REsults and REcommendations For Sustainability
Results
There were seventeen students in attendance at the College and Career Readiness. Fifteen of the students reported 100% increase in knowledge at the retreat, while one reported 90% and one reported 50% increase in knowledge.
Below is the post -test taken at the end of the retreat. Students took a very similar pre-test at the beginning of the retreat.
RECOMMENDATIONS For Sustainability
The students gave feedback on paper and in sign language to the retreat directors. The following is a combination of their feedback and recommendations the committee had when debriefing on the retreat.
Retreat Specific Recommendations:
General Recommendations:
Retreat Specific Recommendations:
- Offer more on life skills and budgeting.
- Focus more on learning specific post-secondary vocabulary words and the signs for them (i.e. FAFSA, ACT, financial aid, application, etc.).
- Balance workshops and free time so that students are awake and engaged! On that same note, make activities more physically engaging and change the layout of the room often.
- Use the career panel again and allow more time for questions. After the panel each student will be able to choose one panelist and meet with them in a small group.
- Ask specific questions about students' accessibility on the registration materials - "What are your needs?"
- The maximum recommended number of students to attend the retreat is forty.
- Create titles with responsibilities for the leadership team and staff at the retreat. That way there is no question about the responsibility of specific tasks (i.e. leading opening and closing remarks, starting the bonfire, leading games and icebreakers).
- Use students who previously attended and have graduated high school as retreat staff (i.e. presenters, photographers, cabin staff, etc.)
- Create name and logo for retreat.
General Recommendations:
- Educate high schools, colleges, and other networks in Tennessee about the need for post-secondary readiness training for students who are deaf and hard of hearing. (For example, Andie will present this project at the Tennessee College Access and Success Network Conference November 2013).
- Create and distribute promotional materials for interested students, parents, and teachers.
- Apply for grants throughout the year for future funding.
- Use crowd funding or crowd sourcing websites to raise money for the next year's retreat. Check out the link below to see the Indiegogo campaign in progress.