Create a College and Career Readiness Day at Your School
Academic, college and career ready, social and emotional—all these skills give your students a clear picture of their future readiness. They help students learn how to make their goals a reality, step by step. Whatever path they take, they must understand:
- the steps they’ve taken so far;
- how to apply what they’ve learned; and
- what they must do to build on that knowledge to prepare for the future.
Watch this on-demand webinar to hear why and how to plan a robust day designed to promote a college-going and career-ready culture. Among other tips, we’ll tell you about the 4 “C”s to remember when planning your event.
- Commitment—Create a day of activities and assessments that shows your school’s collective dedication to readiness for all students.
- Culture—Make promoting student readiness the lifeblood that surges through every activity, communication, and initiative, involving every stakeholder at the district and school levels, including parents and guardians and even community members.
- Comprehensiveness—Address each student early and holistically. Assess, by social and emotional learning, academic accountability, and workforce interest progress at regular intervals while offering proof of college readiness and career readiness credentials!
- Chance (and Opportunity)—Use data to help your students understand what they need to accomplish to achieve their dreams. Create an ongoing cycle of improvement to set the stage for deeper understanding of readiness and recognize their milestones towards success.
Presenters

Sherry Reed is an ACT senior account executive, specializing in working with ACT measurement tools in Missouri and South Dakota. She works with K-12 schools to assist schools with comprehensive assessment planning, RTI/MTSS implementation, data-driven instructional and intervention improvement, and specific and targeted professional learning. After a long career in public education as a teacher, administrator, consultant, author, and service center coordinator, she spent the last decade in corporate settings, and this is her fifth year at ACT. She loves serving her schools and helping them build paths of college and career readiness for students. Sherry and her family live on a farm near Pomona, Kansas.
Dr. Ryan Luhning is in his fourth year serving as the principal of Valley Park High School just outside of St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Luhning is in his 23rd year of education and has previously served as an assistant principal, dean of students, coach, and classroom teacher. Dr. Luhning is passionate about every student having a postsecondary plan when they graduate. During his time at Valley Park High School, the school has begun the process of using PreACT®, ACT®, and ACT® WorkKeys® tests as data tools in its school improvement plan.
Contact me about having a College and Career Readiness Day
Free eBook: An Educator’s Guide to College and Career Readiness
Checklist: College and Career Readiness Day
Free College and Career Readiness Day Poster (Announce Your Event at Your School)
Video: Why Offering ACT District Testing is Important
Video: The Importance of Offering a College and Career Readiness Day
Other Resources for K12 Educators
Sign Up for ACT’s Monthly Newsletter for K-12 Counselors
Sign Up for ACT’s Monthly Newsletter for K-12 Administrators
Sign Up for ACT's Monthly Newsletter for Workforce Professionals