Montana Educational Talent Search News
Trips, Updates, Scholarships and more
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Greetings—
As the arriving snow starts to close out fall and bring in winter, I am humbled and amazed by the resiliency of our students, schools, community, and project staff. We are all learning a new normal together and figuring our what that means for program services and keeping connected to our students and schools. This fall our advisors have continued to make out-reach to students, some entirely virtual and others with limited face-to-face opportunities. However the means, we have worked hard to ensure our students feel supported.
To continue that support, we are providing academic support kits to our eighth grade and ninth grade participants. Advisors are working on making sure we have updated mailing information for each of our students. These kits are focused in particular on math support and stress management. Students, if you have not provided updated contact information to your advisors please do so ASAP. Kits should ship in early November. This spring our juniors will receive senior year preparation materials. Over the next few months we will work on kits for the other grades.
If you are not following us on social media, I encourage everyone to do so, whether it's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube. We post content on each one, designed with students, schools, and guardians in mind. There are Career in Sight videos, Virtual Campus Tours, and so much more housed on our YouTube channel. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter provide information on financial literacy, ways to stay motivated, and career clusters, just to name a few things.
One final note, we are in the recruitment process for our program. Due to the pandemic this past spring, we were not able to recruit as we normally would. We are asking everyone to help spread the word in the communities we serve to help connect students with our services. This includes our return-to-learn services for students that need assistance in completing the HiSet, or enrolling in a college credential program. You can learn more about our program services on our website.
In closing we look forward to our continued work with students and communities this academic year. Be safe. Be warm. Be thinking of your future.
Sincerely,
Jeannie Origbo, Director
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College Application Week (CAW) Highlights
CAW saw the launch of Montana University System's ApplyMontana initiative. This allowed students to apply to multiple MUS schools for free. Data is currently being collected on participation at the other Montana colleges and universities, including tribal colleges and private colleges.
First-Generation College Student Celebration Day
In 2017 the Center for First-Generation Student Success and Council for Opportunity in Education partnered to create the first national celebration for students who are first in their family to attend college or university. METS is excited as part of the MUS College Access Team to again celebrate in this day. While November 8 is First-Generation College Celebration Day, we will be flooding social media and celebrating the day with our students. If you wish to participate please send a short video, picture, or quote to aking@montana.edu to be included in our social media celebration.
FAFSA Completion
Completing the FAFSA is an important next step in the college access process. As such, METS as part of the MUS College Access Team, are supporting FAFSA Completion Week November 16-20, 2020. Working with partners like Montana Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (MASFAA) and school districts, we are here to help ensure students have access to financial aid/FAFSA completion events. Many Montana colleges and universities have a December 1 priority deadline for FAFSA completion. Let us help you make that priority deadline.
College Access Champion Nominations
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Talent Search (TS) grants are competitive grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Education every five years. This winter TS programs across the country will be submitting grant proposals to be funded once again. The current grant goes through August 31, 2021. We are excited for the new opportunities the proposal writing will offer the program. We are using student, parent, and community feedback to help in the writing process through the surveys we sent out last spring.
In addition, we will be reaching out to the school districts for letters of support and continued partnership through the next grant cycle. We anticipate on hearing funding status in early summer 2021, which is similar to previous grant competitions. We want to thank everyone for their continued support and working with us these past four years.
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Time to Explore Your Future! |
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Virtual Campus Exploration |
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College Access Arc of Events |
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The METS program along with the Montana University System and GEAR UP are working together to support Montana Students in College Access.
FAFSA Completion Month:
1st Gen College Student Celebration:
TRIO Day Celebration:
Decision Week Celebration:
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Virtual Program Wide Events |
There are multiple opportunities coming this Fall for students to check out careers and learn some new skills.
Upcoming Live Careers in Sight Interviews
- November 13 - Manufacturing
- December 14 - Education and Training
- March 1 - Government and Administration
Soft Skills Workshops
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Fall 2020 Program Trips and Workshops |
METS has a few trips and workshops planned this Fall. In each of our Target Areas you will have the opportunity to tour colleges virtually and learn about what to look for in a college. This virtual world has provided an amazing opportunity to explore many colleges that you otherwise would not be able to.
Workshops (All Target Areas):
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Robotics and Stem Workshops: Spring 2021 as able
Virtual Campus Tours (Subject to change)
Flathead Target Area:
- November 3 - Health Care Career Workshop
- November 4 - Photography Career Workshop
Blackfeet Target Area:
- November 4 at 12pm - Great Falls College
- November 5 at 12pm - University of Providence
Crow Target Area:
- MSU Billings and Zoo Montana
- Dawson Community College
Great Falls Target Area:
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November 10 and 12 - How to Virtual College Tour: Not sure what to look for when touring a college virtually? Join this workshop to find out what questions to ask and what information to look for.
For more schools check out our previous campus exploration videos below:
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Do you have a sibling or know someone who could benefit from our program? We are now accepting applications!
Follow the button below to the online application. The first step is completing the student information portion. Once that is submitted, an email will be sent to the parent/guardian in order to complete the remainder of the application.
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It is never too late to further your education |
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Whether you started your college career last year or five years ago, the Montana University System, in partnership with Montana Educational Talent Search, wants you to finish your degree. Research shows that individuals with a degree beyond high school are more likely to retain employment during this uncertain time. If you or a family member lives in one of our target areas, the Montana Education Talent Search can assist you in providing resources and support to complete your degree.
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To learn more about finishing your degree, please reach out to Ange DeWolf King, College Access Manager at aking@montana.edu or 406-449-9142. She would love to help.
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Meet the Super Stars of the Montana Educational Talent Search Program. Each quarter we will highlight some of our current students, project staff and project alumni. Together we create change and shape the future. Thank you for being Stars of the Show. |
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Student Highlight -Tien
Heart Butte High School
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What Grade are you in? 12th
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List a few activities you like to do for fun. I like to play basketball, go on walks, play video games, and listen to music.
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What is one thing that you succeed at and explain why? Cross country: I was a runner and loved it. I didn't get anything for it but I put everything into running
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How has the Montana Educational talent Search program helped you the most? Helped me figure out what I want to do and showed me opportunities that I can do in the future.
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Describe what you see yourself doing after High School? I want to go into writing.
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Student Highlight - Thomas
Heart Butte Middle School
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What Grade are you in? I'm in 7th grade.
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List a few activities you like to do for fun.I like to ride horses, make traps, fish and rodeo.
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What is one thing that you succeed at and explain why? Trapping, because I'm smart and I like to learn about it just in case I need it for survival. I like to learn about the older days.
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How has the Montana Educational talent Search program helped you the most? It helped me think about colleges.
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Describe what you see yourself doing after High School? I would like to become a Fish and Game person and be a farmer and rancher.
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Staff Highlight - Richard Mittens
Blackfeet Target Area
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Where did you grow up?
I grew up around Heart Butte, MT although I did jump around. I lived most of my life around Heart Butte.
What degree have you attained and what school did graduated from?
I graduated from the Business School at the University of Montana with a bachelor's in business administration.
What is your favorite past time activity?
My favorite past time activity is usually playing video games, but I can only play them for so long now. Usually when that happens, I like to read.
Describe yourself in 3 words.
Adaptable, Honest, Hardworking
What do you enjoy most about working with the Talent Search students at your schools?
Being able to support kids in their plans after high school, such as providing workshops that give details about things that helped me immensely throughout college. As well as providing financial resources that helped me immensely in a stress-free college life.
Explain why education beyond high school is important to you?
It is important to me because there are students and colleagues that I've seen that have the motivation to help better their community. They sometimes don't know how exactly to help it, but they can see that sometimes their community needs help. I believe that education after helps students understand a pathway for themselves that would help satisfy their goals. It also gives them the tools to deal with different cultures and communities that they might not have in their toolkit but will be important as they get into a career later in life.
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Searching and applying for scholarships can be stressful. Here are some tips and a few scholarships to help you out. Get started early on these or you might miss your chance!
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October 1: FAFSA opens - Create your FAFSA ID beforehand
- November 9: First Generation Celebration
- November 13: Careers in Sight: Manufacturing
- November 16 - 20: FAFSA Completion Week
- December 1: MUS's FAFSA priority deadline
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