Roadblocks to College Matriculation
Christine Marie Quilpa, Katherine Robinson, Miranda Rosenfield, Taylor Steffey, and Stephanie Tanner
As a nation, the education system preaches college and career readiness as the ideal expectation for all students. Yet, in reality not all students are college ready or even attending college. The role of school counselors, specifically high school counselors, is to help prepare students for life post-high school. Students require substantial support, assistance and resources in order to achieve education beyond high school (Brown, 2009). Some populations are often overlooked and do not receive the necessary support from the school or school counselor. Such groups include first generation college students, minorities, low-income and rural students. This paper will analyze some of the groups who are particularly in need of assistance in the college process and the reasons they are not matriculating to college.
The Self-Esteem of Middle School Girls
Christine Marie Quilpa, Jennifer Aguilar, Najwa Tatby
Presented on March 21, 2015 at the Virginia Association of Counselor Education and Supervision (VACES) Conference, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA
Abstract: Adolescence is a time of great change. Because girls start puberty earlier than boys, the changes in their bodies impact their mental health more significantly. In this presentation, the presenters address how counselors can work to address the common issue of poor self-esteem in adolescent girls. If counselors support girls undergoing self-esteem issues through effective psychoeducational interventions, the impact has the potential to last not only in adolescence, but for a lifetime.
Narrowing the Digital Divide: The Young Women Leaders Program
HerStory Project
Stephanie Newton, Emily Peters, Victoria Tucker, Christine Quilpa, Edith Lawrence, Clare Vierbuchen
Article published in Jefferson Public Citizens 2011 Journal, pp.126-134 and Virginia Engage Journal, Inaugural Issue
Abstract: Research suggests that girls are at especial disadvantage in the field of informational technology and are less likely than boys to take courses or seek out careers in this area. The Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP), a mentoring program at the University of Virginia that pairs at-risk middle school girls with college women for a year of mentoring, developed the YWLP HerStory project to engage middle school girls in informational technology through their development of technology projects focused on psychosocial issues of importance to them. This study reviewed an early version of the YWLP HerStory’s technology curriculum and training for mentors, the revisions made to both, and evaluated the effectiveness of the revisions with a sample of 27 eighth grade girls and their mentors. Findings indicated that participating in the revised curriculum improved girls’ engagement in technology projects, including an 83% completion rate, and modifications to mentor training improved mentor’s grasp of relevant technology and confidence in teaching it to their mentees. Notably, participating eighth grade girls reported that the technology curriculum was fun and expressed an interest in further engagement in using technology platforms to tell their stories.
