A Guide to Designing Your Future
High School and Young Adult Student Workbook

This workbook assists high school students and young adults in exploring who they are, the values they want to have, setting six-week, one-year, three-year, and five-year goals, overcoming obstacles, exploring careers, gaining skills to secure a job, budgeting, creating a positive support team, and creating a detailed five-year strategic plan. Each segment in the book includes a written overview about the topic followed by written exercises for students to complete on their own or with the assistance of an adult. The workbook has 85 pages, is printed in black text, and has a full color cover.

 

Achieving Success Training Handbook

A Guide to Assist Students in Developing Life Skills and
Planning for the Future
Adult Facilitation and Training Handbook

This training handbook complements the Achieving Success student workbooks. It is designed for teachers, mentors, or program staff to create an interactive learning experience for their youth.

Training Handbooks Include:

• A suggested facilitation to teach the topic for each workbook lesson.
• Hands-on and discussion activities to select from for each lesson.
• An overview for each workbook lesson.
• Access to the Winning Futures’ program support website to download support materials including a Training PowerPoint. Files may be used with mentors, volunteers, program staff, teachers, and parents.
• Evaluation tools customized for this curriculum with pre- and post-assessments for students, mentors, and teachers are also available on the support website. The surveys are created by professional researchers.

 

Curriculum Topics

WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU STAND FOR

Segment 1: Who Are You?

Written: Self-Assessment, Transferable Skills
Hands-on Options: Meet the Mentors, Mentor Speed Meetings, Jenga, School Tour, Team Name, Coat of Arms, Strengths and Talents Collage, Transferable Skills Invention

Segment 2: What’s Important to You?

Written: Character, Personal, and Work Values, Character Values Checklist, Personal Values Checklist
Hands-on Options: Values Poster, Tin Foil Animals, Values Scenario Cards

Segment 3: Change Begins with You and Your Attitude

Written: Rating My Work Values, Five-Year Vision Statement, Personal Inventory
Hands-on Options: Change Exercise, Bag Your Attitude, Five-Year Vision Exercise

THE PRINCIPLES OF WINNING FUTURES

Segment 4: You Gotta Have Goals

Written: Short-Term Educational/Career Goals, Action Steps - Study Skills
Hands-on Options: Shoot for Your Goals, Study Application Cards

Segment 5: You Gotta Have a Plan

Written: Career Assessment, One-Year Educational/Career Goal
Hands-on Options: Stand Up or Sit Down Career Survey, Mentor’s Career Path

Segment 6: Mapping Your Career Plan

Written: Career Plan
Hands-on Options: Career Interviews

Segment 7: Tapping Into Your Potential

Written: Three-Year Educational/Career Goal Evaluator, Five-Year Educational/Career Goal Evaluator
Hands-on Options: Focused Thinking – Tapping into your Potential

Segment 8: All Careers Have Value

Written: Your Career Choice Has Value
Hands-on Options: Biosphere Scenarios

DEFINING YOUR PERSONAL SUCCESS

Segment 9: Balancing Your Life

Written: Personal Wheel, Personal Goal Evaluator

Segment 10: Creating a Support Team

Written: Support Team Assessment, Relationship Goal Evaluator, RARE Everyday Heroes, Diversity in the Workplace
Hands-on Options: Positive Comment Cards, Mentor/Adult Goal Sharing

Segment 11: Overcoming Obstacles

Written: Identifying Your Obstacles
Hands-on Options: Winning Futures Volleyball, Obstacle Course, Puzzle Race

Segment 12: Writing It Down

Written: Five-Year Plan Rubric
Hands-on Options: Stand and Share, Picture Perfect 

SUPPLEMENT CAREER ACTIVITIES

Written: Monthly Budget, Job Skills, Resume, Job Application, 30-Second Interview Pitch, Interview Questions, Interviewing Tips
Hands-on Options: 30-Second Interview Critique, Mock Interviews, Professional Etiquette 

OTHER HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES

Spider Web, Goal-Setting Board Game, Personal Timeline, Video options, Egg Drop