Opening Session: 8:30Am to 9:20Am the Choi Auditorium, Johnson Hall 200

Home , Marymount High School, Santa Monica High School

Registration: 7:30am The Choi Auditorium Foyer, Johnson Hall 200

Opening Session: 8:30am to 9:20am The Choi Auditorium, Johnson Hall 200

Welcome Mr. Mr. Dan Nannini, Transfer Center Faculty Leader, Santa Monica College, WACAC Past-President

Keynote Address Dr. Ilene Straus, Vice President California State Board of Education

Ilene Straus served as the assistant superintendent for Educational Services in the Beverly Hills Unified School District before retiring in June, 2011. Prior to that, she was a teacher and an elementary, middle, and high school principal. Straus received her bachelor’s degree and elementary teaching credential from University of California, Los Angeles, her master's degree in educational administration from California State University, Northridge, and her doctorate in educational leadership from University of Southern California. Straus began her career as a teacher in the Lennox School District, and served as an assistant principal at two large K-6 schools before becoming a K-7 principal at the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District. Dr. Straus was named principal of Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica where she served for 16 years, leading the school to national distinction as the Disney School of the Year, a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, and twice recognized as a California Distinguished School. Straus was named the California Secondary Principal of the Year in 1991, and received the YWCA Woman of the Year Award in 1996. In 2002, Straus was named chief educational officer-principal of Santa Monica High School, where she guided the redesign of a large comprehensive high school into six smaller learning communities, helping the school to raise its academic performance index, which had been declining before her arrival, by 75 points. The U.S. Department of Education declared the school a national model for high school redesign, and Newsweek named it one of the country’s top 300 performing high schools. Straus next served as the senior director of Secondary Education for Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, and joined Beverly Hills Unified School District in the fall of 2006 as assistant superintendent, where she developed stronger high school graduation requirements and intervention programs to support student success, as well as initiatives in mathematics and literacy. She has taught graduate courses in educational leadership, supervision, and curriculum and instruction at California State University, Northridge, University of Southern California, and the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Straus has two adult children and lives with her husband in Marina del Rey. Dr. Straus currently focuses her time on State Board of Education priorities and responsibilities, consulting, and educational projects including teaching at Loyola Marymount University. Session 1: 9:30am to 10:20am

The State of Public Higher Education in California ------Johnson 105 Attendees will receive an update on the state of public higher education and college admissions in California. § Carolina Cardinas, Director of Academic Outreach and Early Assessment, California State University Office of the Chancellor § Dan Nannini, Transfer Center Faculty Leader, Santa Monica College

To Share or Not to Share: How Much Should College Applicants Share In Their Essays and Applications ------Johnson 106 The four presenters would share their tips for helping counselors understand the boundaries for sharing college applicant information in essays and applications. In this ever competitive world of applications and teenager effusive social media expression, many applicants and families don't where to draw the line in the sand over what to share to strength an application. The four presenters will share recommendations from both sides of the admissions desk § Rebecca Joseph, Associate Professor, CSU Los Angeles § Lauren Popkowski, College Counselor, Oaks Christian School

Update on the Redesigned PSAT & SAT ------Johnson 203 With the redesigned PSAT/NMQST launching in October and the redesigned SAT in the spring of 2016, now is the time to get ready! This session will provide an update on the key changes to the exams and the tools available to help prepare you and your students. § Alicia Ortega, Educational Manager, The College Board

Creating Options in the College Search - Finding the Perfect College and How to Pay for It!! ------Johnson 301 With thousands of options available, deciding where to attend college can be a challenging task. This presentation will pave the road to the perfect choice and help figure out how to pay for it!! The info-training workshop covers in-state choices, out-of- state possibilities, the top reasons students choose a college, the various costs, financial aid and scholarship opportunities! § Gary K Bednorz, Student Recruitment Specialist, University of New Mexico

Transferring from Community College ------Johnson 302 The panelists will share three approaches to setting up effective college application workshops at your school or organization. Each of the presenters has organized boot camps and other workshops to help groups of students work on essays at the same time. § Dr. Kevin A. Meza, Transfer Center Coordinator, Glendale Community College

College Counseling Panel “The Rookie, the Veteran, and Everybody in Between” ------Johnson 315 This workshop will be conducted by a panel of counselors who will share their experiences and approaches to effective college counseling. Come learn from counselors with 3 to 30 years of experience on the following topics: creating a balanced college list, how to manage the college application season, setting up college nights, scheduling college rep visits, recommending the right standardized test, and writing comprehensive recommendation letters. Moderator § Amy Mitchell, Undergraduate Admissions Representative of Northeastern University

Panel Members § Vanna Cairns, Upper School Dean, Harvard Westlake School § Ah Young Chi, Dean of College Admissions, Beverly Hills High School § Diana Salazar, Director of New Horizons Office, Whittier High School § Andrea Zuniga, College Counselor/Academic Advisor, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy

Brunch: 10:30am to 11:20am Academic Quad

College Fair & Connecting: 11:30am to 11:50am Academic Quad

Session 2: 12:00pm to 12:50pm

How to Deal with Lawn Mower Parents, Mom-zillas and Other Nightmares ------Johnson 105 Even the best of parents can have manic episodes when their kids go through the college application process. Add on a colleagues who drop the ball and you can lose your sanity during the college admission process — unless you know the tricks for communicating in smart, healthy ways. Through interactive discussion, this practical skills-building workshop will show you how to deal constructively with parents, students and colleagues when their behavior is unpleasant and difficult. § Sue DeRuyter, Director of College Counseling, New Community Jewish HS

What We Want to Know: The UC Personal Statement and 1st Generation College Students ------Johnson 106 The challenge: drawing the unique story from students generally, but 1st generation students specifically. This session offers the unique perspective of a practitioner (providing direct service to students for almost 10 years through the Early Academic Outreach Program) and admission reader. Learn about what adds value from a student's personal statement in the overall admissions process. § Hong Pham, Regional Assistant Director, Early Academic Outreach Program, UC Davis

A Fine Balance: Guiding Students to a Thoughtful College List ------Johnson 301 Adding to the usual avalanche of glossy brochures and slick emails, students today encounter colleges with Instagram accounts and admissions officers with Twitter feeds. In this session, we’ll look at strategies to help them sort through the information overload and build lists that reflect not marketing, but their personal needs. § Arun Ponnusamy, College Counselor, Collegewise

How Admission Decisions Are Made ------Johnson 302 There is a rhyme and reason to why colleges make the admission decisions they do. I would like to share some insight I have gained during my career on "both sides of the desk" by introducing participants to the fundamentals of enrollment management employed on campuses across the country. § PJ Petrone, Co-Director of College Counseling, Marymount High School

Challenges and Strategies for First Generation Students - Tried and True Techniques for helping students through the college application process ------Johnson 315 Utilizing ‘real life’ case studies of first generation students, this session will examine various challenges (personal, academic, financial) and provide key insights and solutions into successful techniques used in assisting students in successfully submitting their college applications through the college application process. § Karen Grace-Baker, Lead College Counselor and Independent Educational Consultant, DaVinci Design High School and Right College Choice § Candice Mackey, Academic Counselor, Culver City High School

Session 3: 1:00pm to 1:50pm

The New Short List: Why Gap Years, BootCamps, and Experiential Education Programs Will Soon Be In Every Student's Choice Set ------Johnson 105 New models of learning offer students more choices than they’ve ever had before – from gap year programs to skill acquisition bootcamps to self-directed learning hybrid programs. In this session we will examine this new landscape, research, and discuss what counselors can be doing to help their students evaluate these opportunities. § Cody Hartley, Director of Admission, The UnCollege Gap Year Program

Working with Undocumented Students ------Johnson 106 Learn about ways to advise and work productively with your undocumented students. Navigate the complexities of applications, FAFSA, and other obstacles facing them. This session will help new counselors and veterans alike. § Dianne Hurtado, College and Career Program Specialist, Youth Policy Institute

CSU 101 & 201: Exploration of the CSU and its Admission Practices: A Workshop for New Counselors ------Johnson 203 For attendees new to the college admissions, you will receive an overview of the California State University system and receive introductory guidance in understanding the admission requirements and application process for the CSU. § Ginger Reyes, Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs/Director of Admissions & Records, CSU Channel Islands

Effective Counseling of the College Bound Student-Athlete------Johnson 301 The road to admissions for a student-athlete is drastically different than the path taken by a “student”, both procedurally and from a timing standpoint. Are your athletes starting their recruiting experience in their sophomore year, including registration with the Eligibility Center, per the NCAA rules, and then visiting/meeting with college coaches by the summer before their junior year? Do YOU know, specifically, How and When to counsel your athletes as they initiate their college recruiting experience? If you’re not answering “yes” to all of the above questions, please join us for this session. § David Stoeckel, Independent Educational Consultant, College Recruiting Group

Using Personality Type to Write the College Essay ------Johnson 302 Ethan Sawyer, aka the College Essay Guy, offers 157 resources (that’s not a typo) to help students write amazing essays. Ethan is passionate about providing resources that, to quote one counselor, "transform one-on-one sessions with students into a series of A- ha moments." For more: www.collegeessayguy.com § Ethan Sawyer, CIO (Chief Inspiration Officer), College Essay Guy

Talking WUE – We Understand & Explain! ------Johnson 315 The Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) is a regional tuition-reciprocity agreement that enables students from US Western states to enroll in more than 150 participating two- and four-year public institutions at reduced tuition. The WUE program has some similarities among all and many variations causing confusion and misunderstandings. Panelists from WUE institutions will explain the similarities and address the nuances. § Gary K Bednorz, Student Recruitment Specialist, University of New Mexico

Oxy Campus Tour (Optional): 2:00pm to 3:00pm Academic Quad

NOTES

Thank you to the 2015 Los Angeles Share, Learn and Connect planning committee for lending their talents, ideas, and energy.

Conference Co-Chairs: Gregg Murray, Viewpoint School Candy Navarro, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy

Conference Committee: Christina Acker, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy Brad Baertsch, Arizona State University Rebecca Joseph, California State University, Los Angeles Rosa Mejia, Santa Monica High School Ashley Park, Village Christian High School PJ Petrone, Marymount High School Andrea Zuniga, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy

Thank you to our speakers for sharing their wisdom and expertise with our attendees.

Thank you to the admission staff of Occidental College for their partnership and generous contribution towards scholarships for this event.

Special thanks to our Contributors: Regional Admission Counselors of California (RACC)