Do you have customized links in your WOIS portfolio system?  If so, there is a new way to organize those links!  You can now create headings for groups of links (for example College Planning Links, or Financial Aid Links) and organize the appropriate links under each special heading.   Headings can also be added to your Culminating Project links in the Culminating Project section.

AND you can choose whether you want your links to continue at the top of the student Portfolio Main Menu, OR if you want your links to be in a separate box on the right side of the Portfolio Main Menu.

Try it -- you will love it!  If you look at the options (click on Links in your Portfolio Administration), read the instructions, and still need more help, call us at 1-800-700-WOIS.

We've also added a column on the Detail View Report in the Portfolio Administration that allows you to see the total number of volunteer hours each student has added to the Work and Community Experience section of their Portfolio.  If your school requires that students have a certain number of hours -- this allows you to see at a glance if the students are reaching their required community service hours.

Thank you to Puyallup School District and South Bend School District for these great ideas!

Hold on to your hats!  There's more to come in the next few months!

Stated by a workshop participant on 10/1/2009 -- "Great discussion!  Great strategies for implementation and great handouts to help us succeed at implementation!  This was a fantastic workshop!"

If you want to discover how to create schools and classrooms where students are engaged in learning, you need to attend this workshop. 

Presented by Dr. Cal Crow, from the Center for Learning Connections, you will learn strategies for getting to the heart and soul of the student.  Discussion and activities will center around providing relevance to learning, creating student-centered schools, and building resiliency and self-efficacy in all of your students.

Two more dates and locations are set up for 2009.  November 17 at South Seattle Community College and December 1 at Columbia Basin College.

Receive more information and register today!

The Transitions, Learning and Work conference is scheduled for February 1, 2010.  Join us for an exciting program, with Keynote Speaker Dr. Kenford Nedd and Luncheon Speaker, Dr. Cal Crow.

Agenda and Registration can be found here.

We hope you had a wonderful summer and are refreshed and ready for the new school year!  The WOIS website is ready for you, with the updated release up and running as of yesterday.

Many enhancements have been added to WOIS this year.  The most notable is the ability to get National College information for every WOIS educational program and our link with StudentEdge for PSAT, SAT, ACT, AP, and ASVAB practice tests -- and more.  These two enhancements are included in the license for all full WOIS system subscribers.  Other enhancements have been made to the WOIS portfolio system, and online administrative tutorials are now available. 

New site keys for the year have been assigned.  If you haven't seen yours (most were sent via snail mail), send email to tami@wois.org or call WOIS at 1-800-700-WOIS. 

FREE Basic WOIS training has been set up so far in Pasco, Spokane and Olympia.  Register for training here.  Registration for Creating Schools with Heart and Soul and Dependable Strengths for Educators workshops can also be found at this link.  Watch the WOIS website for more training opportunities throughout the fall.

WOIS and The Center for Learning Connections have teamed up to provide the Transitions, Learning and Work conference on February 1, 2010.  This was formerly the Worforce conference.  Find more information and register at the Transitions, Learning and Work website.

WOIS customers can also take advantage of training at the comfort of their own computer.  WOIS is offering a Basic Training Webinar on September 24.  More webinars for basic and advanced training will be scheduled throughout the year.   Register here.

If you haven't renewed, you no longer have access to WOIS.  Please contact the WOIS office as soon as possible to make sure WOIS is up and running when you are ready to help your students and clients make solid, well-informed career and educational plans.  Remember, WOIS is the ONLY system that provides complete and accurate information for EVERYONE, whether they want to go directly into the workforce, enter into a short- or long-term training program, or plan to pursue a Ph.D.  As we enter our 36th year of service to Washington State citizens, we thank all of our customers for your continued support.

Visit WOIS on Facebook for current trends and information about careers and education.  Enter into our Discussions, or start one of your own.  Become a member of the WOIS Facebook network to stay connected!

You can link to WOIS on Facebook from the WOIS homepage at www.wois.org.  The Facebook link is on the lower right-side of the page.

The WOIS Executive Committee recently reviewed nearly 40 WOIS scholarship applications and chose three students to each receive $750 toward their postsecondary education.

The three scholarship recipients were:

David Yu, Colfax High School

Jessica Hutton, Eisenhower High School

Rebecca Campbell, Olympic High School

David Yu described his career search process and use of WOIS in the process as follows:

"High school has been called a crossroads of life.  If so, WOIS has been the sign posts helping to point me down the right road.  At the beginning of senior year, I still didn't know what I wanted to do with my life.  WOIS uncovered patches of hidden talent and interest I never would have imagined, through its unique Career Interest Areas, Interest Profiler, and Skills tests.  I found my interest in medicine and technology, which helped me select my classes for senior year and contemplate a major in college.  WOIS has enabled me to follow up on my interests, providing droves of detailed information about careers, from education requirements, to current market outlook, to specific responsibilities.  It helped me substantiate my senior presentation about interning at the hospital and the requirements for the professions there.

"Furthermore, WOIS has fit in flawlessly with my other senior final projects and materials.  Utilizing my online portfolio to store my tests, activities, and college research, I built on online file system I could access from anywhere, a privilege I found invaluable in writing personal evaluations and preparing college applications.  I also incorporated WOIS with my senior portfolio for organizing my materials and presenting it in an efficient, systematic way.  From my career research project to deciding my destination next year and beyond, WOIS has added control and peace of mind to a frenetic senior year.

"At this key junction of my education, I highly appreciate my school's subscription to WOIS to guide me, to provide a roadmap in my crossroads of life."

Congratulations to all three WOIS scholarship recipients!

Now WOIS Portfolio administrators can Query the Post-High School Plans and Occupational Goals for students who have entered these details in the Education Planner section of the WOIS Portfolio.

This can be useful if you have a career speaker (let's say a Physical Therapist) coming to the school and you want to know which students have indicated Physical Therapist as an Occupational Goal.

It may also come in handy when you have a college (maybe Washington State University) visiting.  You can query the portfolios and get a list of the students who have indicated WSU as a college of interest.

After the query identifies the students who have indicated the selection, the administrator can send a note to each student (via the portfolio) to let them know the visitor will be at the school.

The query only works on entries in the Education Planner section of the WOIS Portfolio.

Each section of the Electronic Portfolio has a report associated with it that can be used to print the contents of that section - Assessments and Tests, Career Research, etc. Now, Portfolio administrators and group managers can print batches of reports from the administrative side of the Portfolios. Just select the Portfolios you want to print reports for from any Portfolio "List" page, like the Student List or Detail View, click "Generate reports" at the bottom of the page, and choose the report to generate.

The WOIS Electronic Portfolio has been added as an option for middle schools and junior highs using Career Explorer. Students can save their Career Explorer assessment results, save links to the occupations they explore, and start building their electronic portfolio with student activities, results from other tests, resumes, essays, educational plans – everything that is available in the high school version of the WOIS Electronic Portfolio. Then the Electronic Portfolio can seamlessly follow the student to the high school.

The cost to add the WOIS Electronic Portfolio to your Career Explorer subscription is only $230 for this year. If you are not currently a Career Explorer subscriber, and want Career Explorer and the Electronic Portfolio, the cost is $405 for this year.

To order Career Explorer and/or the WOIS Electronic Portfolio, e-mail Tami Palmer, call 1-800-700-WOIS, or send your purchase order to WOIS, 1415 Harrison Avenue NW, Suite 201, Olympia, WA 98502.

Career Trek is a career awareness curriculum designed to teach students about the world of work. Career Trek helps teach the importance of personal responsibility and good work habits, the development of skills to interact with others, an understanding of how to make decisions, and the development of skills to comprehend and use career information. Appropriate for 4^th-6^th graders and above, Career Trek helps children broaden their career awareness and discover the importance of school.

The Career Trek kit includes...

• Teacher’s Guide with 60 learning activities, targeted at fourth through sixth grade students. Overheads and worksheet masters are included and can be printed as needed. This guide is provided on a CD.
• Occupation Card Deck with 190 cards that use descriptions, symbols, and illustrations to present occupational information. The cards can be used for classroom and small-group activities.
• Dictionary of Occupations is a book of descriptions for the 190 Career Trek occupations.

Career Trek is only $50, plus shipping and tax, one-time purchase. This is something every 4^th, 5^th and 6^th grade classroom should have! For more information, see the Career Trek brochure. 

To order Career Trek, e-mail Tami Palmer, call 1-800-700-WOIS, or send your purchase order to WOIS, 1415 Harrison Avenue NW, Suite 201, Olympia, WA 98502.