Career Center

Tips & ideas for planning for the future

It is never too early to start making plans for what you will do after high school. Not sure where to start?? Ms. Morton is available to help you in the College and Career Center and every student has access to Career Cruising!

College

11th grade checklist

If you are planning to attend college after high school, you should be taking the most challenging classes and earning the best grades you can. All four years of high school count when you apply to college.

9th – 11th most important for grades because you will be applying to colleges in the early fall of 12th grade
Every class, every credit matters. Even electives.

Would you want admissions offices to see those interims? If not, make sure they improve by the end of the year for final grades because those are what get printed on your transcript!

Discipline Record --> Counselor Page

Every college asks your counselor to check off whether or not you’ve ever been suspended. If yes, we have to explain why.

Cell phone violations look silly to college admissions reps --- it looks like you won’t be able to follow simple campus rules.

Build a resume starting NOW!

Volunteering/community service is more than just your SSL graduation requirement

Get involved in an activity and stick with it

DO something, anything that will make you more than a name on a page

Jobs and colleges want more than just grades!!!

PUT IT ALL IN CAREER CRUISING!

Common Black College Application Information

If you are interested in entering the military after high school, you must take the ASVAB test. You can take it in the 11th grade and again in the 12th. There is no fee for the ASVAB and it is offered at Thomas Stone High School. More information about this test is available from Ms. Morton in the Career Center. You must also pass a physical exam. You should talk to recruiters from all branches of the military before making a decision on which one you want. They come to the College and Career Center at least twice a year or you can visit the recruitment office in Waldorf.

There is a large selection of vocational and technical trade schools in this area. They take anywhere from six months to two years to complete, with either a certificate or an Associate’s degree. There is no room and board at most of these schools. They usually concentrate on just the major classes with very few other courses offered. Applications to these schools are similar to college applications. You will want to make sure the school is accredited for the program you are considering.

Steamfitters Local 602 JATC

Students interested in an exciting career in pipefitting, welding, heating, air conditioning and refrigeration (construction, service and maintenance) applications must be made in person at the location listed below:

UA Mechanical Trades School
8509 Ardwick Ardmore Road
Landover, MD 20785
301-341-1555

Career Cruising has an Employment section where you can search for open positions in the area. The newspaper, classified ads, and signs in local businesses are good places to start looking too. Ms. Morton occasionally gets information about job openings too. You can check with her in the College and Career Center during lunch or before school!

College Classes at Thomas Stone High School

Thomas Stone High School has partnered with the College of Southern Maryland once again by providing a wonderful opportunity for students to earn college credits without leaving our school.. Access CSM will transform the teleconference room into a college lecture hall where two courses per semester will be conducted. There is no transportation for students needed and students will have the support from an instructional assistant present on Thomas Stone's campus. Classes will be held Tuesday/Thursday with study hall Friday.

Each course is being offered at the discounted rate of $245 plus the cost of textbook(s). All payments should be mailed directly to the College of Southern Maryland Bursar Office. Students must complete a CSM application at www.csmd.edu/admissions/ and the Charles County Waiver application located in the Thomas Stone High School Counseling Office and take the CSM Accuplacer placement test at the La Plata Campus of the College of Southern Maryland.

Senior Timeline

Junior Timeline

Sophomore Timeline

Freshman Timeline

Financial Aid Resources

Scholarship Checklist

Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized Loans

How to Read a College Financial Aid Statement

US Dept of Education College Affordability and Transparency Center

History

The W.E.B. DuBois Honor Society originated on the campus of Hampton University in Hampton, VA. In 1997, the Honors College at Hampton University held its first W.E.B. DuBois Invitational Honors Conference. In 2001, Hampton University sponsored the first four chapters of the W.E.B. DuBois Honor Society.

The honor society is open to senior and junior high schools. Thomas Stone High School is the first school in Charles County to sponsor a W.E.B. DuBois Honor Society.

Purpose

The purpose of this organization is to recognize, encourage, and promote scholastic achievement, leadership development and active involvement in positive community activities that solidly promote long-long learning skills. This organization will reinforce the concept of honor and affirm that excelling academically is appropriate, desirable and rewarding.

Mentoring at J.P. Ryon - This is an afterschool program where high school students serve as mentors to elementary age students.

“It is today that our best work can be done and not some future day or future year. It is today that we fit ourselves for the greater usefulness of tomorrow.”
-W.E.B. DuBois