Halima Ramsey has perfected her juggling act. At 16-years-old, she has found a way to successfully balance a heavy course load at her college prep high school, a position on her school’s basketball team and an active role in her church youth group.

Having a busy schedule is as much a part of a modern high school student’s life as homework. Help your students get a handle on their schedules with these helpful organization tips.

Learn to prioritize
Students, parents, teachers and school administrators have very different standards about what counts as a priority. A star basketball player would no doubt count practice as a top priority. But with parents and teachers, homework would more than likely take the top priority spot over sports. Help your students and their parents reach a common ground as they prioritize all the things begging for a busy student’s attention. Because school is the most important, school work must come first. Show students techniques to help them plan their study time to ensure all projects, papers and tests are covered.

It’s important for high school students to live well-balanced lives, so after school is taken care of, sports, clubs, organizations, volunteer work, after-school jobs, church activities and other things can be prioritized according to the time commitment they require.

Make use of a planner
“I’ve seen some kids as young as second or third grade use planners … the very elementary planners,” said Richard Bavaria, vice president of education at Sylvan Learning Center. “Letting kids see that a planner can help them get their projects done and organize their time at home can be very helpful.”

With so many school districts providing each student in middle and high school with customized planners, this is almost an automatic step toward organization.

Time management is a must
Time management is a skill many adults have not mastered. The earlier students learn it the better. The time management skills high school students employ now will aid them in college when courses are more demanding and there are more things pulling for their attention. There are many books out there that offer suggestions to help high school students master time management. Consider offering them in your counseling center library or resource area.

Starting school off on the right foot means an enjoyable school year for students, teachers and parents. Organization is the first step to making that happen.