We hold a lot of on-campus and off-campus fashion shows, gaming events, bowling nights, bake sales, pizza days, etc. to help allow students to feel welcome in the school. It is of the utmost importance that they know we are happy to have them here and that they reciprocate that feeling by being happy to be here themselves.
We also have many of the same activities and it definitely helps with student retention.
School trips to Dealerships.
Speaker's from Various dealerships in the school's surround area
Class trips to Motorcycle race tracks to watch,and possoble get involved with the race teams.
Success stories of former students......
Perfect. Yes, drops occur at most schools within the first two terms. One tip... if they are the first to go to college, research shows that drops are 38%. So, focus on first to go to college, in the first two terms... academic advising and mentoring will help.
Dr. B
We have come up with several new approaches. We have found that our largest losses are in the first 3 courses. Most of our student are away from home for the first time and don't know how to budget themselves. They run out of money and drop out.
We will be adding things like "How to shop", "Managing your expenses" to the first course they attend. We will also be moving the 2nd and 3rd courses to another building where there are elective courses. This way the new student will be around highly motivated elective students before class, during break and lunch, and after class. We're hoping that by around student with a positive outlook, the new students can overcome any fears or doubts the may harbor.
our school does several things to promote student involvment like car shows and job fairs
Perfect. Do you think career fairs, or other types of involvement activities would help your school?
Dr. B
Mr. Banks,
We have had Student Counsel meetings & Constitution Day Celebration to Improve student involvement!
Charles
On a regular basis, we most recently implemented "Happy Monday" and "Happy Fridays" where we leave out goodies for the students in the lunch area.
We also have two bbq's per year, both free for the students, during school hours, and one of them always has a theme. Most recently, we had "hawaiin day" - they had a lot of fun.
We've also been talking about doing a school "beach clean up", perhaps with the Surfrider Foundation. Its free, we do something worthwhile as a school and it gets students and faculty together.
We also celebrate the major Holidays by decorating, giving awards, recognize student or the month, and birthdays, etc.
We continue to try to think of new ways for student and faculty involvement that is fun, safe, and informal,and inexpensive.
Yes... I love it. Keep doing what you are doing and then some. Linking programs to careers is best done by your industry partners.
Dr. B
Industry partner visits. This would give students the opportunity to interact with representatives from the companies that endorse our training program.
Local law enforcement visits. This would give students the opportunity to speak directly to officers before they get in trouble.
Encourage students to volunteer for community projects by providing a list and brief desription of local opportunities.
Excellent. Mutual respect is what it is all about. Work on forming solid relationships. Why? They will trust you.
Dr. B
I am really striving for respect. If I show them respect by building rapport and respecting them I feel the mutual respect will go along way. Of course the humor and trust works well.
Now you are talking. Fun, yes... and don't forget about building a relationship so that the student will trust you.
Dr. B
The involvement list I use is the following:
1. Great customer service. This is from all staff and begins with the first phone call and ends with helping them find their first job in the field.
2. Consistency is also important. Students must see that they are being treated the same as all other students. If you show favoritism you are doomed. The back-lash is never good.
3. Program director involvement on a regular basis. It is important for the program director to have face-to-face contact with all the students in their program at least twice a quarter. We do a preregistration and mid-quarter evaluation with the students. This is done behind closed doors allowing the student to discuss anything from parking to complaints about the campus.
4. Excellent equipment. If the equipment is cared for and working properly the students will use and learn on it. If it is shoddy the students will respond poorly to any efforts made by staff.
5. A sense of urgency. All students need to be treated with a sense of urgency. They need to feel they are being taken care of by people who care about their needs. Little bothers me more than watching a staff person ignore a student.
Having a student council meetings, activities and games come to mind.
I agree that we could use some more student invlovement in the FUN of school-- Monster Jam Night, Racing Night, Maybe an Engine Build off, or something along those lines so that they can use there new found knowledge in a competitve way. Comp is allways good when put in the right perpective and they all know that it is all in fun.
Having a student council organization may help to improve retention. This would help all students feel like they have support not only from staff, but from their fellow students. It helps to know that there is peer support along with the normal support the school provides. Student council members can act as a voice for their fellow students.
I would like to see an increase in fun activities outside of class time. Something informational and amusing. Maybe a trivia question every day at break time and a drawing from the answer submissions... just break up the time that everyone uses to complain with something more positive. It is easy for students to decide they are neglected when they dont get attention.
We have many opertunities to share our sport and interests but again we have rules in and about fratinization.
