to that on our next episode. Thank you everyone for listening. Thanks everyone. We hope you found this episode informative and helpful. While our discussions are general, we understand each family's experience is unique. If you have specific questions about your child, please contact your school principal.
To learn more about the topics we discussed, ask a question, or share ideas for future episodes, please visit LOSDSchools. org. And remember to like and follow us wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you for engaging with Learning in Lake Oswego. We appreciate your support and look forward to having you with us for our next episode.