Helping Parents Equip Their Teens To Succeed In High School And Prepare For College
Discover the secrets from my personal story that help Christian parents equip their teens to succeed
From the Desk of Cary J. Green, PhD, Founder
Updated: June 3, 2021
My Name is Cary J. Green, PhD, and I am a Christian author, speaker, and coach in the academic coaching space. Many parents and students call me "the guy who went from a D to a PhD."
Over the last 25 years I have been equipping students with the skills they need to succeed in the classroom and on the job using a savvy approach to academic and career success that few in the coaching world have access to.
So...why do I do what I do?
Let me share a brief story with you. It may help you understand why I'm a good person for you to listen to.
I was a bewildered freshman trying to adjust to life on campus and become a successful college student. I really wanted to succeed in college, just like I had succeeded in high school.
I wanted to do well in my classes so I could earn a college degree and get a great job.
However, I was failing my chemistry tests.
I was so frustrated because I was working hard and could not for the life of me figure out why I was failing. My approach worked in high school; why wasn't it working in college?
I felt even worse because I thought I wouldn't be able to reach my educational and career goals. I felt like I was not smart enough to get a college degree.
I felt like a failure. I felt that I had let my parents and girlfriend down.
The problem was that, even though I had graduated in the top 10% of my high school class, I got a D in freshman chemistry.
I told myself I couldn't handle my college classes and that I was not smart enough to succeed. I doubted myself and my abilities. I wanted to give up on my goals.
The Holy Spirit revealed to me that my chemistry grade was the symptom, not the problem. The problem was that I was limited by a lack of success skills.
The Holy Spirit then led me to a wonderful discovery: I knew I could get the grades I was capable of getting by cranking up my soft skills and academic success skills.
I had tried to succeed in college using the same skills I used to succeed in high school, but the skills I used in high school were not enough.
In fact, the simple truth is that we need to improve our skills each time we advance in our education and career.
So, my plan was to start working smarter by developing new skills and improving my current skills.
I prayed for wisdom and started honing my time management and organizational skills.
I then developed my problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
After that, I learned how to take great notes and ramped up my test-prep and test-taking skills.
I took the freshman chemistry class again and earned an A. I took the next chemistry class and earned an A in that class as well. I even earned an A in physical chemistry in grad school.
I don’t think my IQ increased, but I developed my success skills, and these skills made me “smarter."
Developing my success skills enabled me to go from a D in freshman chemistry to a PhD, and despite nearly flunking out of college, I landed a great job as a professor.
To help my students develop their success skills, I changed my college teaching strategy.
In addition to teaching my course content, I started to integrate leadership skills, soft skills, and academic success skills into my teaching and advising activities.
I had been teaching these skills in my freshman orientation and senior seminar courses, but now I saw a real need to include them in my agricultural and environmental science courses as well.
For example, even though I didn’t teach formal writing courses, I corrected grammatical errors on tests and assignments to help students improve their communication skills.
I also took the time to help my students develop their teamwork skills when I assigned collaborative projects.
I made sure my students understood the importance of soft skills and strongly encouraged them to develop and document these skills. I also helped them integrate evidence and examples of their employability (soft) skills and experiences into their resumes and cover letters.
Integrating Soft Skills Synergy into my teaching and advising enabled me to empower hundreds of students to improve their grades and strengthen their resumes.My impact on student success was recognized with numerous teaching and mentoring awards.
When I became Associate Dean for Academic Programs, I was asked to speak to students in a leadership development class. I started jotting down a few ideas to share with the aspiring leaders and soon had several pages of notes.
Those notes, combined with my experience teaching Soft Skills Synergy in my classes, blossomed into a draft for a book that integrated leadership skills, soft skills, and academic success skills to empower teens to succeed in the classroom and on the job.
And after several rounds of refining and honing my content based on input from students, teachers, parents, and employers, I wrote "Success Skills for High School, College, and Career."
But I didn’t stop there. As a Christian, I wanted to create an edition of the book specifically for Christian teens. So, I incorporated scriptural references, Biblical examples, and a Christian theme... to create Success Skills for High School, College, and Career (Christian Edition).
So, thanks to my experiences as a student and professor, I can now help Christian parents empower their teens to get the grades they are capable of getting in high school and prepare them for college and career by providing them with the books, courses, and expert coaching they need to ramp up their success skills.
Not everyone will go from a D to a PhD, but everyone can develop the skills they need to perform at the level of their ability.
As a Christian parent, I understand that having a high school success and college prep plan that lets you equip your teen perform at the level of her ability is a priority for you as a fellow Christian parent.
I understand this challenge very well, and I pledge to help you help your teen succeed in high school and prepare for college, do it with the skill of a pro, and do it without relying on resources that aren't Biblical.
And today, I want to help you get started for free.
I'd like to offer you a free “College and Career Readiness Coaching Strategy Session for Christian Students,” right now.
College and Career Readiness Coaching for Christian Students is a free online coaching session designed to help you enable your teen to explore God’s calling for their education and career and to help them develop a plan to build the skills and experiences they need to succeed in the classroom and on the job.
This offer has a value of $175.00, but you can pick it up at no cost by clicking the Yes! link below:
I look forward to our conversation.
Cary J. Green, PhD, Founder
Skills 4 Students, LLC
