College application season is upon us, and many high school students may find themselves overwhelmed by the process, especially when it comes to writing essays.

Local educator Andrea Juskaitis, Sky Blue College and Academic Coaching director, wants to help. Therefore, she is organizing two separate writing workshops which will take place from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, November 2 and Saturday, December 7 at Decode the test office at 762B Prospector Ave. For more information on registration, call 435-640-1981.

The workshops are designed to help college-bound seniors polish their college and supplemental essays for early and consistent decision deadlines.

Students can choose which workshop they want to attend because they will convey essentially the same information, according to Juskaitis.

“Students can submit any level of essay – a very preliminary draft or ideas that have not yet been written into an essay,” she said. “I can also help them come up with ideas because I’m there to help them through the process. »

The workshops will include lots of individual, interactive essay writing, and students will be required to bring their own laptops, Juskaitis said.

“My goal is to see many of these students feel like they have written a polished, final essay at the end of the two-hour session,” she said. “With some, depending on where they were when they arrived, I would like to see them leave the session feeling like they were on the right track and able to finish writing an essay neat. »

Juskaitis charges $50 for two hours, which can be paid via Zelle or Venmo when students arrive for a session.

“If students need more time to work with me, then the $50 will go toward more one-on-one instruction,” she said.

Juskaitis decided to hold these workshops because of impending college application deadlines.

There are different categories of application deadlines: early action and early decision, according to Juskaitis.

Early action requests are non-binding, meaning students are not required to enroll in a college that admitted them, while early decision requests are binding, meaning students must s enroll in college, she said.

The next deadline is Nov. 15, and that’s early action for some schools, Juskaitis said.

“Then there are deadlines on December 1 and December 15, and many of the colleges that these students are applying to ask for one or two additional essays to go along with the main essay,” she said. “Students and parents are already calling me at the last minute, worried about deadlines. They tell me that they feel overwhelmed when asked to write more essays and that they need a little help.

The workshops will take place at Decode the Test, founded by local educator and business owner Rebecca Tibbits.

“Rebecca and I worked together at the winter sports school, and she was specifically interested in exams,” Juskaitis said. “Decode the Test helps students prepare for the SAT and ACT tests.”

Juskaitis is no stranger to working with high school students. She recently completed 29 years of teaching AP Literature and AP Language English.

“I started my career at Park City High School and taught there for 15 years,” she said. “I also worked at a private school in California, where I worked closely with the university’s counseling services on how to write college admissions essays, which are very different from writing an analytical essay. Then I moved to Colorado and did the same thing.

When Juskaitis returned to Park City, she wanted to start her own business, which would allow her to work with students on the college application process.

“I have a lot of advice from the trade and I love supporting students through things like this,” she said. “I want to help them experience joy and feel proud of completing a product that highlights their features and personality. And I want to bring that to the Park City community, and even to the students at South Summit and North Summit high schools, as well as the winter sports school.

Juskaitis’ interest in education began when she first moved to Park City years ago.

“I started coaching the high school girls’ varsity soccer team, and through that I discovered that I loved working and interacting with students,” she said. “Then one day one of the students, a football player, told me I should think about teaching.”

Juskaitis, fresh out of college, decided to try her hand at substitute teaching at the high school and at Treasure Mountain Middle School, which is now Treasure Mountain Junior High.

“I discovered I loved subbing, so I went to Westminster College, which is now the University of Westminster, and qualified as a teacher,” she said. “I also got my master’s degree in education.”

Juskaitis landed a job at Park City High School teaching Spanish.

“I started because I know the language,” she said. “Then I asked to teach English full time and I also taught journalism there. So I had the idea of ​​liking teaching writing by being an English teacher.

Juskaitis, who holds degrees from every college counseling program in the country, still enjoys coaching soccer and she completed one season at Colorado before returning to Park City a few months ago.

“It’s definitely in my blood to be some kind of coach — football coach or writing coach,” she said.

College application writing workshops hosted by Sky Blue College and Academic Coaching

• When: 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday November 2 and Saturday December 7
• Where: Decode testing office at 762B Prospector Ave.
• Cost: $50 per session
• Telephone: 435-640-1981
• Internet: skybluecoaching.com