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| Kerry Kowalcyzk |
It’s
not easy navigating the post high school process. Whether you plan to go to
college, enter the workforce, or go in another direction, there can be a lot to
do and be hard to figure out. That’s where Kerry Kowalcyzk comes in. She’s a
college and career specialist at Windham High School.
Kowalcyzk
is a member of JMG/MELMAC, a collaborative foundation with a mission to offer a
continuation of support for students after high school. The goal is to help
students identify aspirations for life and then connect those aspirations to a
post-secondary plan.’ Kowalcyzk works with freshman through seniors as well as
the graduates. “I do anything post-graduation planning or post-graduation
helping,” she explained. “I’m not the college lady, I’m the ‘what are you going
to do after graduation’ lady.”
A biology
major and graduate from the University of Maine at Farmington, Kowalcyzk worked
as an admissions counselor for eight years. She decided instead of trying to
get students into one school, she wanted to spread her wings and do a little
bit more with everyone. Kowalcyzk wanted to help students looking at a career
path, not just the college focus. She doesn’t like the question ‘what is your
major?’ she feels ‘what career path do
you want to go?’ is a more accurate, appropriate question.
“I want
the students to all have a plan. I want them to be excited for graduation, not
because they’re leaving high school, but for whatever their next step is. I get
excited when a student comes in junior year and says, ‘I don’t know what I want
to do’ and then comes to me right before graduation and says ‘this is what my
plan is,’” stated Kowalcyzk.
While
70% of students that Kowalcyzk works with go on to some form of higher
education, a large portion investigate taking a year off, participating in the
workforce or staying in their current job. One of her goals is to make
connections that might lead to something they’re interested in.
JMG/MELMAC
grant allows Kowalcyzk to arrange activities like field trips to colleges or
businesses, running the college fair and handling some of the colleges who come
in and speak to students. Her budget through MELMAC Education Foundation is to
help with post-secondary planning. Kowalcyzk also provides outreach services to
all students from the last two graduating classes by calling them three times a
year to see how they’re doing. “Windham wants to make sure that when students
walk out, they have a direction,” she said.
A
Gorham resident, Kowalcyzk loves science. She’s a big fan of the outdoors and
describes her favorite activity as being outside, drinking coffee and reading a
book. She has lived in many places from Iceland to Florida as her dad was in
the Navy. Kowalcyzk has experience doing many things; she was a restaurant
manager, a white-water rafting guide and a soccer coach. She describes herself
as a helper and wants a student’s day to be better because they met with her.
“I want
students to come in here and know that when they leave, they’re not going to be
stressed. I usually give them long to-do lists, but we have a plan. I think
most students who walk out of here go ‘this is my next step’ and that’s always
my goal.”
