Counselor's Corner

"Nothing can match the feeling you get when you finally get something after waiting for it for a long time."

~Hiten Tejwani

We made it! We are halfway through the year. Semester 1 is officially completed and grades will be finalized by Jan 9, 2026 and in PS for you all to view. They will be saved to the transcripts on Jan 12 and I will send mid-year reports to colleges for graduates by Jan 15, 2026. Take a deep breath, smell the fresh, brisk air, and pat yourself on the back. I am thankful for all those families, students, and wonderful humans I work with. The first semester flew by and I am so grateful I get to spend my days with you all.

I hope you all have a wonderful, safe, and warm winter break. Relax and have fun. Enjoy your family and friends and yourself!

I hope you all have a restful and joyful winter break. It will be time to recharge to come back for semester 2 on Jan 5th.

Seniors will need to not have any failing grades and have ALL of their community service hours done to be eligible for Disney Grad Night.

College applications are still a work in progress even though CSU and UC's have been turned in, so make sure you spend time on those to make sure that you can submit them on time. FAFSA is open and needs to be submitted for graduating students as soon as possible. There are Cash 4 College nights held virtually and in person all over the county if you need assistance. We now have 34 graduates have filled out the FAFSA or opted out and we have 52 left. This is the only way you will get any type of financial aid in college and this is the only way you will get to go to the JC for free. Please fill it out as soon as possible, so you can find out how much money you will earn and if you get the Cal Grant or other scholarships.

I have also created a Google Classroom with resources and announcements...ask your students if they have joined yet.

My newsletters are to inform parents mostly, but there will also be information for students. Some information carries over each week, but always look for the new stuff.

I am very easy to get ahold of and respond pretty quickly. If you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, clarification, or concerns.

See below for friendly reminders: Important Dates, Mental Health Tips/Resources, SRJC information, Scholarship opportunities, and volunteer opportunities.

I’m excited to share that the North Bay Construction Corps 2026 application is now open! You can find the application here: https://ncbeonline.com/nbcc/

Please take your time with the short-answer questions and do your best to use correct spelling and grammar.

Both the Application and Recommendation Form (linked in the Application) are due by 5 p.m. on February 6th. After the deadline, I will contact all applicants to schedule an in-person interview. Members of the North Coast Builders Exchange and our Board of Directors will be conducting the interviews and will have a copy of the application you submitted.

Once interviews are complete, selected students will be notified, and the program will begin on March 14th.

I am reaching out to announce the launch of our 2025-26 Scholarship Program! Throughout the years, our section has distributed over $330,000 in scholarships to graduating female students from Bay Area high schools who plan to pursue degrees in engineering or computer science. Incoming or current community college students who plan to transfer to a 4-year accredited university are also considered for our scholarships awards.

To be eligible for a SWE GGS scholarship, applicants must meet the following requirements:

• Current high school senior or community college student planning to pursue a degree in engineering or computer science from an accredited university
• Identifies as a woman or other underrepresented gender including non-binary and gender non-conforming
• Lives or attends school in the boundaries of the Golden Gate Section

Scholarship applications are evaluated based on the following: academic achievement, references, extracurricular activities, and a personal essay. Quality of the application and student financial needs will also be considered. Applications will be judged by a committee of engineers from the Golden Gate Section who represent different fields of engineering. Additional information and the scholarship application can be found here: https://ggs.swe.org/scholarship-information/.

The deadline for students to submit their applications is April 3rd, 2026.

The scholarships will range in value from $1,000 - $2,000. Recipients of SWE GGS Scholarships will be notified soon after selection and will be featured on our section website. If you have any questions about the scholarship program, please reply to this email and I will be happy to help you.

For information about SWE scholarships at the Society level, visit https://swe.org/scholarships/.

Graduating Students and Families...attend a local or online Cash 4 Colleges Night to learn and get assistance with filling out FAFSA. Find out more here:
https://www.csac.ca.gov/cash-college

Here is a little video of the 10,000 Degree representatives talking about their scholarship program.

https://youtu.be/x_Yr26_ANvQ

One of our students, Ryken, set up a Tutoring Club, so that you can be a tutor or get a tutor in all subjects. Please feel free to fill this out to get the tutoring service:

Join Tutoring Club! - Google Form

Meet Your Tutors! - Google Sheet

And for extra support in math, Nicholas, of the Math Club, please feel free this out:
Get tutoring, be a tutor

Enjoy this fun night before you launch onto life after high school. ALL students have always had a blast at this all night party after graduation!

I have found these websites that give you access to free college webinars:

https://collegewise.com/seminars

https://www.collegeadvisor.com/webinars/

Talk about dual enrollment is increasing, if your student is interested in taking SRJC classes, please have them follow along the following tutorials to create their SRJC account.

Reminders: These are college classes and they do count for your future...earning an "F" or a "W" will affect your college admissions in the future, financial aid in the future, and college GPA. Please make sure to discuss with me the classes you plan on attending as I have to look at your Tech High GPA and previous SRJC grades.

Please make sure your student has registered their school email through californiacolleges.edu and then parents can be added to the account as well. For more resources for parents please go here: https://learnmore.cacollegeguidance.org/tools-for-parents/

Check out these steps for the NCAA: Student-Athletes

Let me know the colleges you are interested in playing for and I will do my best to help you figure out how to get their attention! Here is a list of the colleges to search for Division 1, 2, and 3: https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2021/5/3/membership-directory.aspx

Community Service Hours

40 hours required by the time you graduate.

20 more graduates need to turn in their hours.

Turn those in so we aren't running around trying to get them done when it's your senior year and trying to graduate. The sooner you get them done and turned in, the better.

College Courses

Take full screenshots of your unofficial transcripts for any class you are taking outside of Technology High School and want credit for. Upload them here: https://forms.gle/zfL8jXiJ5Z94B42K9

Limit 4 college courses are able to go on Tech High Transcript.

and are MALE....

Please register within 30 days of turning 18 with the Selective Service System

Please let me know if I can improve it or add to it in any way 😁

24 Hour Emergency Mental Health Hotlines

❖ North Bay Suicide Prevention Hotline 855-587-6373

❖ California Youth Crisis Line (call or text) 800-843-5200

❖ Psychiatric Emergency Services 800-746-8181

❖ Sonoma County Suspected Child Abuse Hotline 800-870-7064

❖ Verity Sexual Assault Hotline 707-545-7273

❖ YWCA Domestic Violence Services 707-546-1234

Other Mental Health & Support Contacts

❖ National Alliance on Mental Illness SOCO 707-527-6655

❖ United Way local assistance: 211sonoma.org 211

❖ Crisis Textline ( crisistextline.org ) Text HOME to 741741

❖ Substance Abuse/Mental Health (SAMHSA) Referral 800-662-HELP (4357) ❖ Grief Share hosts free, in-person grief recovery support groups across the country.

Want to go to the JC while attending high school to get more credits?

https://admissions.santarosa.edu/high-school-dual-enrollment-request-form

Vaccine Mandate - Students taking on-campus classes will receive email and text notifications from “SRJC Verify” with information and a link to access their unique Cleared4 profile. For this reason, this is a really good time to log in to your Student Portal and be sure you have entered current/accurate contact information.

October 1 – Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) & California Dream Act Application (CADAA) available for the current and next academic year

December

19th - Teacher Work Day - No School

20th - January 4th - Winter Break - No School

January
5th - First day of semester 2

7th - SRJC Bridges presentation during advisory

14th - Club Showcase on the Green

19th - MLK Jr Day - No School

26-30th - Spirit Week and Rally

31st - Winter Formal 7-10pm

1. I am writing on behalf of the North Bay Watershed Association (NBWA), a coalition of public agencies across Marin, Sonoma, Napa, and Solano Counties that work collaboratively beyond political boundaries to protect and steward the region’s water-resources and watersheds. This is the perfect opportunity for students to transform their creativity and aspiration into an opportunity to gain experience or chase their dreams of higher education.

   
   We are pleased to share an opportunity through NBWA’s Scholarships & Small Grants Program — currently accepting Scholarship applications. Deadline is January 9, 2026. There are two types of scholarships being offered:
   

   • Conference Access Scholarship (Carl Morrison Conference Scholarship): Up to $500 per award, for attendance at NBWA-sponsored events (e.g., NBWA’s biennial Conference on April 9, 2026 — Meeting this Moment in a Climate of Change).
   • Watershed Education Scholarship: Up to $1,000 per award, open to any age, for education or training related to water resources by individuals who live or work in NBWA’s watershed region.
   While anyone can apply to the Conference Access Scholarship (to attend the conference), the Watershed Education Scholarship is only open to people who work or reside in the North Bay Watershed. Not sure if that is you?- Check our watershed map linked here.

2. Merit Based Scholarship: https://levinescholars.charlotte.edu/

3. Chick-Fil-A Community Scholarships
   https://learnmore.scholarsapply.org/cfacommunityscholars/
   

4. Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE)
   

   From their website:
   

   "The Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) is an agreement among WICHE’s 16 member states and territories, through which 160+ participating public colleges and universities provide steep nonresident tuition savings for Western students." Find out more answers to your questions: https://www.wiche.edu/tuition-savings/wue/wue-faq/

5. Collegeboard Scholarship Search https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/scholarship-search

6. https://www.unigo.com/scholarships/high-school-students
   
7. https://www.fastweb.com/college-scholarships/articles/humongous-high-school-scholarships
   
8. https://scholarships360.org/scholarships/top-scholarships-for-high-school-seniors/
9. https://bold.org/scholarships/scholarships-for-high-school-seniors-list/
   
10. https://www.scholarships.com/financial-aid/college-scholarships/scholarship-directory/school-year/high-school-senior
    
11. https://www.scholarships.com/financial-aid/college-scholarships/scholarships-by-state/california-scholarships/
    
12. https://www.bestcolleges.com/financial-aid/online-colleges/
    

1. Sonoma County Regional Parks: https://parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov/play/calendar/volunteering

2. Redwood Empire Food Bank | https://refb.org/
3. https://www.volunteernow.org/teen-volunteers

If you have any concerns about your schedule please email me and/or use the Google Form provided in the button below. I will do my best to accommodate your needs. I am here to help you succeed in school, graduate, and attend college in order to have the career of your dreams.

Email: kristina_juarez@crpusd.org
Website: https://ths.crpusd.org/
Location: Technology High School, Bonnie Avenue, Rohnert Park, CA, USA
Phone: 707-792-4825