These can be helpful for parents as a resource to help their student with career readiness, mental health and many other topics. If you have questions or concerns, please reach out but all the things listed are put on by reputable organizations. 

Personal Essays:

• Tips on writing a personal essay.

• College Essay Guy website. 

• Going Merry website - great resources for anything about college preparation. 

• Do a search - there are many free resources available

Leadership Opportunities:

• Iowa RYLA - Free summer experience for students paid for by local Rotary chapters. Go to iowaryla.org to find out more and apply.

• Four Star Leadership - Free summer experience for students. Go to fourstarleader.com to find out more and apply. 

Career Readiness:

• Student planning pointers for Parents - Sign up to receive twice monthly emails on how to help your student and be put into a quarterly drawing for $250 into Iowa college savings plan. Go to www.sp3.org to sign up.

• On Track Live Webinars by ICAN to help keep your student on track to meet their career goals. These are over this year but will have each year what your student should be doing to prepare for a career and college. Toolkit is available through ICAN.

• Resume Writing Video Help Links - 

College Prep:

• From the TV series, The College Tour, there are lessons they have created to help students choose a college/major and make the most out of their college experience. Go to https://www.thecollegetour.com/free-classes/ to find the classes available. 

• ICAN provides many resources, to view their video resources coming up visit https://www.icansucceed.org/about-ican/services/community-events/virtual-events.

• Matriculate - Free virtual college advising to HS students. Applications are open until August 31, 2025 at bit.ly/MAT26Apply! They provide trained mentors to help navigate the college application and financial aid process. 

College/Career Fairs:

• Best Colleges does research on the best colleges in each state - visit https://www.bestcolleges.com/features/best-colleges-in-iowa/ to see Iowa's best 4 year colleges or https://www.bestcolleges.com/features/best-community-colleges-in-iowa/ for Iowa's best Community Colleges.  

• Commercial Building Industry Career Fair - visit www.buildiowa.org/career-fairs for more information.

Financial Aid/Scholarship Info:

• SMARTTRACK - Go to https://join.smarttrackcollegefunding.com/tipton-high-1 to set up your account. Help with managing funds to get the best return on the FAFSA. Start your students freshman year! Free service unless you want a more detailed summary. 

• Article on understanding financial aid offers at https://www.onlineu.com/magazine/how-to-read-your-financial-aid-offer.

• Article to help fill out the FAFSA at https://www.onlineu.com/resources/financial-planning/fafsa.

• Student Scholarships - listing of national scholarships available. 

• Scholarship Owl - great resource in finding national scholarships.