Roar

Tanya Gersimova admitted right up front to her mother that yes, her attendance at school needs some work.

But she's good at math, though she thinks that she "sucks at vocabulary." And she also doesn't like writing. She's not sure that this really matters, since she wants to be a nurse.

At this point, DeAnna Kilga, Tanya's advisor in the Auburn Mountainview High School ROAR program, interrupts the quiet translation from English to Ukrainian provided by Tanya's brother.

"You don't see how writing relates to your career pathway?" Kilga asks.

No, in fact, Tanya doesn't. So Kilga explains that if she wants to become a nurse and go to college, that will involve a lot of writing and use of vocabulary words. There are many papers that one must write in college, she said.

You can slowly see the wheels begin to turn in the sophomore's head. She then quickly wraps up her power point presentation, that included her course schedule this year and next, explanations of any low grades and her five-year transition plan out of school.

For three hours this past May, sophomores at the Auburn high school presented their parents or guardians with their ROAR plans or Requirement of Academic Readiness reports. The idea, according to the program materials, is to encourage high school students, beginning in their freshman year, to think about their career pathways, and what they will have to do academically and emotionally to get there. It's based on the Navigation 101 plan, first conceived in the Franklin Pierce School District in Pierce County.

This is more than just about passing the WASL . It's about planning a career in school and beyond, now. It's also prepping students for one of the state's current graduation requirements, which includes a high school and beyond plan and culminating project, that students will have to complete and present in their senior year.

Kilga said there are plans to perhaps expand the ROAR program to middle schools in the district.

Under ROAR, the same group of students will be meeting with the same advisor throughout their high school career. Kilga said she's had parents tell her they never realized what interests their children had or dreams they harbored until the ROAR presentation.

For example, Kyle Poppe's mom seemed surprised her son wanted to be a farmer. But he's since expanded his options to border patrol and conservation officer.

Robin Pridemore, 16, had to put dreams aside in his presentation until he could explain to his mom, Cindy, and to Kilga how he intended to get his trigonometry grade up from C- to at least a B.

Work harder and mess around less, seemed to be the answer. Ms. Pridemore admitted that her son has really never had to stretch himself until this year. So, she assured Kilga, they have a plan at home to bring those grades up.