DCCS Specific Posts – College Counselor Corner

Understanding the Junior Practicum Experience at DC

Posted on 3 Oct 20228 Jun 2023 by Trevor Creeden

The Junior Practicum experience for current juniors at DC is intended to build off of the Sophomore Externship experience. If you are new junior at DC, welcome! I am excited to work with you. At DC, we require our 11th graders to complete a Junior Practicum, which is 40 required internship hours at a company/business or organization outside of DC. Click here to read a blog post of mine titled, “The Value of a High School Internship”. Click here to read a post titled “Gen Z X Factors”. I hope these two posts help you understand why I think high school internship experiences are not only helpful, but needed experiences that every Upper School student at DC should have.

What to know when planning for Junior Practicum:

You have from the day after your sophomore year ends through May 31st of your junior year to complete the required 40 hours.
These hours can be completed at any time beyond the classes you are scheduled to take at DC. You can complete Junior Practicum hours during the summer, PRT time, days off of school or one or both SAIL weeks (November or April).
After completing your Sophomore Externship experience; who did you get to know, talk to and learn from that could be a potential supervisor for your Junior Practicum? You could intern at the same company or organization if you are building on and/or learning something new with a different supervisor.
Continue to talk with your parents, friends and others that can help you know of someone that would be good for you to intern for if you are looking for a different experience than what you did for your Sophomore Externship. I think that this process of asking questions, initiating communication with potential supervisors and networking is very important to go through. 90% or more internships are established through personal connections.
Feel free to go back to your YouScience aptitude/interest assessment results for additional recommendations of what careers may be a good fit for you.
If you have asked a couple of professionals whether you can complete your Junior Practicum with them and they have said no, first ask them if they know of anyone else that would be good to ask. I am also happy to help connect you with someone that may be willing to have you intern with them.

What to do when a potential supervisor is interested or has said that you can complete your Sophomore Externship with them.

If a potential supervisor would like to know more about the Junior Practicum internship program, they can view the Junior Practicum Guidelines and Supervisor Information forms.
Ask your potential supervisor at what time, before May 31st, would be a better time for you to intern with them. It would good to consider interning with them at the most appropriate time during the year in which they may have more for you to observe or do.
Go to the “’23-’24 Junior Practicum Hourly Log Form” that has been shared with you and is also in your SCOIR Drive, complete your information and then your supervisor’s information. E-mail me (tcreeden@dccs.org) your supervisor’s name, email and company name. Agree to and submit the “’23-’24 Junior Practicum Contract” form (submitting it is you agreeing to the terms).
Begin your Junior Practicum!

What is required for you to complete during and after you complete your 20 required Sophomore Externship hours?

Once you and your supervisor have agreed to the ’23-’24 Junior Practicum Contract”, log your completed hours in the “’23-’24 Junior Practicum Hourly Log Form” that was shared with you. Complete the questions for each day(s) hours as well (tasks completed and “one thing you learned”).
Complete a project assigned to you by your supervisor.
Once your 40 hours are logged, you must complete the “’23-’24 Junior Practicum Student Evaluation Form”. The link to this form is in the “’23-’24 Junior Practicum Hourly Log Form”.

Below are some FAQ’s regarding the Junior Practicum that you may have:

Can I complete my intern hours with more than one supervisor?

Yes. You must complete at least 10 hours with one supervisor. For juniors, this means you may have up to four different supervisors to complete the 40 hours required.

Can I complete my intern hours with a faculty or staff member at DC?

No. You must complete your Junior Practicum hours with a supervisor outside of DC. If you are interested in teaching/education, you may intern with a teacher at the Lower School.

What if I don’t know what profession/career I would like to intern for at all?

If you have completed the Sophomore Externship experience, you should hopefully be able to draw from that experience and know if you are more excited about the career field you interned for or maybe you are less excited about it (which is totally fine as well!). If you are looking to complete your Junior Practicum in a different career field, please go back to your Career Matches in your YouScience assessment results and review what careers that may be a good fit for you. If you are a new junior at DC, please take the YouScience assessment in SCOIR. Ask me how to get started and I would be happy to help you. I am also more than happy to meet with you individually to review your YouScience assessment results with you and/or talk through what career fields you may be interested in by asking you some questions.

Can I complete my Junior Practicum hours during my PRT period(s)?

Yes, if you have a PRT 1st or 4th period and would like to complete any of your Junior Practicum hours during this time, you can come into school late or leave early as long as I am aware that you are completing your hours during your PRT. I need to be the one to sign off and let the main office know where you are.

What if I don’t complete all of my Junior Practicum intern hours before May 31st of my junior year?

It is strongly recommended that you complete your 40 required hours before May 31st of your junior year because it’s important that you can add these hours to your college applications, be able to possibly write about the experience in your college essays, and most importantly, have a great idea of what you may need to put for a major you would like to pursue in your college applications. Also, you can get a letter of recommendation from your supervisor for your college applications and may even have the opportunity to continue working for your supervisor in the summer after your junior year and get paid (I’ve had seniors tell me this happened a number of times). Nevertheless, if you don’t complete any or all of your required 40 hours before May 31st of your junior year, you do have until March 1st of your senior year to complete the hours.

Understanding the Sophomore Externship Experience at DC

Posted on 2 Oct 20228 Jun 2023 by Trevor Creeden

The mission of DC is “to educate students who will serve God and impact the world through Biblical thought and action”. Much of this education obviously occurs daily on our campus as the students at DC complete coursework, interact with their teachers, take unique electives and participate in extracurricular activities. As students enter 10th grade, we also believe that our students need to interact with professionals off campus to explore their interests, curiosity and gifts in a career field of interest. In order to do this we require our 10th graders to complete a Sophomore Externship, which is 20 required internship hours at a company/business or organization outside of DC. Click here to read a blog post of mine titled, “The Value of a High School Internship”. Click here to read a post titled “Gen Z X Factors”. I hope these two posts help you understand why I think high school internship experiences are not only helpful, but needed experiences that every Upper School student at DC should experience.

What to know when planning for Sophomore Externship:

You have from the day after your freshman year ends through May 31st of your sophomore year to complete the required 20 hours.
These hours can be completed at any time beyond the classes you are scheduled to take at DC. You can complete Sophomore Externship hours during the summer, PRT time, days off of school or one of the two SAIL weeks (November or April).
Talk with your parents, friends and others that can help you know of someone that would be good for you to intern for. I think that this process of asking questions, initiating communication with potential supervisors and networking is very important to go through. 90% or more internships are established through personal connections.
Use results from the YouScience assessment to assist in understanding what occupation/profession you may want to intern for. After we complete this assessment in Sophomore Seminar the first month of school, you will know and understand your results.
If you have asked a couple of professionals whether you can complete your Sophomore Externship with them and they have said no, first ask them if they know of anyone else that would be good to ask. I am also happy to help connect you with someone that may be willing to have you intern with them.

What to do when a potential supervisor is interested or has said that you can complete your Sophomore Externship with them.

If a potential supervisor would like to know more about the Sophomore Externship program, they can view the Sophomore Externship Guidelines and Supervisor Information forms.
Ask your potential supervisor at what time, before May 31st, would be a better time for you to intern with them. It would good to consider interning with them at the most appropriate time during the year in which they may have more for you to observe or do.
Go to the “’23-’24 Sophomore Externship Hourly Log Form” that was shared with you and is in your SCOIR Drive, complete your information and then your supervisor’s information. E-mail me (tcreeden@dccs.org) your supervisor’s name, email and company name. Agree to and submit the “23-’24 Sophomore Externship Contract” form.
Begin your Sophomore Externship!

What is required for you to complete during and after you complete your 20 required Sophomore Externship hours?

Once you and your supervisor have agreed to the ’23-’24 Sophomore Externship Contract”, log your completed hours in the “’23-’24 Sophomore Externship Hourly Log Form” that was shared with you. Complete the questions for each day(s) hours as well (tasks completed and “one thing you learned”).
Complete a project assigned to you by your supervisor.
Once your 20 hours are logged, you must complete the “’23-’24 Sophomore Externship Student Evaluation Form”. The link to this form is in the “’23-’24 Sophomore Externship Hourly Log Form”.

Below are some FAQ’s regarding the Sophomore Externship that you may have:

Why Sophomore Year?

In my opinion, sophomores are mature enough to explore the options they may have when it comes to vocation and career options. I go through The YouScience aptitude/interest assessment results with them in Sophomore Seminar class at the beginning of the school year. This information provides them with a number of occupations that may be a good fit for them. Also, the earlier you start, the earlier future internship opportunities may be available as a junior or senior. Lastly, it’s a great time to encourage improvement in the soft skills and networking skills that will be needed in their future.

Can I complete my intern hours with more than one supervisor?

Yes. You must complete at least 10 hours with one supervisor. For sophomores, this means you may have up to two different supervisors to complete the 20 hours required.

Could I intern with a family member?

Although I think it would be more beneficial to intern with someone you don’t know as well. You also could have a great internship experience with a relative. So yes, you can intern with a family member. The only requirement is that it cannot be your parent.

Can I complete my intern hours with a faculty or staff member at DC?

Yes, however, you must have contact with someone outside of DC for your internship to be approved.

If I can’t drive, how can I do an internship?

I understand that this is a challenge as a sophomore when completing an internship. Parents, you will most likely need to take your son or daughter to their internship and pick them up. However, 20 hours is not a lot of hours. To complete 20 hours you are looking at 3 full working days or 5-6 half days.

Are these service hours?

No, these hours are different than service hours. These are hours in which you are observing/job shadowing a professional at a company or business. If you have a question as to whether you think what you want to do for your Sophomore Externship hours overlaps with service hours please let me know.

When can I start?

When you know who your supervisor will be for your internship, go to the “’23-’24 Sophomore Externship Hourly Log Form” that was shared with you, and enter you and your supervisors information. Then email me and provide me with your supervisor’s name, business/company name and email address. I will contact your supervisor and then you are good to go to log your hours on the “hourly log form”.

What if I don’t know what profession/career I would like to intern for at all?

Wait until we review your YouScience assessment results in October and then you will have a lot of great information to consider. It’s okay to not know what you may want to major in or career you want to pursue as a 15 year old. I don’t think someone at this age should know. You can make a decision, however, on what interests you and what you are curious about. Is there an occupation you think is really interesting? Maybe you’ve observed someone you know or have seen someone on TV in this occupation. I would encourage you to explore this curiosity and interest, get out of your comfort zone a bit and intern with a supervisor in this particular occupation.

Can I complete all of my Sophomore Externship intern hours in the Sophomore Career Week class the 2nd SAIL week?

Yes, if you sign up to be in the Sophomore Externship SAIL class, I will contact you and ask what occupation you are interested in interning for. I will then email you one or more potential supervisors that you can contact and ask if you could intern with them. We will have class on Monday and Tuesday of SAIL week (morning and afternoon). These classes are interactive and I bring speakers in to help you understand various career options and how to prepare for and conduct yourself when completing your Sophomore Externship. The Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of Sophomore Career Week you will be interning full days (at least 7 hours). You are responsible for your transportation to and from your Sophomore Externship. You must also return to school for any extracurricular activities you are committed to (drama, choir, athletics, etc.)

DCCS Specific Posts

Learn About the Dual Credit Partnership with Colorado Christian University and DCCS

Posted on 20 Nov 20218 Nov 2023 by Trevor Creeden

DCCS has a dual credit partnership with Colorado Christian University.

This is a tremendous opportunity for 10th, 11th and 12th grade students at DC to receive college credit at a fraction of the cost (85% off face value of a college credit), while challenging themselves by taking the most rigorous courses they can. You need to earn an A, B or C in your DC course to receive the dual credit through CCU. I address some FAQ’s in this post specific to DC but you can also click here to get answers to more FAQ’s regarding CCU’s Dual Credit program.

1. What courses at DC are eligible to receive dual credit through CCU?

There are two main requirements that a course must meet to be eligible. First, the teacher must have a Master’s degree in the field in the subject in which they teach. Each teacher then submits a number of documents to CCU for approval. The below courses we offer at DC have been approved to receive dual credit for the ‘22-‘23 school year.

English: English 10 Honors, AP English Language, AP English Literature

Math: Precalculus Honors, AP Statistics, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC

Science: Chemistry Honors, AP Chemistry

History: US History Honors, AP US History, AP US Gov’t, AP European History

Bible: Christian Doctrine, Apologetics and Christian Thought

Electives: AP Computer Science Principles, AP Psychology, Art History Honors

2. What is the different between dual enrollment and dual credit?

Dual enrollment refers to when a student takes a local college course in-person instead of attending a class at their high school. Dual credit refers to when a student takes their own high school course that is approved to receive college credit by a college or university. At DC, we don’t typically have students take dual enrollment courses because it doesn’t work in our schedule and students are required to take a minimum of 5 credits each year (6 is recommended). Because of our A/B rotating schedule, it is very hard to take a M-F college course in person. However, we have a great opportunity at DC to receive dual credits with CCU!

3. How many colleges will accept dual credit through CCU?

CCU is dual credit partners with over 200 high schools across the United States. You can view the complete list of CCU partner schools by clicking here. While it is up to each individual college to determine how they accept transfer credits, if colleges are receiving this many transcripts from CCU dual credit partner schools, the chances of them accepting the credit goes up exponentially. Colleges understand that CCU puts the high schools through a very detailed and rigorous review process. This being said, it is important to ask the admissions and/or registrar’s office at the colleges that your child is interested in or is applying to in order to to know if they definitely will accept the dual credit from CCU. In my opinion, the overwhelming majority of colleges will accept these dual credits from CCU. The more competitive a college gets for a student to be admitted (below 30%), the amount of transfer credits they will accept goes down significantly. This goes for AP credit or other ways students may transfer credit, not just dual credit through CCU.

4. How much will each CCU dual credit course cost?

The cost per course is $200. This is a GREAT price for 3 college credits. The median cost of one credit hour at 4-year nonprofit colleges is $530, assuming a 12-credit-hour course load per semester (24 credit hours annually) and payment of full tuition and fees. The cost of one credit hour based on average tuition and fees is $1,537 when just looking at 4-year private, nonprofit institutions.

Please note: Chemistry Honors and AP Chemistry receive 5 total credits because a 2 credit Chemistry lab is additional credit. AP US History receives 3 credits for each semester completed (6 total). You will pay $200 for each semester.

5. How do I register for a CCU dual credit course?

CCU dual credit registration takes place all online. You would need to complete a “CCU Academy Online Dual Enrollment Form”, then create a “CCU Login” and pay for your courses in “Self-Service”. For complete registration instructions click here.

6. What is the deadline to register by?

The registration deadline will be April 1st. Since AP Psychology and the first semester of AP US History are considered semester courses for CCU dual enrollment, the deadline to register for these two courses was November 15th, however, if you would like to retroactively register for one of these two courses because you missed the deadline above, please let me know. This later registration date is a big benefit because it will give juniors and especially seniors more time to research the colleges they may apply to or are applying to and see if they will accept the dual enrollment credits they have/will earn. Seniors, you should have received almost all of your admission decisions by April 1st, so hopefully, the CCU dual credits you have or will receive will play a factor in the financial fit at each of the colleges you are deciding to possibly attend.

7. How can I view and send my CCU transcript to colleges?

For instructions on how access your unofficial transcripts and send your official transcripts to colleges of your choice, click here.

8. Can I withdrawal from a course I already registered for?

Yes. You may drop or withdraw from a course by filling out the Drop/Withdrawal Request Form. Drop/withdraw forms may be emailed to dualcredit@ccu.edu. Drops must be completed by the deadline (May 1st) in order to receive a refund. The student will not receive a transcript for the course. Withdrawing from a course after the drop deadline results in a “W” on your transcript and no refund.

9. What if I get dual credit for an AP course but also pass the AP exam at the end of the school year? Will I get credit for both?

This all depends on the college(s) you may be transferring the credit to. If receiving a 3, 4 or 5 on the AP test earns the student the same credit that they would get if they received the dual credit through CCU, then you spent $300 for 3 credits ($200 for CCU course and $100) for the AP test which is still a great deal. If the college, however, will allow you to receive credit for a 3, 4 or 5 on the AP exam and an additional 3 credits for completing the Dual Credit course, then you paid ($300 for 6 credits). It’s all up to the college(s) though and how they award the credit for the dual credit course and the AP test. You can check what credit colleges may award for AP credit here. You would need to email the admissions office at the specific colleges you are interested in or are applying to and ask them how they would accept your transfer credits to know for sure.

10. How many credits could I earn? Could I earn an Associate of Arts Degree?

The easy answer is that you could earn as many credits as you would like. Before I provide you with numbers, however, I want to re-emphasize that this would be the ideal scenario assuming the college(s) would accept all of your dual credit courses. Please research in advance to see which credits would transfer to each college.

You could have up to 18-20 college credits if you took at least two CCU dual credit courses each year and then possibly an additional 9-10 from passing AP exams during 10th-12th grade. This would give you enough credits to start out as a sophomore academically in college and save $15,000-$20,000. I would like to also make you aware of a unique opportunity that CCU provides in earning an Associates Degree before you graduate from DCCS. Click here to learn more about this opportunity. This Associates Degree requires a total of 60 credits and would require a very rigorous course load in 10th-12th grade but it is possible. Below is a hypothetical scenario in which 60 credits could be earned at DC. This is not official. Credit requirements may vary.

10th– (3 credits each)- English 10 Hon, Doctrine, Precalculus Honors = 9 credits

Chemistry Honors- 5 credits

AP World History Exam (4 or 5)- 3 credits

Take an online dual enrollment college course (summer)- 3 credits

Total credits earned before start of 11th grade- 20 credits

11th– (3 credits each) AP English Language, AP Psychology, AP Computer Science Principles- 9 credits

AP US History- 6 credits

AP Biology- 3 credits for passing AP exam

**AP Chemistry receives the same credit as Chemistry Honors. If you didn’t register for the Chemistry Honor dual credit, you can register for AP Chemistry.

Take an online dual enrollment college course- 3 credits

Total credits earned before start of 12th grade- 21 credits

12th– (3 credits each) AP English Literature (same credit earned for English 10 Honors), AP Calc BC or AP Stat, Apologetics and Christian Thought, AP Statistics, AP Gov’t and/or AP European History- 12 credits

AP Physics 1 Exam (4 or 5)- 3 credits

**AP Chemistry receives the same credit as Chemistry Honors. If you didn’t register for the Chemistry Honor dual credit, you can register for AP Chemistry.

4 additional AP credits from an additional AP exam or online dual credit course

Total- 19 credits

Total needed for Associates Degree- 60 credits (20 + 21 + 19)

College Admissions, DCCS Specific Posts, Uncategorized

What To Expect in 2020 (at DC and in College Admissions)!

Posted on 5 Jan 202022 May 2020 by Trevor Creeden

We are now in a new decade which may only happen 7-8 times in an individual’s life. Even though I have been at DC since 2010 and a lot has happened since then, I am not going to go back and review the past decade in the DC Guidance Office. I do think it’s important to look back and remember what was important and helpful in order to make the best decisions moving forward. I also think it’s important to look back and be thankful for what God has provided and opportunities he has given each of us. Below is a quote from John Piper to encourage you as we head into 2020.

“The proper response to grace you received in the past is thankfulness, and the proper response to grace promised to you in the future is faith. We are thankful for the past grace of the last year, and we are confident in the future grace in the new year.”

There will be two new things happening this coming year at DC that I am excited about and one thing in college admissions that you may know about but will be new and have future implications in standardized testing.

Transitioning from Naviance to SCOIR– I am excited to announce that this winter/spring we will be changing the college planning and application program we use at DC from Naviance to SCOIR (pronounced like a goal score). This will especially be a change for me since I have been using Naviance since 2009, but there are a number of reasons I am making this change. I will briefly touch on a few below but you will get a communication soon about this change in more detail.

The availability of a phone app that students and parents will be able to use on their cell phones to research colleges, update their accounts and complete application steps. As the counselor, I will be able to remind students and parents of important dates and deadlines through notifications on their phone.
More user friendly and applicable information that students and parents can see quickly.
Easier interface for teachers to write recommendations for seniors and update their status.
Their integration with You Visit and Campus Reel giving students and parents opportunities to tour campuses and what they may be interested in knowing in regards to the dorms, student life, etc.

2. Career Week– You may have heard about this already but the DC Class of 2021 will be the first class to participate in Career Week and I am excited for them to have this opportunity. For those of you who don’t know what Career Week is, each junior will be required to complete a 5 day internship at the end of May of their junior year. They will not have classes during these 5 days but will be reporting to their supervisor in a career field they are interested in pursuing and majoring in. This year’s juniors have been working on understanding what career field/major they may be interested in and finding a professional to intern with already. My hope is that this experience will continue to encourage them to pursue a specific profession or it may discourage them which is okay as well. If they do enjoy their experience it may lead to more opportunities over the summer and beyond and it will also be a big encouragement to them as they apply to colleges a few months later. It will push many out of their comfort zone a bit which is also a great experience.

3. Changes to the ACT Test– Beginning September 2020, students will be able to retake sections of the test, superscore their results and sit for a digital version of the assessment. Students who are interested in ACT section retesting should know these three facts:

Section retests are available only in digital format.

Test-takers who wish to retake certain sections may only do so only online. The ACT will still be offered as a paper-based exam, but the paper test must be completed in its entirety.

Students can take up to three section retests per sitting over seven dates.

Students will be allowed to test seven times throughout the year, and retest dates will always coincide with the dates of the national ACT. During each sitting, students can retake any one, two or three sections. There is also no limit on the number of times a student may retest overall. Thanks to the new superscoring option, students will be able to send their most favorable scores to prospective colleges. As a result, a disappointing score on the fourth required ACT section, for example, would be slightly less problematic if a test-taker’s prospective schools accept superscores.

The cost and registration procedures are not known yet.

It’s going to be a fun and productive 2020!

DCCS Specific Posts, Uncategorized

2019 DC College Bus Tour Review

Posted on 9 Nov 201922 May 2020 by Trevor Creeden

I wish I was good at taking pictures and did this for each College Bus Tour over the last 6 years but I am not good at taking pictures. I do have some from my 7th College Bus Tour, however, with the DC class of 2021. We had a great trip! The weather was great, each school was very welcoming and treated us well, the food was great at each school and the churches we stayed at were very hospitable. I love taking the juniors on this College Bus Tour each year and want to thank Nicole O’Leary, Cody Skaer and Kaley Ryan for chaperoning this year’s trip with me. Below are a few pics from this year’s trip.