Career Exploration Activity - Part Two

Part Two involves connecting your career to the schooling you will need. There is two ways you can go about doing this activity. You can either start in the career section of Naviance and start exploring which colleges have programs in the career you are interested OR you can start at the College Home section of Naviance and beginning looking at specific college to see if they have your career choice.

When you are finished, you should hopefully have...

• identified schools in which you may be interested,
• looked at important info about the school such as size, location, programs, cost, etc.
• saved those schools as ones in which you are interested. This will help your counselor in the future when we meet with you about your plan after high school.

Ghost-A-Gram: A fun way to connect!

Good morning Grey Ghost Nation! As we embark on this "Together, yet separate" mentality, we want to find different ways to remotely connect with all of YOU! Our counseling department feels confident speaking for all district employees by stating, WE MISS SEEING YOU! With all that being said, we proudly present to you "Ghost-a-gram Challenge! Ghost-a-gram is our version of Instagram, but there is a twist....we want you to capture the different learning activities you are completing at home and then send them to us! The pictures or videos will count as an entry in our weekly Ghost-a-gram Challenge. Please submit your entries via email (see below department email addresses). The challenge opens every Monday and closes Sunday evening. The weekly winner will be announced Monday morning, with their photo or video, here on our IVC blog. I know the question you're asking is why?

1. Staying connecting
2. You win a PRIZE!!!

Career Exploration Activity - Part One

This time away from school is a great opportunity to do some career exploration in Naviance. Even if you have already decided on a career, this is the perfect chance to investigate what it is going to take for you to be successful in that career. Also, don't limit yourself to one career. It doesn't hurt to have backup career choices. You never know if your interests will change or evolve.  This first career exploration activity is quite simple. We would love for you to go on Naviance and spend a good hour or so investigating at least 2 careers.

• Go to the Career Home screen. 
• Click on Explore Careers and begin your exploration. You can choose by the exact career name or search by career cluster.
• Be sure to investigate the schooling necessary, salary range, and outlook for the career in the future.
• Watch a video or two on Roadtrip Nation for each of your careers.
• Save the each career as a favorite. This will help your counselor track what careers each of you are interested in pursuing.

Career Fair This Thursday

The first annual Career Fair will be taking place at IVC High School this Thursday from 8-12. Students will have the opportunity to investigate over 50 careers. In addition, there will be colleges, the military, and even a few summer employers.

Students will attend four breakout sessions (25 minutes each), a keynote speaker, and have two 25 sessions to spend in the commons checking out colleges, etc.

Click below for a list of the careers having breakout sessions

Local Scholarship Applications Released

Seniors met in the auditorium this morning during HR period and were given a list of all the available local scholarships. Click here for presentation. Last year, over 50 scholarships were awarded totaling over $100,000. Although we do not have exact figures for all of this year's scholarships, it is pretty fair to expect an amount very similar to last year.

To view scholarship list, click here. Although parents are welcome to look at the scholarship list, only students can stop in the guidance office to pick up the applications. The exception is the Cusac application which will be available on Friday using the link in the scholarship section. The presentation includes the projected monetary awards. Most of the amounts are accurate but there are adjustments possible.

All scholarships due Monday, March 30th at 3:00. No late applications will be accepted. This is the second year that students were given the opportunity to use spring break to complete applications. Hopefully this leads to more applications being returned.

Note: Many applications ask for recommendations. If a student plans to ask an IVC faculty member for a recommendation, he or she must ask the faculty member before Tuesday, March 17th so the faculty has ample time to complete recommendations.

ICC Placement Test - March 18th

ICC Placement Test


Any student planning to attend ICC next fall is required to take the placement test in order to determine placement for Math and English classes.


Juniors planning to take classes at ICC as a senior next year must also take the test.


Any student who does not take the test on March 13th will need to drive to ICC and take the test after school so it is to the students' advantage to take the test at IVC.


Exceptions: Check the picture above for the exceptions.

Click below for more info

Construction Work-Based Learning Applications - Due FRIDAY!!

DEADLINE APPROACHING!!

Any student interested in the Construction Work-Based Learning program needs to submit their application by Friday, February 28th. Turn your application in to your guidance counselor. Applications can be found here.

Local Scholarship Dates Coming Up Soon!

Each year, over $140,000 is given out in local scholarships. These scholarships range from $250 to $75,000. Last year, there were 45 different scholarships awarded to graduating seniors. With the growing cost of college, every penny helps.

Here is a breakdown of the upcoming dates...

Wednesday, February 26th - Local Scholarship Meeting - Extended HR

Students will see a presentation on all of the available scholarships. They will also receive a handout which lists each scholarship. That sheet will be posted on this blog for all students and parents to view. Students must be the ones to pick up scholarship applications from Mrs. Placher. Parents may not pick up the applications for the student. Students must pick up their own scholarship applications.

Click below for the rest of the dates.

A How-to-Guide to Freshman Registration

Planning a schedule for freshman year can be quite an intimidating process. Hopefully this blog post will help students and parents through the process. Registration sheets are due by Tuesday, February 19th to the student's grade school main office. Class selection should also be inputted into TeacherEase before Monday (for those students with access to TeacherEase.)

The front side of the registration sheet is the demographic portion. It is important that it be filled out completely since the information will be entered into the computer system.

Please click below for further instructions...

Materials Engineering Camp

Attention all students entering their Junior or Senior year! The Peoria chapter of ASM Materials is hosting their 15th annual week long summer camp for students who are interested in Engineering. This camp is FREE to all selected participants. Camp runs from July 20 - July 23 from 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM at Bradley University. More information can be found here. Applications are due May 8th and can be found here.

Peoria Regional College Fair - March 5th

Mark your calendars!!!

Bradley University
Thursday, March 5th, 2020
Renaissance Coliseum
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM



High school students and their families will have the opportunity to learn about over 80 colleges and universities during the 6th annual Peoria Area Regional College Fair on Thursday, March 5th at the Renaissance Coliseum on the campus of Bradley University in Peoria. The fair will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and admission is free.

Bradley University, in collaboration with the Illinois Association for College Admission Counseling and area high schools, presents this opportunity for students beginning their college search to speak with college and university representatives from around the country.

More information including a list of colleges can be found here.

Great Opportunity for Students Interested in Nursing

The ICC Nursing Assistant (CNA) program application deadline is Friday, January 31st! Any current sophomore or junior interested in a medical field after high school is strongly encouraged to apply to this one semester program. Upon successful completion of these courses, students are eligible to apply to take the Nurse Aide Competency Evaluation Program (NACEP) and become certified in the State of Illinois. See your counselor for the application and with questions. You can also click here for application.

Registration Presentations Are Here!!

The presentations are now uploaded from the class registration meetings that were help a week or so ago. Parents are encouraged to take a look at the presentations to see what was discussed with the students.

Current freshmen - Sophomore Presentation

Current sophomores - Junior Presentation

Current juniors - Senior Presentation 

2020-21 Course Description Book

The 2020-21 Course Description Book is now available online. Sorry for the slight delay. All courses for the upcoming school year can be found on the page. 

Feel free to email the counseling department if you have any questions regarding any courses offered at the high school.

Scholarship List Updated!!

The scholarship list is updated! As of today (December 6th), our scholarship list has up-to-date links and applications for you. Nearly 30 scholarships are listed. Check out the list here to see what you are eligible for!!

Please note these do NOT include local IVC scholarships. Those will not be available until spring semester.

Link PSAT/SAT Scores to Khan Academy

College Board, the entity that creates the SAT, has partnered with Khan Academy to provide FREE practice to help students increase their SAT scores. Students are able to link their PSAT 8/9, PSAT 10, PSAT/MNSQT, and SAT scores to Khan Academy to build a personalized practice program that targets the skills that each student individually needs to improve upon. Click on the link below to learn how to connect your accounts today!

How To Link College Board and Khan Academy Accounts

Caterpillar's ThinkBig Program

Attention Juniors and Seniors! If you are intrested in being a heavy equipment technician but are not sure where to start, check out Altorfer Inc.'s program on Saturday, October 27th from 9:00 - 10:30 at Altorfer, 1 Capitol Drive, East Peoira. Learn about ICC and the Caterpillar ThinkBig Program - a two year hands-on program that includes a paid internship! Click the link below for more information:

                                                             ThinkBig Now!

COLLEGE ROAD TRIP #1 - Monmouth and Knox

The Guidance Department will be offering our first college visit road trip on Tuesday, October 18th. We will be traveling to Monmouth College and Knox College.

This is a great opportunity for seniors to get a feel for a smaller size school in the area. We will be spending the morning at Monmouth College and then travel to Knox for an afternoon visit. Lunch will be provided by Monmouth College at no cost to the students. Students will be given a tour and chance to meet the admissions reps from both schools.

We will be leaving IVC at 8:00 and return by 2:45. This road trip will count as a college visit. Each senior is allowed two college visits, each junior one visit. Students can sign up on Naviance or stop by the counseling office. Space is limited to 13 students.

FAFSA Opens Today!!!!

Click here for flyer above

Today is the first day that families can fill out the FAFSA. Just go to fafsa.gov to begin the process.

Reminder that it is important to fill out the FAFSA as soon as possible. There is a limited amount of MAP grant money in Illinois. This MAP money is money that does NOT need to be repaid.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us or call at 309-274-5481 x2.