Portrait of a Graduate Blueprints

Portrait of a Graduate (PoG) Blueprints are our criteria for lifelong success. Each classroom has a set of PoG wheels that allow the teacher to hone in on the specific competency being taught and the competency students will demonstrate. In this way, PoG Blueprints support the teacher to include the PoG in their learning targets and demonstrations of learning. In addition, we developed a one-page Blueprint At-At-Glance Chart for quick reference.

Portrait of a Graduate: Competency Wheel Overview (Accessible Text Version)

The Portrait of a Graduate (PoG) competency wheel is a classroom tool designed to help educators and students focus on essential life and career skills. Each wheel highlights one of six Success Criteria aligned to a specific PoG Competency, such as “Creative Problem-Solver.”

Structure of the Wheel

The full set includes 19 individual wheels, each representing a different competency.
Each wheel is bound together with a book ring, allowing them to be hung from a wall hook for easy access and display.
The outer navy ring spins to reveal one of six Success Criteria through a cutout window, helping educators spotlight a specific focus area.

Cutout Window: Today's Focus

A small cutout window at the top of each wheel displays one of six Success Criteria related to the featured competency.
Teachers can rotate the wheel to select a new Success Criteria as the focus for the day or lesson.

Example Success Criteria Shown:
“Approach challenges as curious observers who see past barriers.”

Competency Center Icon

At the center of each wheel is a simple icon representing the PoG Competency.
Example Icon: A constellation of stars, representing creativity and exploration.

Key Components of Each Wheel

PoG Competency Name: Displayed prominently in the center.
Example: Creative Problem-Solver
Disposition: Highlights the mindset or attitude students should demonstrate.
Example: Curiosity and resilience in approaching challenges.
Skill: Describes the ability students will build or practice.
Example: Innovation and design thinking to solve problems.
Competency Definition: A short explanation of the full competency.
Example:
“Students are Creative Problem-Solvers when they approach problems with an entrepreneurial mindset, exhibiting curiosity and innovation while using design thinking to solve complex problems.

Portrait of a Graduate Blueprints (Accessible Text Version)

Competency: Empathetic Collaborator

Definition:
Students are Empathetic Collaborators when they are compassionate, seek to include and connect with others, and foster interdependence while working with others to solve problems or advance causes.

Success Criteria:

Work in pairs or groups to complete a task, solve a problem, or advance a cause.
Actively listen and respectfully communicate while sharing responsibility to complete a task, solve a problem, or advance a cause.
Recognize group members’ assets while engaging in compromise, negotiation, and consensus.
Empathize and build trust in groups to complete a task, solve a problem, or advance a cause.

Competency: Resilient Risk-Taker

Definition:
Students are Resilient Risk-Takers when they are self-aware, persistent, and hopeful future-planners who understand current reality and imagine the way the future could be.

Success Criteria:

Reflect on their past experiences and learning to plan for the future and/or set goals.
Understand that there are multiple paths to reaching goals and make informed and adaptive choices.
Anticipate and recognize obstacles that would impede goals and make plans to overcome or work around them.
Exert themselves in both thought and action to persist through barriers in order to achieve goals.

Competency: Creative Problem-Solver

Definition:
Students are Creative Problem-Solvers when they approach problems with an entrepreneurial mindset, exhibiting curiosity and innovation while using design thinking to solve complex problems.

Success Criteria:

Approach challenges as curious observers who see past barriers by focusing on the future and constructing new opportunities or ideas.
Apply processes to untangle complex problems and get to the root of what needs to be solved.
Use creative approaches or brainstorm new solutions.
Persist through obstacles by staying solution-focused and using “failures” as feedback to refine solutions.

Competency: Agile Thinker

Definition:
Students are Agile Thinkers when they are curious, flexible, critical thinkers who exhibit a growth mindset.

Success Criteria:

Seek novel or varied ideas and perspectives as opportunities for learning, self-reflection, and growth.
Choose courses of action by using convergent and divergent thinking to evaluate and synthesize complex information.
Blaze paths by creating new and/or unconventional ways to look at things.
Respond to setbacks and barriers with persistence and hope.

Competency: Confident Communicator

Definition:
Students are Confident Communicators when they are active listeners who craft clearly understood written and spoken messages in all forms, including digital content.

Success Criteria:

Actively listen to empathize, make connections, and understand differences, ensuring their message is tailored to their audience.
Organize their thinking to craft and refine messages so they are clearly understood by the recipient.
Add value to personal and/or group interactions by communicating honestly, ethically, and with integrity.
Clearly deliver a message with appropriate tone, word choice, form (including digital content), and design for their intended purpose.

Competency: Courageous Leader

Definition:
Students are Courageous Leaders when they demonstrate responsibility to themselves and others, inspire productivity, and put the needs of the community’s greater good first.

Success Criteria:

Commit to the success of others and support the growth of the group.
Build trust and use the strengths of a group for the greater good.
Inspire others to a vision for the greater good and stand for what is right.
Hold themselves accountable to common purposes without the need for external influences.

Woman stands next to an orange Community Foundation Sign — Briggen Wrinkle, Executive Director of The Community Foundation, holds a Blueprint Wheel in summer 2023. The wheels were funded by a generous donation from the foundation.