We Keep Roosevelt Students on Track. They Keep Us Smiling.

As high school students adjust to distance learning and other big life changes due to COVID-19, our Career & Career & College Center (CCC) staff in Minneapolis and Saint Paul public high schools are going the extra mile to support students during this challenging time.      

“Our young people are dealing with so much right now,” says Amanda Justen, one of our Roosevelt High School Career & College Center coordinators. “For seniors, the loss of senior year celebratory milestones is a really big deal -- things like prom, graduation ceremonies and final sports and extracurricular activities. They have lots of questions about graduation and what's happening at colleges this fall. They’re stressed about making big life decisions when things feel so chaotic. Many have parents who have lost jobs. And we’re seeing tremendous gaps in access to technology among our students and families.”

Amanda and CCC colleague Eric Rodgers are partnering with the Roosevelt counseling team to touch base with every senior to find out how they’re doing. Before spring break, they helped contact families to survey who needed technology and internet access. And they're also directly supporting students by providing assistance with college and scholarship applications, completing the FAFSA, evaluating college decisions and interpreting financial aid packages.   

“We’ve been so impressed with students’ positivity and resilience through all of this,” Amanda says. “We have amazing young people who are handling this stress incredibly well. People like us get into this work because we love working with young people, and we’re really missing their energy and creativity and goofiness right now. It always cheers us up to connect and find out what's going on in their lives. We’ll do whatever it takes to support them right now and help them stay on track as they continue to plan and make big decisions about life after high school.”

As our students work even harder under these tough circumstances, we're more inspired and motivated than ever to create new ways to support them in their career and college planning journeys. Learn more about our Career & College Centers.