Summer Volunteering

One of the topics that has come up during many of my junior meetings involved community service and the importance of looking at some additional volunteer opportunities. This is true not only for juniors, but for students of every age. So, I thought I would pass along information we received about a summer only volunteer program for high school students at the Ohio State University Medical Center. Applications to participate in their summer volunteer program are only accepted between March 1st and April 31st. Check out their website for additional information and to download an application if this is something that interests you for this summer.

Interim Reports

Third quarter interims will be ready tomorrow (February 27th) by 3:00pm. You may access your interim grades by logging into eSembler through the Worthington Schools Portal:

Students, you probably know how to access your eSembler grades, but your parents might not and this is a step by step guide that you can share with them.

web site- http://www.worthington-portal.org/
Login- Your e-mail address
Password- Sent to parents earlier (call 883-3130 if you misplaced your password)

Once you are in the Worthington Portal, you will need your student's LAN ID (your student has this ID) to get access to grade information.

After you are logged into the portal click on the circle that says "WS" in the lower left corner, go up to My Account and over to My Grades eSembler. You should then be able to see your grades. For some reason when students have tried to do this on my computer it sometimes comes up as an error, but as soon as they try again it works... probably just something on my computer at school, but I wanted to warn you in case you run into a similar situation.

Should you have questions regarding your interim grades, please talk to your teacher.

Also, a reminder, Parent/Teacher Conferences are on Monday, March 2nd from 5:30-8:50 and Thursday, March 5th from 5:30-8:50. There is no school Friday, March 6th! :-) If parents would like to schedule a parent/ teacher conference appointment, please call the WKHS Counseling office at 883-2590.

And, on a separate note, good luck to the members of the wrestling team that have advanced to Districts this weekend. Good luck to Josh Burton, Tyler Blaine, and Trevor Aebi. I am proud of you!

College News Updates

Today I came across an interesting article on the US News and World Report website from last May regarding recommendations about how students should deal with presenting their depression struggles in their college applications. As you read the article, you will see that there are no easy answers or clear cut guidelines, but it is important to be honest without giving them more information than they need to know. If you are trying to figure out how to walk this line, please come in and talk to me so that I can help you.

The importance of being honest in your college applications was also a topic addressed in another US News and World Report story about how the University of California (which includes 9 different campuses) requires random verification about proof of your activities - work, community service, music, drama, sports, etc. According to the article, this is the only formal program of it's kind in the country. If you are caught lying (cannot provide them with documentation) then your application is automatically rejected.

And last, but not least, the US News and World Report website also has a story about Miami University (OH) and the fact that one of their sororities, Tri Delta, has been suspended for two years for hazing and one of their fraternities, Sigma Nu, has been suspended for two semesters for violating alcohol policies and displaying disorderly conduct. I figured I'd pass it along since it is one of the top colleges for WKHS students.

The Scheduling Process

It has occured to me (through many of your questions) that most students don't really know or understand how the schedule is created. I thought it might be helpful if I give you a quick overview of the scheduling process. (I am saying quick because it is actually boring and is known to cause massive headaches for those trying to put it all together and make it work for every student.)

By now, nearly everyone has selected their classes using the online registration system. (And if you didn't enter in your requests, I am in the process of calling you in individually.) The counselors are meeting one-on-one with juniors. (Thank you to all of the juniors and junior parents who made the time to come in and meet with me. I really enjoyed it and have been thrilled with all the "repeat" visits from the junior students since our meetings.) During these meetings we are reviewing the courses selected for senior year and making certain that all requirements for graduation are being met. I have also started going through all of the registration requests submitted by "my" sophomores and freshman to make certain that the courses selected make sense based upon the previous classes and teacher recommendations. After I finish going through all of the requests I will meet personally with any of you for whom I have questions regarding the courses selected. All of this needs to be finalized, ideally, by the end of this week and officially given to the administration as the "final" registration requests.

I am concerned with how the course selections will play out because of the cuts coming next year. As you may have heard, we are expected to lose 7 teachers. This might not sound like a lot, but when consider that each teacher has 5 classes that means there are 35 sections worth of classes that are not being offered next year that were there this year. Or, to put it another way, that is approximately 850 "seats" that won't be there next year. Why does this matter? Think about when you came in at the beginning of the 1st or 2nd semester asking to make changes to your schedule and how hard it was to find open classes that we could move you into. Now, take away 850 more seats and imagine how hard it will be to make any changes. I am not trying to be full of doom and gloom, but this is simply our reality. It is also why I cannot stress enough the importance of making sure you are confident in your requests.

Once the final requests are submitted by all of the counselors at the end of this month the administration (principal and assistant principals) will look at the numbers for all of the courses selected to determine what, if any, courses do not have enough students signed up to be able to offer the class. After they figure this out they will provide that information back to the counselors with a list of students impacted and we will work with those students and their alternates list to find a suitable replacement course.

The administration will also begin working to determine the total number of sections of each class (for example English 1's) needed to meet the demand. They will then work with computer services to create a schedule that will create the smallest number of conflicts possible. This is a MUCH bigger challenge than most people would imagine. For example, if a class like AP Computer Science is only offered 1 time in the day, then they have to figure out what students want to take that class and try to make sure that the time of day selected to offer the course will not conflict with any other classes - especially any other classes that are only offered once in a day (like Band, Choir, or AP Foreign Languages).

Eventually they will create a schedule and "lock" it in place. When that happens they will then come back to the counselors with a list of all of the kids with conflicts in their schedules. In some cases, we are able to make minor adjustments - move a few classes around and make the schedule work. In other instances, we will have to work with the student to make tough decisions about what classes they do or do not want to take and use the alternates to find other courses that would work and still meet requirements toward graduation.

And that's it - we will ultimately get the schedule set just how we want it and hopefully all of you will pass all of your classes 2nd semester so that we don't have to go back and add anything into your schedule or change classes that you no longer meet the pre-requisites for, but all of those types of changes will happen after the final grades are submitted in June.

I hope that helps you to understand what is going on with the scheduling and registration process. It is a long and tedious process and I appreciate your patience.

OSU Marion Scholarships

Are you applying to the OSU Marion Campus? If so, I wanted to make sure that you are aware that their priority deadline for scholarships is March 2, 2009. And yes, this does include students who will be attending Marion's Delaware Center. Visit the OSU Marion Branch website for more information and to access the scholarship application.

Registering on PrepHQ

I know that some of you have had some challenges in figuring out how to register on PrepHQ. Because it is such an important resource for your college search I wanted to make sure that everyone knows how to register.

When you get to the PrepHQ page (use the link on the right side of this page) you will look at the grey box on the left side of the page. The first aspect you will notice is that it asks for your username and password. That is NOT the area you need in order to register. The username and password section is what you will use to access the system AFTER you have registered.

In order to register, click on the area in the grey box, below the username and password section where it says, "Click Here to Register." It will then pull up a new page that asks for your Last Name and your Student ID number. Your student ID is on your ID card, on your schedule, etc. (If you do not have your student ID number, stop in and see me and we will look it up.)

After you have entered your Last Name and Student ID number you will be asked a series of questions to help personalize the site even more for you.

I hope that helps clear up any problems you are having. If you have already registered and forgot your username and password to access the site, please stop in and see me. I can look up your username and can reset your password for you.

Guys and Dolls

Tonight I went to the opening night production of the WKHS musical, Guys and Dolls. WOW! It was fantastic! I enjoyed it more than I ever imagined and was, once again, blown away by the talent, hard work, and dedication that was on display throughout the entire production. Everyone involved in putting on the musical should be so proud of what you have accomplished. It was long, but so worth it. They have another show tomorrow night (Friday) at 7:30pm and again on Saturday for an afternoon performance (I think it is at 2:30). You should definitely go - it was darling! I have been trying to decide what my favorite part of it was and I honestly don't know because the singing and dancing were all so well done. I even brought my grandma to see the musical with me and she also loved it and was extremely impressed by the show. Congratulations again to everyone involved!

PS - I left my program in my office at school after the show, so I don't want to acknowledge anyone by name because I am worried I will accidentally leave someone else off the list, but I will update this post tomorrow with names and with a picture that the parents of one of my students agreed to send my way so that I can share it with you... (Thanks Cook's!) :-)

What Grade Do You Deserve?

The New York Times has an interesting article today about student's expectations for grades. While the article is talking about grades in college it is applicable and has carry-over to high school grades. I think that part of the stress comes from the fact that as students start college the expectations increase another level. As you work to adjust to this increased work-load, it can be hard not to earn the level of grades you had previously.

I completed the last long day of junior meetings today and while I still have several students to meet up with, it was great to be able to meet with so many of my students and parents together over the past few weeks. Thank you to everyone who made the time to come in and meet!

Congratulations

Congratulations to the WKHS In the Know Team who competed in tonight's championship match-up against St. Charles. Unfortunately, St. Charles ended up on top, but that doesn't diminish how impressive the team has been in their efforts to make it to this point. A special congratulations to Roy Greim and Vivian Chang who are both "my" students and on the team.

I would also like to congratulate and wish good luck to the following members of the swimming and diving teams who are "my" students and successfully competed in Sectionals this weekend to qualify for this coming weekend's District meet.

Swimmers include: Brooke Dahn, Evan Alexander, and Keeler Callahan

Divers include: Jack Doran, Hunter Atha, and Erin Cippichio

(Hopefully that covers all of "my" students but I may have inadvertently missed a few because both the guys and girls swim teams had relays qualify for Districts and I don't know the names of each individual who qualified with the relays.)

Good Luck to all of you and your teammates as you compete in Districts next weekend!

Parent Teacher Conferences

Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on Monday, March 2nd, and Thursday, March 5th. Conferences begin at 5:30pm and run every 20 minutes with the last conferences beginning at 8:30pm. All conferences with teachers are scheduled through the secretaries in the Counseling Center. Appointments can be scheduled beginning tomorrow morning by calling 883-2590. This is a great opportunity for parents to be able to meet with teachers.

Career Center

The Delaware Area Career Center provides a wide range of opportunities for students. Students have the option of attending full time at the career center or just half days for their labs (elective credit only) and then completing their other half of the day at WKHS for their core classes. If you have considered participating in a career center program and would like to make a visit, there will be a second-look day field trip on Thursday, February 19th. Stop in the Counseling Center to pick up a permission slip from Mrs. King.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you had a great day today and that for those of you who attended the dance tonight that you enjoyed it.

I had a great day that included getting together for lunch with friends and a former student - always a special treat for me.

I mentioned earlier this week that OSU extended their deadline to February 16th well, now I have also learned that Columbus State has extended their scholarship application deadline to March 8th. So, if you are planning on applying to Columbus State and would like to apply for a scholarship you still have time to work on your application.

Enjoy the rest of your long weekend!

Socratic Society

Congratulations to the students who were inducted to the Socratic Society on Friday! The Socratic Society is intended to recognize students for outstanding commitment to one or more of the Socratic principles - lifelong learning, integrity, compassion, scholarship, and personal effort.

It was great to watch as 11 of "my" students were inducted into the Socratic Society during a ceremony last Friday. These students included: (L to R - Back Row): Matt Ambrogi, Haley Blanton, Abel Araya, Tori Besser, Jill Brandenburg, and Becca Amato (Front Row): Chris Duann, Alison Miler, Kristin Bond, Gina Badillo, and Tyler Blair

Congratulations to every individual recognized and thank you for the impressive way you carry yourselves each day!

Letter of Intent

Congratulations to Sean Allison who signed his national letter of intent to play football at Chowan University in North Carolina. Sean had his "signing" ceremony after school last Wednesday and he was joined in the signing by another WKHS student, Dan Sprague. Sean was surrounded by his family, coaches, teammates, and friends who attended to show their support and to celebrate this great accomplishment with Sean. Congratulations Sean! We are proud of you! (Sean is pictured above with his parents and his older sister who also happens to be one of "my" former students, Alex.)

Oh My...

Well, it seems the panic of the day is that there were LOTS of students who "forgot" to register online before last night's deadline. Obviously this is not a good situation as you do not want me to randomly pick classes for you! :-) So, it looks like we are going to open the online registration site again on Wednesday morning during the homeroom time period so that any students who have not already registered can rush and get signed up. Please remember that you need to turn in your course recommendation forms (signed by your teachers) and, if applicable, your late arrival or early release authorization forms during the homeroom on Wednesday.

The junior meetings went well today. I am looking forward to catching up with everyone else in the next few days. One more day of junior meetings this week - Thursday.

On a totally different front, I wanted to make sure that everyone had a heads up that OSU has extended their application deadline to February 16th (which is the same day as their FAFSA deadline). They did this to help everyone make sure that all of their materials were submitted and received at OSU because of the snow days at so many districts. OSU also announced today that they are buying the Holiday Inn Hotel on Lane Avenue and turning it into dorm rooms - potentially as early as next fall. (I am linking to the article about this in the Columbus Dispatch.)

Registration Reminder

Hopefully by now all of you have completed your online registration for next year's courses. If you have not, please do it now! Today is the deadline and I am nervous that, because I haven't been at school (or online) to remind you, a large number of my students will have mised the registration deadline. (In case you forgot, register on the portal at http://www.worthington-portal.org/ using your school username and password.)

A couple of last minute course reminders:

- Theater Production is now called Applied English: Stagecraft. It still counts as a general elective credit just like it always did in the past (not an English elective credit.)

- The other 2 theater classes, Theater Art Survey and Theater Rep, are both listed in the course planning handbook in the English area, but they are not English courses - they are general elective credits.

- Also, please remember that there are two new courses in the Project Lead The Way (Engineering) program - Digital Electronics and Civil Engineering and Architecture.

I am back at school tomorrow and looking forward to seeing all of you! I anticipate that it will be a pretty crazy day for me because it is another day of Junior meetings, but I think a large number of the meetings are actually scheduled before school or after school so feel free to stop down if you need anything. (But don't wait to register for your classes - complete the online registration and if I need to fix something later I can do that.)

And finally, I would like to thank you all for your kind words, gestures, thoughts, and support over the past few days. It means more to me than you will ever know.

Rest In Peace

My granddad (Roy Benadum) with my nephew (Cole)

As you may be aware, for the last year and a half my grandfather has been ill. His fight is now over and he is finally at peace. My grandfather has been one of the most influential men in my life and I am grateful that we had so many years together. I will cherish the memories of visiting him as a little girl when he would take us to feed the ducks or entertain us by playing the harmonica or talking like Donald Duck. He had a wonderful sense of humor and while I will always miss him, he will live on in my heart and memories.

I am going to take a few days off from blogging about high school and college topics – I hope you understand. I will be out of school for the rest of this week and when I return on Monday it will be another day packed with Junior meetings, so if you need assistance, please stop in and see one of the other counselors or one of the secretaries. Thanks for being patient with me.

Have a good rest of the week and remember to let your family know how much they mean to you.

Finding Balance

Hopefully you are ready to register for your classes (or have already done so) online. When you are considering which classes you want to take it is really important to try to find a balance. You want to challenge yourself with courses that will push you and help prepare you for the future. At the same time you want to remember that it is high school and you need to be realistic about your expectations of yourself. There is a balance that should be sought - between too many "easy" classes and too many "hard" classes. You know yourself best and what you can handle. So while it may be an honor to have every teacher recommend you for AP classes it doesn't mean that it would be the ideal situation to load your schedule with all AP classes. If you are struggling to find that balance, please talk to your parents about the classes you are considering and stop down to see me so that we can discuss it.

Thanks to the Juniors (and their parents) who came in to meet with me yesterday. Hopefully it wasn't *too* painful. :-) I am looking forward to getting to know you all even better over the next year.

College Goal Sunday

I wanted to be sure that all of my seniors (and your parents) were aware of an event called College Goal Sunday. This is a free workshop where you will have expert help from Ohio college financial aid representatives to complete and submit your FAFSA forms. Ohio College Goal Sunday will be held across the nation on Sunday, February 8th. Sign in starts at 1:30 and the workshop begins at 2:00. There are three locations in Franklin County - DeVry University, OSU, and Westerville North High School. You will be working on the computers and completing the actual online FAFSA forms during these workshops. It is necessary to register before Friday, February 6th. There is a list of information you should bring with you to the event on their website.

Please Plan Ahead

I wanted to give you all a heads up that this week starts the craziness of my individual meetings with every Junior and their parents. Tomorrow I have meetings beginning at 7am and don't end until 9pm. The meetings are scheduled every 30 minutes which means that catching me on these days will be tough. Please try to plan accordingly. There will be a few blocks of time that I am open, but in general, it will be tough to catch me so please leave a detailed note about what you need and how I can best help you. In case you are *really* looking ahead, I have these same types of meetings next Monday the 9th and Thursday the 12th. I will also be scheduling one more day of back to back junior meetings at a date to be determined.

Please don't forget to register online this week!

Online Registration

As you heard during Friday's homeroom, the online registration system for all students currently in grades 9, 10, or 11 to log in and select classes for next year is currently open.

Over the next few days your teachers should be reviewing the different classes offered within their departments as well as talking with you individually about the courses they would recommend for you to take next year. Please be sure to carry your registration materials with you so that you can get your teacher signatures on the course recommendation form and can make any notes about other classes of interest.

After you have determined which courses you would like to take, please talk it over with your parents and then log in and register. You will register on the portal at http://www.worthington-portal.org/ and it will prompt you for your username and password which you should know from school. If you have any problems, using the online registration system, please stop in and let me know so that I can try to fix it.

Remember, your math teachers will have indicated the math course that they are recommending for you to take next year online already so you do not need to add a math class to your selected schedule or it will end up appearing twice giving you too many classes. Also, as you are completing your online registration, don't forget that you can leave me a note in the request comments section. If you change your mind after completing your registration, simply log back in before February 8th and make your changes. After February 8th your course requests will be locked.