Safe!

Barely... just in the knick of time... not a moment too soon... We made it! Tomorrow is December 1st and all of the applications that are due by December 1st that were turned in and required recommendation letters are officially DONE! :-) Yeah! I am so relieved. It took all day to get the last letter done and all of the forms completed and I will be driving the four applications that I didn't get turned in before the end of the day to the post office myself tomorrow, but thank goodness they are done! Hopefully you submitted your electronic components today too and are able to sit back and relax... at least until the next deadline.

Don't forget, I am heading to the US Air Force Academy on Sunday and will not return until Thursday evening. I will be back at school Friday morning. While gone I do plan to blog about my trip and whatever else happens to seem appropriate. If I am able, I will also check my work e-mail from Colorado so you can leave a note and I will try to get back to you as soon as I can. I hope you have a nice weekend and a wonderful week!

Cap and Gown Order Reminder

A quick reminder to all seniors... please don't forget that tomorrow (Thursday) is the last day to order your caps, gowns, and announcements without having to pay the $20.00 late charge. Herff Jones will be at WKHS during lunch tomorrow for you to place your order.

Does it seem strange to think that graduation is just 7 months away? Pretty exciting.

Application Overwhelm

Oh my goodness. Wow, have you been busy with college applications - and therefore I am swamped with my portion of the paperwork for all of your applications to each of your colleges. They are moving along. I know some of you are worried about the timing and if everything will be sent on time since so many missed the 10-day window required. I promise I am doing the best I can to turn everything around as quickly as possible. I am confident that all of the applications currently sitting in my office will be mailed by Friday. Don't forget, if you would like to review your application's progress at WKHS you can do this by logging onto PrepHQ. We document when it was received in the office and when it was mailed. As always, if you have any questions, please let me know.

Important Heads Up

I wanted to give you all a heads up about a few upcoming dates that I will NOT be in school and will more than likely not be accessible by e-mail or blog.

This Sunday (December 2nd) I am leaving to spend 5 days at the United States Air Force Academy learning about the service academies, the Air Force, and how to navigate through the nomination/ appointment process with students. I will not be back at school until Friday, December 7th.

A much shorter time away from my office will be tomorrow morning when I will be with the other WKHS counselors at a conference provided by the Ohio Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators to learn about Federal and State Financial Aid related issues. I hope to be back at school sometime during 6th period.

If you know that you are going to need anything during the 1st week of December, please come to see me THIS week so that I can help you in advance. Let me know if you have any questions!

A "Black Weekend"

I have heard of "Black Friday" before, but never "Black Saturday." The Dispatch education blog featured a story about black saturday - the day when high school seniors are forced by parents to spend all day working on college applications and get them completed. I laughed when I read the story wondering how many of you were really locked in your rooms stressed out about trying to finish your college applications. Tonight, as I checked my e-mail, I realized the answer was a TON more than I had expected! :-) Hopefully you finished so you could enjoy today or else it was a black weekened with lots of application work.

Remember, if you are applying by December 1st and have not turned in a transcript release form you need to do this IMMEDIATELY tomorrow! You are already beyond the timeframe for turning in the forms to WKHS and in order to process them on time you need to get them in right away. We will do our very best to get them turned back around in time for the December 1st deadline. Please, do NOT put this off any longer!

So, how was the rest of your Thanksgiving? I hope it was relaxing and enjoyable! I had a great time with my niece and nephew. There are so many things I am thankful for each day and Thanksgiving provided plenty of time to reflect on them... included in my list was all of you. (And no, not just those of you who read the blog every night - although I am glad that this is useful...) Each student that I have the opportunity to work with and to walk alongside during your journey through high school is a blessing to me. I enjoy watching as you learn, grow, change, and mature during high school. I am also so thankful for all of you who make me laugh and bring joy to my day. And I am grateful for the "just because" visits when you drop by just to say hi. So, while it is a few days delayed, please know that I am thankful for you.

The only downside of my entire Thanksgiving break is that I was unable to sleep in at all. Wednesday one of my friends called and woke me up. He forgot we didn't have school and was trying to call early before school started. Thursday I was excited to wake up to play with Carly and Cole who had arrived late the previous night. Friday was the day I officially lost my mind... I H.A.T.E. to shop and I really mean HATE!!! My sister and mom always joke that I become a totally different person when we go shopping because I dislike it so much. (I would much rather just have them do all of my shopping for me and pay them for everything they buy.) So, that is why it is even more insane that I woke up at 4:30 in the morning to go shopping with my sister and my mom. The reality was, if I didn't go with them when they were available and willing to help me shop, I would be totally on my own to shop for Christmas and I *needed* their help. The good news is that we were pretty successful and I have the majority of my shopping done. :-) We also went to see Sesame Street Live on Friday afternoon - did you know everything can be music? :-) It was cute and my niece enjoyed it. (Cole preferred running around out in the concourse area.) Saturday was more travelling to see family and, sadly, today was helping to pack my sister and her family up to head home.

I'm looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow and hearing about your Thanksgiving breaks!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you enjoyed having the day off today.

Just wanted to take a moment and wish each of you a Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you have a great day spending time with your family, eating turkey, watching football, and taking a nap... or whatever your traditions include. :-)

College Admissions Interview

Some colleges require all prospective students to participate in an interview with an admissions counselor or an alumni representative as a component of the application process. If you are looking at a school which requires an interview – don’t panic!

It is important to relax and be yourself. This is your opportunity to shine. Display your personality and allow your interests and passions to be expressed.

In addition to answering their questions, don’t be afraid to ask any questions you have about the school. Be sure to complete some research ahead of time so that you are not asking questions you easily could have found by visiting their website.

If there is anything about yourself that you want to be sure that the admissions representatives understand – unique circumstances, experiences, or special traits that they might not ask about don’t hesitate to offer up this information. This is your one opportunity to actually discuss these areas with a real person. They may have additional questions that you will be able to answer.

And, hopefully it goes without saying, but remember that first impressions are important – so be polite, smile, and arrive on time for your interview!

Looking back... and ahead

I messed up... last week's schedule really threw me for a loop as far as updating the blog and having Friday off meant that Thursday felt like a Friday so I didn't update, then Friday was *really* Friday so I didn't update and here we go -time for a new week and I didn't share the pictures from last week's pep rally.

I don't know if "pep rally" is the *right* term for the assembly, but it did make me laugh. Not a lot of recognition went out to everyone all those who had worked so hard and certainly deserved, but perhaps that wasn't really the point. (Congratulations just the same...) Quite a few of "my" students were participants in the assembly representing their teams or groups. (Left to Right of "my" students - yes you have to skip a few people in between them: Mitch Anglin, John Batchelder, Phil Bunting, Sam Craig, and Hannah Bae.)

Phil was also asked to participate in the "party skit" similar to what you would see on Whose Line is it Anyway show. He did a nice job guessing two or the three accurately.

This week I would guess will be just as challenging to update regularly and my guess is that you will be too busy eating, watching football, and/or shopping to notice. So, how about I just tell you up front that I won't be updating daily over the break?!? Thanks for understanding.

Any senior still trying to hit a December 1st deadline needs to be sure that a completed transcript release form has been turned into Mrs. Hoyt by tomorrow! (Should have been in last week, so please don't delay on this!) If you have a later deadline, but the school wants a counselor recommendation letter and you have not already come in to meet with me you need to see me ASAP!

Looking forward to a 2 day week!

Letter of Intent

Congratulations to Nick Beattie who signed his National Letter of Intent to play lacrosse at the University of Notre Dame next year. His "signing" ceremony was held after school on Thursday and Nick shared some kind remarks, signed the form representing his commitment to play lacrosse for Notre Dame, and everyone then enjoyed cake. It was interesting for me to stand back and think about the fact that the short ceremony and his signature on a single piece of paper actually represent something much more impressive - the years of hard work and dedication Nick has put forth to maximize his abilities. Congratulations Nick! We are all so proud of you and wish you the best at Notre Dame!

College Acceptance

Every senior looks forward to receiving their college acceptance letters. It is an exciting time and reassures that there is more ahead. As you begin receiving your acceptance (or, sadly even rejection) letters, please keep me informed about the decisions. I only know if you share the information with me.

Remember, the only way to receive an acceptance letter is to actually APPLY to the college! OSU is one of the most applied to colleges by WKHS students - just a friendly reminder - their deadline for scholarship consideration is December 3rd. Your entire application packet must be received at OSU by this date. That means that you need to complete your transcript release form and turn it in to Mrs. Hoyt immediately if you are trying to meet the December 3rd date. Don't forget, you also need to include the college prep form and $3.00 when you turn in your transcript release form.

While I do not believe any of "my" students have applied to Michigan State University this year, here is a funny and really *not* funny acceptance story... At Michigan State University, a "data-processing error" misled 597 applicants into believing they had been accepted to the university even though their application was still in processing. Can you imagine if they don't end up getting in after thinking they had been accepted?!? Ouch!

Tomorrow is the last school day of the week! (Just thought I'd leave you on a happy note.) :-)

This Week's Schedule

The next few days we will be on a different bell schedule.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the homeroom bell schedule. Sophomores and Juniors will be meeting in their homerooms - Seniors will have a class meeting in the Auditorium.

Thursday is significantly different... There will be an all-school assembly to honor academic and athletic successes already reached this year. The assembly will be held in the gym between 2nd and 3rd periods. Here is the schedule for the day:

1st period: 7:45 - 8:30
2nd period: 8:35 - 9:20
Assembly 9:30 - 10:00
3rd period: 10:05 - 10:50
Announcements: 10:50 - 10:55
4th period: 11:00 - 11:45
5th period: 11:50 - 12:35
6th period: 12:40 - 1:25
7th period: 1:30 - 2:15
8th period: 2:20 - 3:05

Also, just a reminder - Thursday night are the final night of parent/ teacher conferences and the Delaware Area Career Center Open House for interested students and families.

And, as I am *sure* you are all aware - NO SCHOOL on Friday! :-)

Hopefully you will enjoy the long weekend. For everyone heading out on college visits over the long weekend or during Thanksgiving - don't forget - PLEASE take pictures to share with me! Thanks!

Student of the Month

Last Friday morning 23 WKHS students were honored as November Students of the Month. 7 of these outstanding individuals were “my” students. Adam Bardelang, Kathryn Berkman, Matt Bobson, EB Brennan, Ian Cook, Jenna Cooperider, and Mike Davis were all nominated by staff for their academic achievement, good citizenship and/ or service. This is an honor that students can only receive once during their high school career. Congratulations on your well-deserved recognition! I am proud of you.

(Above is a group shot of all of the honorees who were present for the recognition ceremony. Below are two pictures featuring "my" students.)

Left to Right: Jenna Cooperider, EB Brennan, Kathryn Berkman, Ian Cook, and Mike Davis

Left to Right: Matt Bobson and Adam Bardelang

Life...

I’m in a mood today. Not a bad mood – just… reflective.

As some of you know, my grandfather has been sick for the past few months (although he has been doing much better as of late). So, I have decided that getting old is really overrated and I don’t want to get *so* old that I cannot take care of myself.

On the flip side, today I attended the calling hours for one of my friends who passed away last week. Kyle was 30 years old. He had minor surgery a week and a half ago and ended up with an infection that killed him. Kyle was married and had a 9 month old baby girl. As you can imagine – this was heart-wrenching and tragic.

So, I was also reminded today that I really don’t want to die too young either. Not that I think I have any control over it because I know I don’t, but it is definitely a reminder that life isn’t about the number of years, but rather the life you live in the years you are given.

Last weekend my sister told me about a Professor from Carnegie Mellon University who recently presented his “Last Lecture.” (Evidently this is a series that they ask professors to present on whatever they would want to share if it was their final talk before dying.) The difference with Professor Randy Pausch, is that he really is dying. A 47 year old father of three, he has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Perhaps you have seen/ heard his story – recently he has done several talks on the news and Oprah. You can also view his entire last lecture speech (it is long) or you can link from his website to see some of the other clips that have highlights from his last lecture. I sat and watched the whole thing earlier this week and during the week I often found myself thinking about one of his points... He asked if you are a “Tigger” or an “Eeyore” and it is a good question for any circumstance because our attitude matters.

So, while it is OK for me to be sad that Kyle died – I am thankful that I had the chance to know him and for the memories that I will treasure from the years that he was in my life. I am also thankful that tomorrow is another day – and I will not take it for granted. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Pertussis Vaccine

By now you are all more than aware of the fact that Whooping Cough is making it's way through WKHS. In order to try to stop this from continuing all students are being encouraged to get the Pertussis (which is the real name for Whooping Cough) booster shot. In order to try to make that even easier for you, the vaccine will be provided at WKHS on Wednesday of this coming week. If you are planning on taking advantage of this opportunity, please be sure to have your parents fill out all of the required forms (available on WKHS website) and bring them in Monday so that everything is in place for you to receive the shot.

Field Trip

Today I was able to join many of the Sophomore students on a field trip to the Delaware Area Career Center. This is not the first time I have been up to visit the career center, but I was once again thoroughly impressed by the programs available at the DACC. I went with the group of students to the North Campus and the South Campus. It seemed that the students I spoke to were also impressed by what they saw during the field trip. If you are still thinking about the Career Center as an option, but didn't make the trip today, please consider going to the Open House with your parents later this month.

A special thank you to Alex Carter, one of "my" Sophomores who agreed to be pictured at the DACC during today's visit. (Thank you also to Miss Schwartz for taking the picture.)

Jumping Through Hoops

As the seniors in the Class of 2008 are learning, sometimes there are hoops to jump in order to achieve your goals. In this case, it involves graduation. In order to meet the state minimum requirements for attendance and still graduate on June 1, 2008, the seniors must make up one extra day of school. WKHS and TWHS have determined that this make up day will be held in conjunction with the Leadership Worthington Service Work Day on May 3rd. This day is designated to help clean up Worthington. No attendance will be taken.

Wednesday Writing Workshops

Are you a strong writer? Could your papers for class or essays for college use a little extra help? Ms. Busler, one of the new English teachers, is available to help! Every Wednesday after school until 5:00pm she is available in the WKHS library to give free assistance to ANY students who need some extra writing related help. This is a great resource and I hope you will take advantage of the opportunity.

On a separate note, did you miss me today? The good news is that my voice is finally starting to come back - so hopefully if you stop by to see me tomorrow you will not only be able to see me, but also hear me again. :-) Have a good night.

Report Cards

Today we were told that the report cards will be ready on Wednesday. So, on Wednesday, there will be a walk through home room period where you will head to your homeroom just long enough to pick up your report card and then make your way to class as usual. Don't forget, you really do need to take these home to your parents because if your mom or dad want/ need to set up appointments for parent/ teacher conferences they will want to schedule them ASAP. In case you were curious, parent/ teacher conferences will be next Monday and Thursday nights - the 12th and 15th from 5:30 - 9:00pm. If you are struggling with any classes you might want to consider asking your parents to meet with your teacher. It could help make a difference.

I won't be at school tomorrow, but plan to be back Wednesday. See you then.

College Admissions Video

I hope you had a great weekend. I had a nice time with my family. Today was my birthday so my niece, Carly, woke me up with her singing and breakfast in bed. It was very sweet. Since I have shared some more random updates lately - it is time to pass along some additional college information...Vanderbilt University has created a "Getting Into College: An Insider's Guide" video that features some answers to questions many students and parents have about college admissions.

I hope that there is nothing earth shatteringly revealing in this video that you haven't heard me say already about the college application process, but I do think it provides clear, to the point answers from a college Admissions representative. When we (counselors) go to the different college admissions conferences these are the types of answers they pass along to us as it is what they are considering as they review applications.

Take a few minutes to check it out - it won't be a waste of your time - even if it is just a good reminder.

Weekend Update

Hopefully you are enjoying a relaxing weekend and today’s great weather. I am sure John Batchelder and the Boy’s Soccer team members are disappointed that they didn’t win today, but I am still so proud of all of you!

Speaking of John Batchelder, he is featured as the Dispatch Athlete of the Week in today’s paper.

I had fun with my niece and nephew today – without a doubt the highlight is that Cole (my nephew) can now say my name. Friday while I was at school he picked up one of my shoes from the treadmill and told my sister, “Aunt Bri’s shoe.” Prior to that Cole had not even attempted to say my name… not that I hadn’t tried to teach him. :-) Today he would say it on command. It’s great!

Looking forward to an extra hour of sleep tonight… don’t forget to set your clocks back an hour.

A Few Details

It's already Novemeber and you have officially survived the 1st nine weeks of the school year. Just a reminder, tomorrow is a late start day so you don't start school until 9:30. Enjoy sleeping in... except for the Sophomores - who I will see bright and early for the PLAN test. :-)

For my Juniors and Seniors - I will be busy until at least 11:30 or 12:00 tomorrow administering the PLAN test and then cleaning up after the test... so if you need to see me, please plan to stop by in the afternoon.

As promised last night, here are two pictures of my adorable niece and nephew. Carly dressed up as a "beautiful long blonde haired pink princess" and Cole was Superman. They are coming to town tonight and I am anxiously awaiting their arrival. Although, since I have no voice, I am not sure that I will be all that much fun.