Free Parent Workshops · Fall 2026 · Live on Zoom
One evening can change what college costs your family.
There are three free workshops this fall, one for each stage, and the founders of the Foundation Framework teach all three live. That framework has produced over $1,000,000 in funded education and 75+ scholarships, proven first with students of our own.
We sell no recordings and attach no strings. Come with your questions and leave with a plan.
Every session runs on a Thursday evening at 6:00 PM on Zoom and finishes by about 7:15, so it fits a school night. Your Zoom link arrives by email when you register, and Kim stays on afterward to answer individual questions.
Rescheduled to Thursday, October 8 · 6:00 PM · Zoom
Senior Boot Camp
Your Senior Year College Application Survival Guide
For parents of current seniors, the Class of 2027. If application season already feels overwhelming, or you suspect you are missing something, this is the 75 minutes that catches you up.
What you will walk away understanding
- The four ways college gets paid for. We put need-based financial aid, merit scholarships, honors colleges, and community college honors pathways side by side in plain language, so you can see which ones apply to your family.
- Why “we make too much for aid” is only the beginning of the story. Merit scholarships do not ask about your income, and that is where our own students earned most of their 75+ awards.
- The honors programs most Clovis families have never heard of. The Smittcamp Family Honors College at Fresno State carries full-ride benefits and has its own application and deadline, and it was Alexander’s path. The Lyles College of Engineering Honors Program was Kelsey’s, where she earned a fully funded B.S. in Cybersecurity and Information Systems as a special major. Special majors like hers are degree paths most families never learn exist, and we will show you how to find them.
- The community college honors strategy. Honors programs combined with transfer agreements can produce a nearly free bachelor’s degree when a family plans for it on purpose.
- The three overlapping deadline seasons. College applications, scholarships, and summer programs run on different calendars, and families who treat them as one season leave money unclaimed.
- The Common App, the UC application, and Cal State Apply. We explain how the three systems differ, what each one requires, and how to run a single calendar across all of them.
- A month-by-month senior year timeline. You will know what happens from September through May, and why the essays get written in September.
- How to get recommendation letters that stand out. We cover who to ask, how to ask, and the brag-sheet method Kelsey used.
- The mistakes that cost families real money. That includes the deadline seniors hit while missing the one that mattered more.
You will leave with a clear picture of every funding pathway open to your senior, a season-by-season calendar, and answers to your own questions. Essay review opens that night. Early-action deadlines fall on November 1, which means the essays get written now.
Thursday, September 24 · 6:00 PM · Zoom
Parent Academy: Grades 10–11
Positioning for College Success
For parents of sophomores and juniors. You know college is coming and you would rather plan than scramble. This session shows you what to do in the next 12 to 24 months, while there is still time for it to count.
What you will walk away understanding
- Why the scholarship strategy starts in 9th grade. The record that committees evaluate has been building since freshman year, and this session shows you what is still open and what needs attention now.
- Math placement and what it decides. Where your student sits in the math sequence today determines whether calculus is available senior year, which in turn affects STEM scholarship eligibility. We also cover the correction options for a student who is behind.
- Course selection that scholarships reward. We cover rigor against GPA, the A–G requirements for UC and CSU eligibility, and when AP or dual enrollment helps rather than backfires.
- Testing in a test-blind world. UC and CSU no longer look at scores. We explain what that changes, what it does not, and when testing is still worth your student’s time.
- Interest exploration done right. You will learn how to help your student focus what they have already sampled and connect those interests to courses and possible majors. The parent’s job here is exposure.
- Why character comes before credentials. This is the approach behind our own students’ records, and scholarship committees fund who a student is becoming.
- Building a résumé that stands out. Depth beats breadth. We cover leadership that progresses and community service with a through-line, and our own students’ 3,000+ and 2,500+ hours told a single story.
- Starting the college list now. We cover likely, target, and reach schools, treating cost as a first-class criterion, plus the honors colleges and merit-generous schools that belong on the list.
- The grade-by-grade roadmap through graduation. You will see semester-by-semester milestones from now through senior spring, including the junior-year preparation that prevents the senior-fall scramble.
You will leave with a clear picture of what the next four semesters should accomplish and the specific decisions due this year. You will also get first access to the interest list for Foundation Family, our membership launching in January 2027, and a preview of CaT for Girls, our computing courses for girls in grades 7 through 12.
Thursday, November 5 · 6:00 PM · Zoom
Parent Academy: Grades 7–9
Building the Foundation
For parents of 7th, 8th, and 9th graders. Almost no one talks to families at this stage, which is exactly why it is the highest-leverage moment. The scholarships awarded in 12th grade are earned starting now.
What you will walk away understanding
- Why 7th through 9th grade is when it actually starts. Course placement in middle school determines what is even possible in high school, and habits built now compound in a way an 11th-grade scramble never can.
- The math decision hiding in 8th grade. One placement choice ripples into calculus access, STEM eligibility, and scholarship qualification years later.
- Choosing courses strategically. We cover world language timing and the electives that open doors, including the CTE academies and robotics our own students took at Buchanan, and how to work with a counselor on a real four-year plan.
- Exploring interests without pressure. Students sample widely in 7th and 8th grade and begin to focus in 9th. Genuine interest beats strategic box-checking every time.
- Character and leadership as the root system. This is the approach we used with our own students from these exact grades. Scholarship committees fund character, and service that starts small grows into something they notice.
- Activities that matter, and the ones that do not. We cover depth over breadth from the start, the four-year activity arc, when it is fine to quit something, and how to avoid the over-scheduled 8th grader.
- The long-term roadmap. You will see what a grade-by-grade plan from 7th through 12th looks like and the milestones for each year. Families with a plan spend less and worry less than families who start in 11th grade.
- The early mistakes to avoid. The most common one is coasting through 9th grade because it supposedly does not count. It counts.
You will leave with a realistic picture of what these years should build and the specific placement decisions on your doorstep. You will also get first access to the interest lists for Foundation Family and for CaT for Girls, our six-week computing courses for girls in grades 7 through 12. Both programs launch in January 2027.
Who is teaching? Foundation Scholarship Services LLC was co-founded by Kim Ewing, M.S., M.S.W., a former principal, school psychologist, and special education director. Her co-founder is Kelsey Ewing, M.S., a Clovis Unified graduate and cybersecurity professional. Kelsey earned 40+ scholarships and, thanks to merit awards, graduated debt-free with a B.S. in Cybersecurity and Information Systems from Fresno State’s Lyles College of Engineering Honors Program and an M.S. in Cybersecurity. Every Foundation Scholarship service teaches the same Foundation Framework, which has produced over $1,000,000 in funded education and 75+ scholarships. When you join a workshop, you are hearing it from the two people who built it.
Building Character. Cultivating Scholarship. Creating Opportunity.