A Graduate Profile is a set of skills and competencies beyond traditional academic subjects (i.e., reading, math, writing) that our community deems important for success after high school graduation. According to the Colorado Education Initiative (CEI) it is a “clear, shared visualization of priority goals for teaching and learning that can be easily communicated to students, parents, faculty, and staff”.
To determine which competencies our community values most surveys and focus groups were held in November-December 2022 to answer the following questions:
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What are your hopes and dreams for graduates of your school/district? What skills do you want these graduates to have? Why?
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What do you wish you had learned in school? What do you think is most important for students to learn?
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What skills do you think are most important for success in our current economy (think globally, not just here in our community)? What do these skills look like in action?
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What are you seeing/not seeing in people you work with or hire? What do you wish you saw in people you work with or hire? What makes for a successful employee?
In January 2023, the data from the focus groups and surveys was aggregated and themed. The themed data was viewed through the lens of CDE’s Essential Skills, and an initial draft of competencies was released in February 2023.
In March 2023, the BOE finalized a Graduate Profile Design Team consisting of community members, staff, and students. The Graduate Profile Design Team met in April 2023 and was tasked with refining the competencies and creating drafts of the visual or graphic.
Throughout the summer, the graphic went through eight iterations with feedback from the Board of Education, staff, and the Graduate Profile Design Team throughout the various versions.
In August 2023, the final version of Haxtun School District’s Graduate Profile was released, and staff engaged in a half day training and committed to a variety of strategies to begin implementing the Graduation Profile Competencies including focusing on teaching a trait each month, recognizing students demonstrating the competencies, and displaying the competencies on bulletin boards.
Our Haxtun Graduate Profile Competencies are:
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Self-Initiative - work ethic, resilience, persistence
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Civic Engagement - community engagement, service-oriented, strong communication
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Strong Character - caring, honest, respectful
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Adaptability - open-minded, positive attitude, critical thinking
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Future Readiness - career awareness, self-awareness, core knowledge, personal responsibility
The Graduate Profile graphic includes our Haxtun Brand, an official, registered brand designed by FFA students, which means “Haxtun Schools Moving Forward”. The Graduate profile has key features of our Haxtun Community including a bulldog on main street, the water tower, and grain bin.
The final version of the Haxtun Graduate Profile is below:
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