College & Career

The College and Career Room is located in room 5.142 (main Student Services office) and has a multitude of resources available to students and parents as students prepare and plan for life after high school.

You can reach Mr. Cash by making an appointment or through the phone or email for any of your post secondary exploration needs. Mr. Cash has the same appointment hours as the rest of the counseling staff.

To schedule a student appointment, go to your eClass page, click on the tiles (drop-down menu) in the upper right corner, click on DHS Counselors.

Phone: 770-277-4466.

Email: john.cash@gcpsk12.org

John Cash

College & Career Specialist

john.cash@gcpsk12.org

Mr. Cash's College and Career Youtube Channel

College and Career Information

College and Career Exploration

College Exploration

College Navigator/National Center for Educational Statistics

(Has a link to College Affordability & Transparency Center where you can browse lists of institutions with the highest and lowest tuition and fees and net price.)

Georgia ONmyLINE

An easy-to-use search engine of online and distance education programs offered through the accredited institutions within the University System of Georgia.

USNews.com/Education ranks colleges in the US based on numerous factors; this is the definitive ranking system

Naviance

GCPS uses the Naviance platform for every student’s college and career planning. Naviance contains career assessments, strength assessments, college search tools, and more resources to assist students with planning their futures. Seniors match their Naviance account with their Common App account to send their transcripts and recommendation letters to their colleges. Students can access Naviance in eClass under the Additional Resources box. For more information about how to use Naviance, please see your counselor or college and career specialist.

Career Exploration

Occupational Outlook Handbook

ExploreHealthCareers

Careers In The Military

Other Resources

College Data: Google "College Data" and name of college you are interested in--graduation rates, retention rates, freshman profile, importance of selection criteria, financial aid data, etc.

College Fly-Ins Programs: Weekend or multi-day programs offered to students from first-generation, lower-income, or minoritized racial and ethnic backgrounds. These programs are typically offered to juniors in the semester or summer before senior year, and many of the programs offer travel assistance.

College Greenlight: Connecting first generation and underrepresented students to caring colleges, generous scholarships, and life-changing counselors and mentors.

I'm First: An online community celebrating first generation college students and supporting those who will be.

College Lunch Visits and Fairs

Community Service

Community Service Opportunities

Anything you do to help someone outside of your family without getting paid may count as community service.
Possible Opportunities: Food Banks, Habitat for Humanity, Local and State Parks, Hospitals, Libraries, Senior Citizen Centers, Animal Shelters, Web Site Creation, Helping in Your Neighborhood, Religious Organizations.

North Gwinnett Cooperative

Agencies in Gwinnett

Lilburn Cooperative Ministry, Inc.

Volunteer in Lawrenceville

America's Natural and Cultural Resources Volunteer Portal

Community Service Award Information

Dacula High School awards a community service cord for students who complete a minimum of 400 service hours during his/her high school career. The purpose of awarding the cord, which is bestowed during the student’s senior year, is to recognize those students who give of their time to help others and become active contributors to the community in which they live.

The Dacula High School PTSA is also a certifying body for the President’s Council on Civic Service and Volunteerism and bestows the Presidential Volunteer Service Award to students who meet minimum criteria during one calendar year. Students at any grade level can apply for these awards. Please see separate information from the PTSA regarding these awards.

Community Service Awards Offered at Dacula High School:

(All hour totals are for one calendar year, from the date the community service starts, unless otherwise noted.)

Presidential Volunteer Service Award

	Bronze (given by PTSA)	Silver (given by PTSA)	Gold (given by PTSA)	Cord (given by DHS)
Ages 11-15	50-74 hours	75-99 hours	100 hours or more
Ages 16-25	100-174 hours	175-249 hours	250 hours or more
DHS Senior				400 or more hours

Guidelines for Community Service Awards:

Volunteer Hours = any time devoted to improving the quality of life for another individual and/or organization where the volunteer is not the direct recipient of benefiting from the service given (i.e. fund raising activities and paid activities that benefit the student do not meet the requirements for earning community service awards; however, a fund raiser to raise money for childhood cancer survivors would count).
The volunteer work may include community, hospital, church, scout, athletic volunteerism, school, or club activities and must be done outside of the school day.
All volunteer work must be accurately and completely recorded on the Community Service Award Activity Log (attached).
If you are unsure your volunteer work is applicable, please check with the Counseling Office in 5.141.
Students must submit their Service Award Activity Log prior to leaving for Spring Break. Please return the form to the Counseling Office in 5.141.

Download the Community Service Log

cslog1.doc

Printable log for Community Service

Internships and Summer Programs

Enrichment Programs

LEDA (Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America) The LEDA Scholars Program specilaizes in identifying outstanding juniors who may otherwise remain unrecognized. Succesful applicants to the program must complete a rigorous, multi-tiered application process, which provides students with a preview of the admission process for selective colleges/universities. Aspects of the program include leadership training, writing classes, college guidance and college tips, ACT/SAT prep; fully funded by LEDA. Application deadline: December, 2021
University of Georgia Programs for K-12 Students
Georgia Tech Enrichment Camps
Pre-College Summer Programs

Scholarships and Financial Aid

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

FAFSA

The FAFSA is typically the first step for financial aid for most colleges and universities. Many colleges and universities require students to complete the FAFSA before they can move forward with any scholarships at the universities.
To complete the FAFSA, students and each parent/guardian must create their FSA IDs. The FSA ID is the individual account each person uses to log in and access the FAFSA. Some parents/guardians will already have FSA IDs since they helped some of their older students or recently attended college themselves.

If you need help completing the FAFSA, make an appointment with Mr. Cash through eClass. You can also work on your FAFSA with the financial aid department of the college you plan to enroll at.

Free Scholarship Search Engines

There are many scholarship search engines that will allow you to create a profile that can match you with scholarship opportunities. Students in all grade levels can complete profiles, and students can begin earning some scholarships even in 9^th grade. The buttons below are links to those search engines.

Stand Out College Prep

Test Prep and Practice

College Entrance Tests

SAT

ACT

Accuplacer: What is it? Who uses it?

Tutor.com- Tutoring and SAT/ACT/AP Test Prep

Go to tutor.com/gcpl
Login with your student ID number as your username/barcode
Your password is four digits - two digit birth month and two digit birth date
- Ex. - August 31 = 0831
Live Tutoring - 12 PM-8 PM every day
All other service hours are 24/7
Tutoring, paper reviews, math question drop-offs, practice quizzes, and more
ACT/SAT Prep
AP Exam Prep