Improving your school involvement activities...
Develop a list of ideal school involvement activities that can be implemented in your school to increase student retention.
Field trips during first term and 4th term (mid point of program)
Variety of Guest Speakers.
We have a Help Desk that services faculty and staff and will be mandatory for students to join
Volunteer to work with people with no tech experience
Participation in all school club activities
These are a couple ideas that are implemented and I feel are important contributors to student retention and experience: Student council programs to increase student involvement by the students and Student of the course to award those who achieve excellence.
Ann,
I like this. I can imagine the satisfaction. And happy faces of those on the receiving end of a hair cut.
Community service activities (ex. cut-a-thons)
Parties for graduations, birthdays, etc.
Students working on each other during practical assignments (cosmetology/barber/esthetics)
These are strategies we currently implement. We will also be researching the possibility of study groups at our school to further foster bonds and help students feel supported. Even without the study groups, however, our small class sizes assist in this bonding.
We have small parties for our graduates, and all current students in attendance are involved. It makes our graduates feel special, and our students are motivated to achieve the same success. We are also involved in community service in our area. We go to local nursing homes to perform cosmetology services. We also include our students in career fairs. These experiences provide bonding between students and with the faculty/administration. We are considering starting something small but special for students' birthdays. Anything that makes them feel cared about individually creates a bond between them and our institution, and therefore affects retention.
Our students are involved in community service activities in the area. For example, we have cut-a-thons and visit local nursing homes to perform cosmetology services. This helps create bonds between students and with the assisting instructors. This also helps the student see what good they can do in their career field. We also have a little party for each individual or group graduation.
Robert,
A good range of student recognition. Thanks for posting.
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
We have several awards that are given to the students at the beginning of the term, from their previous term, such as an attendance award, honor roll and other academic awards. It is important to honor these students in front of their peers, it gives them a great sense of accomplishment and provides the students something to strive for. Also at the beginning of the term, student services schedules a week's worth of activities for the students and snacks and giveaways during their break. We also celebrate most of the major holidays by having the students dress up or have a dress down day. I feel all of these activities help with student retention.
One thing would be:
Clap out sessions for honor roll and/or perfect attendance
Certificates for community involvement
certificates for in house participation
this would be a recognizable effort for all major departments to as a whole; not just given to teachers to handout
One thing would be:
Clap out sessions each quarter for perfect attendance and/or honor roll
I think having intramural sports teams and weekend outings, outside of the classroom will help students to feel like part of a "family."
Our school has perfect attendance and 4.0 awards ceremonies. Pictures are taken and are displayed on a board. We also have student appreciation days where we have games, food and raffles. The students enjoy these activities. We take pictures and post them on our web site.
my school already has multiple awards and ways for students to enjoy graduation and feel proud of their accomplishments. Not much improvement is needed in this area. Our Student Services Department is on top of their game.
Sally,
Graduation is why we do what we do.
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
On our campus we hold awards for perfect attendance for the term and honor awards for grade point average for past term. At graduation, students are awarded for earned GPAs with varying colored cords and are announced. The ceremony is a love fest -- great experience for all attendees!
Graduation Celebrations
Holiday Celebrations including diverse holidays
Honors Celebrations
Contests
Program memtors
Cynthia,
Yes. This helps retention and your reputation in the community. Which in turn has to help student recruitment.
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
Our school has many school involvement activities. We have student appreciation days where students are provided pizza or hot dogs and honored for their hard work and attendance. We also do community service with blood drives and free messages at community events. Most holidays we have family events; Halloween and Christmas parties for parents and children etc. As a result, students and their families feel connected to our school. I know that this improves student retention and makes us known in the community.
George,
These are all good ideas. Bring them to campus leadership.
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
