The Eighth Grade Prepares for High School

Even though eighth graders at Springville Junior High will spend their freshman year at the junior high, they will be considered high school students.  This means that they need to start learning what it takes to graduate high school and what they can do to prepare for college.  That’s why, as SJHS nears the end of the school year, counselors at SJHS visited the eighth-grade history classes to talk to students about some things they can do to prepare themselves for the future.  This year, the counselors visited eighth graders on Tuesday, February 26th.  According to Mrs. Distefano, a counselor at SJHS, counselors discussed a four-year plan with the students.  This plan covers the four years of high school and explains what kind of classes should be taken.  After that, on Thursday the 28th, the eighth graders headed to the library to figure out which classes they should sign up for and what kind of elective classes would be available.

According to Mrs. Distefano, the preparation for the eighth graders used to be called SEOP, otherwise known as Student Educational Occupational Plan.  The state of Utah has since changed the name to CCR, or College Career Readiness, but the concept is still the same.  “The main goal is to get the students college and career ready,” said Mrs. Distefano, “We want them to be thinking about the future.”  After meeting in the library, the eighth graders had about a week to go over their registration forms with their parents.  All of the forms were due back by March 5th.  “I think [CCR] is really great,” said Spencer Johnson, an eighth grader at SJHS, “It gets us prepared and thinking about high school.”