WUHS earns Gold Medal status for college readiness

The schoolwide program was recognized by the nonprofit organization Academic Innovations, which is the publisher of the Career Choices and Changes curriculum and the My10YearPlan.com platform. Wheatland Union High School is one of 16 schools that have

achieved Gold Medal status for implementing best practices in the Get Focused, Stay Focused initiative, school officials said

Every student takes the initial course Pirate Focus as a freshman or in their first year at WUHS, and it is a graduation requirement. In this course, students imagine and define a life that they want to live and create a plan to achieve that lifestyle, officials said. This includes choosing a career, developing a budget necessary to achieve their lifestyle and planning out courses and objectives to achieve their post-high school goals.

In the 10th- through 12th-grade social science courses, time is set aside for students to revisit, review, and revise their plans based on new interests and skills that may have developed, officials said. Students enter their data into an online portfolio through My10YearPlan.com, which can be accessed for up to 5 years after graduation. School administration, teachers, and counselors use the data from this platform to develop Career Technical Education Pathways and provide individual information about students’ goals in an academic coaching role for the entire staff.

Wheatland Union High School’s college and career readiness staff uses data from the My10YearPlan.com platform to plan and develop CTE courses and pathways and plan for the annual Career & College Fair Conference in October. It is also used to help the school target relevant business leaders in the area for industry partnerships to provide students with opportunities for internships, apprenticeships and job shadow opportunities, officials said.