Yes, Your Teen Can Succeed in High School & Beyond
When It Comes to Your Teen’s Future, Don’t Take No For an Answer
Ali Sims gets it. As a teacher and the mother of two uniquely wired kids, she’s seen firsthand which families get the support they need from the school system — and which get left to figure it out alone. In this book, she distills her most effective strategies into a simple 7-step framework built for the high school years.
Discover how to:
- Get the extra support your uniquely-wired teen needs
- Reign in the negative influence of peers, especially social media
- Maintain positive relationships with teachers, staff, and administrators
- Deal effectively with bullying
- Prepare confidently for what comes after graduation, whether it’s career, college, or beyond
This book will leave you feeling empowered and equipped to help your teen not just survive high school, but graduate ready for whatever’s next. You have more influence over this journey than you think — and the right strategy will make all the difference.
About Ali Sims
As the oldest of five children, Ali Sims enjoyed “playing school” with her younger siblings. She was always the teacher. Ali assumed that the teaching profession was where she would land after she grew up.
But instead, after graduating from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu with a bachelor’s degree in English, Ali began working in the broadcast media and advertising business back on the mainland. Ali was a part of many large advertising and marketing campaigns involving international companies. She was based in Los Angeles and later in San Francisco.
She also spent much time working on projects in New York City. Later she held positions in the real estate and construction industries.
Her last corporate position was in management at a Fortune 500 company. The job was high paying, but the hours were grueling. She began to feel ready for a career that had more meaning for her and offered better work and family life balance.
During that time of pondering, Ali came across an article that discussed how a high percentage of people serving time in prison could not read and write effectively. She wanted to do something to be a small part of the solution to a terrible problem. Ali also felt that her “real world” experience might make her an asset to her students in the classroom. She decided to go into teaching mid-career.
Ali earned three teaching credentials—one for elementary, one for secondary (7 th -12 th), and one single-subject secondary credential for teaching English. Concurrently, she completed her master’s degree in education, at the University of Phoenix, in curriculum and instruction.
Ali’s first teaching position was teaching in one of the largest school districts in the country. While receiving her initial training there, she began to learn about “the system.” Later, she taught in a medium-sized suburban district which further gave her a window into the workings of a smaller-sized district. The similarities between the school district structure and the business environment (regarding operations) surprised Ali. She also observed how many parents struggled with dealing effectively with the school system which is not particularly accessible or welcoming.
Then Ali and her husband became the parents of two uniquely-wired kids. While teaching, Ali had to continuously research and hunt down resources for her children’s needs, beginning at preschool age. Ali began to appreciate further the challenges her students’ parents faced when dealing with the system.
Eventually, Ali wanted to “write the book series I wish was around when I was going through the K-12 school system.” And so, High School Success for the Uniquely-Wired Teen was written.