CRITICAL SKILLS
Unit 3: Planning for the Future
Planning is bringing the future into the present so you can do something about it now
~Alan Lakein
Section
1) Using Your Resources
Assignments
3–4
5
15
25
Types of Post-secondary Training
Poster or Brochure
Comparing Colleges Research
What Training is Best For Me Essay
7
25
8–9
10
20
30

Picturing Your Future Worksheet
Setting Your Goals
13 – 15
17 - 18
10
15

Future Timeline
19
50
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3) Goal Setting
Unit Assessment
Point
Value
High School Resources Worksheet
Community Resources Letter

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2) Post-Secondary
Training Options
Page

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Section 1: Using Your Resources
To make a good plan for your future, you need to know what resources are available to you.
In this section you will spend time finding out more about the resources available at your
school and in your community.
Assignments

High School Resources Worksheet

Community Resources: Workforce Center Letter
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Resources in your School
Objective
To learn more about the resources at your school that may help you with your future plans.
Resources



Your School Counselor
Your School’s Web Page
Your School’s Handbook
Directions
You will contact your school counselor and find out more information about the following:



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Counseling Services
Electives Offered
Front Range Community College Secondary Programs
PACE
Complete the worksheet on the following page.
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Resources in your School Worksheet
Counseling Services
1. What services does the counseling office offer?
Electives
2. What are 2 careers that you are interested in pursuing?
3. For each career you listed above, choose 5 electives offered by your school that are
related to those careers. For each elective, tell how it might help you.
PACE
1. Who is the PACE coordinator for your school and what is her/his number?
2. What is PACE and how do you enroll?
3. What are the requirements of PACE and what are the benefits of the “class”?
Front Range Community College Secondary Programs
On a separate piece of paper, write a summary of the Secondary Programs at FRCC.
Include information such as, what programs are available, what the benefits are, who can
take the program, etc. You should also mention if any of the programs sound interesting
to you and describe them briefly. Attach your summary to this sheet and turn it in.
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Resources in your Community
Objective
To develop an understanding of various community resources available to you and how to
access them.
Resources


Larimer County Workforce Center staff and web site (www.larimerworkforce.org)
Your school counselor
Directions
For this assignment you will research the resources available from the Larimer County
Workforce Center. With the information you find you will write a letter to a friend
convincing him or her to sign up with the LCWFC. You will need to include the following
information in your letter:



What programs are offered to youth (describe them in detail including how they
might be helpful to your friend)
How do you get signed up
Contact information including the name of a contact person
You will be graded on the accuracy and detail of the information you provide as well as the
format of your letter. Your letter should be formatted properly with a date, greeting,
salutation and signature. Be sure to write your name, the date and class on the assignment
before submitting it to your teacher.
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Section 2:Post-Secondary Training Options
Chances are once you complete high school you will need to be trained for the career you
choose. There are many options for training including, state and private colleges, community
colleges, trade schools, apprenticeships and on-the-job training. In this section you will
compare these different options for training.
Assignments

Types of Post-Secondary Training Poster or Brochure

Comparing Colleges Research Worksheet

What Training is Best for Me Essay
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Types of Postsecondary Training Poster or Brochure
Objective
To understand the difference between the many types of post-secondary training and to decide
which type you should plan for.
Resources

College in Colorado web site www.collegeincolorado.org

Other reliable Internet sites
Directions
Create an informational poster or brochure that tells about the different ways a person can be
trained after completing high school. You should include information about on-the-job
training and apprenticeships, technical or trade schools, community colleges, and state or
private colleges. For each type of training include the following information:





How the training works
What types of certificates/degrees can be earned
How long it lasts
Examples of jobs/careers that require that type of training
Examples of where you can go to get this type of training
You will primarily be graded on the accuracy and detail of the information you provide. You
will also be graded on the presentation of the material. Posters and brochures are both
visually interesting and easy to understand. Your project should be organized, easy to read
and understand and include pictures that support the information.
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Comparing Colleges Research
Objective
Research a state/private college, community college and trade or technical school and
understand the differences between them.
Resources
Use the Internet to research the schools you choose to find out more about.
Directions
Use the Internet or other resources to research at least three postsecondary institutions and
complete the chart on the following page. You should research one state college, one
community college and one trade school. Collect data on the cost, admissions
requirements, degrees offered, housing situation and any other important information. Use
this guide to help you:
Cost: How much does is cost per class or credit hour? What other fees are associated
with attending the school (books, computer fees, lab fees, parking fees, etc.)?
Admissions Requirements: What does it take to be accepted to the school? Do you
have to take admissions tests or entrance exams? Do you have to complete an
application and pay an application fee? Do you have to write an essay?
Degrees or Certificates Offered: What types of degrees does the school offer (M.A.,
B.A., A.A., P.H.D). How long does it take to complete these degrees? Doe the school
offer any certificates or certifications for tech type jobs? If so, give some examples
and tell how long they take to complete.
Availability of Housing: What is housing like. Does the campus have dorms? If so,
how many and how much does it cost to stay there? If it does not have dorms, are
there housing services to help you find a place to live?
Other Information: What other information did you find that was interesting or
important?
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Comparing Colleges Research Worksheet
School
Researched
Cost (tuition and
other fees)
Entrance
Requirements
Degrees Offered
(and length of time
to complete)
Availability of
Housing
Other Important
Information
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What Training is Best For Me Essay
Objective
Based on your research of postsecondary training and your interests in future careers,
determine what kind of training would be best for you.
Resources

Which Direction Report from Unit 2

Your research from this section
Directions
Write a short essay (150 words) in which you explain which kind of training would be
best for you. You should support your answer with reasons why this type of training will
be best for you. Include any information about career interests that will support your
answer. Be sure you put the name of the assignment, date, your name and the class on
your essay before submitting it to your teacher.
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Section 3: Goal Setting
You probably have some idea of what you want your life to look like in the future, but
that life will not just happen on it’s own. You will need to make a plan! Setting goals to
get where you want to go is a good way to plan on having the life you want.
Assignments

Picturing your future

Setting Your Goals
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Goal Setting Information
It is 2 weeks before spring break and you and three of your friends want to take a trip.
Do you just jump on a plane and take off without planning for your trip? If you do you
are bound to encounter a lot of problems a long the way. Setting some goals and
planning for your vacation will allow you to have a much better time.
As you brainstorm with your friends you decide your top three options are
Madrid, Spain, Los Cabos, Mexico or San Diego, California. As you research you
determine that going to Spain is out of the question because plane tickets are way over
your budget and you don’t have time to get a passport. You also find that getting to Los
Cabos in Mexico will cost about $200 more dollars in gas than you have to spend.
With this in mind you set your destination to be San Diego. Now you set some
goals for your trip. You know that you only have a limited amount of money and time in
order to accomplish your goals. You decide your top goals are spending time at the
beach, deep sea fishing, going to some of the clubs at night and eating a lot of seafood.
To accomplish these goals you will have to consider what resources you have such as
time, money, transportation and energy. You will need to gather more information to
make a good plan.
Taking this trip and living your life have a lot in common. You could just go
through life without a plan, but you are bound to encounter some problems. If you
consider what you have to work with and make a plan according to your goals, you are
more like likely to accomplish things that are important to you. Here are a few simple
steps you can follow to set goals and steps to accomplish them.
Goals should be…
Realistic
You should be able to meet your goal with the resources you have.
Set your goal to be challenging but not overwhelming.
Measureable
You should have a way to know your progress on your goal. How far
have you come and how much more do you need to do to accomplish
it.
Value Based
Your goals should be based on your beliefs and values not those of
others. If you don’t see value in a goal, it will be difficult for you to
reach it.
For each goal you set, you should be able to set some simple steps to take in order to
accomplish the goal.
Later in this section you will see some sample goals
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Picturing Your Future
Having an idea of what you want your future to look like will help you set some realistic
goals.
Objective
Consider what you want your life to look like 10 years from now.
Resources
There are no resources for this activity since it is reflective on your personal values and
experiences. You are your resource for this assignment.
Directions
Complete the worksheet on the following page. For each question write a few sentences.
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Picturing Your Future Worksheet
What do you want your life to look like 10 years from now? Take some time to think
about each question and write a few sentences to answer it. Some questions will be more
important to you than others requiring a more detailed response.
1. Where will you live? (state, city?)
2. Will you live in a house or apartment? What will it be like?
3. Will you be in a relationship? Have kids?
4. If you will be in a relationship, what do you want that to look like?
5. What car or cars do you drive?
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6. What kind of job do you have? How much money do you make? What is your
work environment like?
7. What are two things you have always wanted that you would own?
8. What kind of shape are you in?
9. What are some of you hobbies or activities that would be important to you?
10. What are some accomplishments you have made?
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Goal Samples
Read these scenarios and the sample goals that go with them to help you complete your
goal setting assignment.
Jorge
Jorge is a high school student who gets very good grades and will graduate soon. He
wants to be an Structural Engineer and run his own business designing commercial
buildings. He would like to live in a large house in the suburbs of Lakewood, Colorado
and have some land to ride horses on. Jorge likes to work hard and he is not sure if he
wants kids or not. He would like to be happily married in the next ten years to someone
who is okay with him working a lot.
Jorge’s Goals:
1. Graduate from the Colorado School of Mines with a degree in Structural
Engineering.
a. Graduate high school with a 4.0 GPA
b. Apply to School of Mines
c. Get a loan to pay for college
d. Study hard at school
e. Take my medicine so I can stay focused in my classes
2. Get a part-time job during college where I can get business experience
a. Put together my resume
b. Search for jobs that will give me business experience
c. Get letters of recommendation from past jobs
d. Buy some new interview clothes
e. Practice interviews with friends
Lisa
Lisa is a struggling sophomore in high school. This year she is failing several classes and
she does not like high school. She hangs with a crowd that seems to get her into trouble
often. Lisa loves to cook and would like to be a chef at a restaurant some day.
Lisa’s Goals:
1. Get off probation
a. Stop ditching class
b. Get away from my crew
c. Try to meet some new people
d. Do homework every night
2. Get some cooking experience
a. Apply to culinary arts at Front Range Community College
b. Enroll in the Foods class at school next year
c. Cook one meal a week for my family
d. Read one cooking magazine a month
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Setting Your Goals
Objective
To set realistic goals for yourself based on what you want your life to look like in the
future
Resources

The Picturing Your Future worksheet you completed in this section

The sample goals provided

The goal setting information provided in this section

Your high school counselor
Directions
For this activity you will set three main goals you want to accomplish using the
worksheet on the following page.
Career Goal: a goal regarding employment
School Goal: a goal having to do with school. Something you want to
accomplish by the time you graduate.
Personal Goal: a personal goal you would like to accomplish in the next year.
For each goal you should write at least four realistic and accomplishable things you can
do to reach that goal. Be specific with your steps. Consider the example goals provided.
Your goals should relate to the information you put on your Picturing Your Future
worksheet. Once you have completed the worksheet, submit it to your instructor.
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GOAL PLAN FOR
Name:_______________________________ Date:________________
CAREER GOAL: (Type this goal that you would like to obtain in the next 10 years regarding
employment.)
______________________________________________________________________________
In order to reach this goal, I will take the following actions:
1. __________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________________________
SCHOOL GOAL: (Type this goal that you would like to obtain by the time you graduate from high
school. It could be GPA, getting accepted into a college, receiving a scholarship, completing a
certain course, getting a job, etc.)
______________________________________________________________________________
In order to reach this goal, I will take the following actions:
1. __________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________________________
PERSONAL GOAL: (This is a goal that you would like to obtain in the next year. It can be school
related, activities related, or personal)
______________________________________________________________________________
In order to reach this goal, I will take the following actions:
1. __________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________________________
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Unit 3 Final Project: My Future Timeline
Objective
To make a plan for your future based on the activities you completed in this unit
Resources

School Resources and Community Resources assignments

Post-secondary options assignments

Goal Setting assignments and information
Directions
For this final project you will create a timeline of your future life. Timelines are spaced
proportionately between time divisions. That means the distance between each of the 10
years on your line should be the same. Pay attention to where you place events. Each
event should have a month/year on it. You do not need to have specific days. On your
timeline you will include the following information:
1. Your Goals – Put your three goals on the timeline that you wrote in the Goal
Setting Assignment. Your goals should be put at the point when you want them
accomplished by.
2. Steps to reaching your goals – For each goal, put at least 2 significant steps you
want to take to achieve that goal. Place the steps at a date you want to achieve
them by.
3. Significant accomplishments – Place at least 5 significant accomplishments you
would like to have made in the next 10 years. These should be different from
your goals and may include things you listed on your Picturing Your Future
worksheet.
4. Post-secondary training – add any training you would like to complete for your
future career. This may be included in your goals.
5. Any other milestones you would like to add
Your timeline should be neat and colorful. You do not need to add pictures or color, but
you may if you like. You will be graded according the rubric on the next page.
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