Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I hope you are enjoying your weekend. It started out on a high with beautiful weather for last night's football game. (Well, beautiful until half way through senior tackle at least...)

Congratulations to the senior football players - Tyler Boggs, Weston Bridges, Will Campbell, and Jason Cunningham on the victory over Thomas. What a wonderful way to wrap up your high school football career! Congratulations also to senior cheerleaders, Emma Ellis and Jordan Ellwood.

In honor of all the little kids who are dressing up for halloween and to celebrate Worthington Kilbourne's victory over Thomas I think the picture of Lobo with the cardinal in his mouth is pretty appropriate. After all, as Coach Trombetti shared at the pep rally, this was really a victory for the student body and school and not just for the football team.

And, of course, no halloween post would be complete if it didn't have my adorable niece and nephew... :-) Carly dressed up in a kimono as a Japanese girl. She has been planning this costume since early in the summer when she picked out the fabric and had my mom make the costume for her. Cole was going back and forth on what he wanted to be and he finally decided on being a Fireman. (Although he insists he is not a fireman he is a fire TRUCK, but whatever...) Since my sister and her family live out in the country, trick or treat where they live is actually called "Trick or Trunk" because everyone drives to a church in the middle of town and then the kids trick or treat to the trunks of all of the cars instead of trying to go door to door. Below is a picture of Carly and Cole:

WKHS School Spirit

Tomorrow is the final home football game of the season and is a battle of Worthington with WKHS taking on TWHS. To build the excitement for tomorrow night's game, we will be on a modified schedule and end the day with a pep rally.

For those who are interested, here is the bell schedule for tomorrow:

1st Period: 7:45 - 8:30

2nd Period: 8:35 - 9:20

3rd Period: 9:25 - 10:10

News: 10:10 - 10:18

4th Period: 10:23 - 11:08

5th Period: 11:13 - 11:58

6th Period: 12:03 - 12:48

7th Period: 12:53 - 1:38

8th Period: 1:44 - 2:28

Pep Assembly: 2:38 - 3:05

Good luck to all of the seniors who will be taking the field for the final time tomorrow night! Let's hope for a victory for the wolves and dry weather! :-)

FYI, tomorrow is also the last day to register for December's SAT if that is something that you were planning on taking.

What I Learned

Tonight I had the chance to go to see the Columbus BlueJackets game which was a lot of fun. They had a meeting for counselors and then gave us tickets to attend the game - which was very nice of them! It was the first time I have been to a CBJ game and the first time I have been to any hockey games outside of Kilbourne hockey. Wow... they are crazy fast and make amazing passes. It was fun to see professional hockey and to enjoy the atmosphere of the game. Yet, as I sat there watching the game, I was thinking about what it is about high school sports that I like better than professional sports and I realized it is the fact that I *KNOW* you. I enjoy watching high school sports because I like to watch you play - I care more about the person wearing the uniform than I do for the wins/ losses or the particularly impressive plays. So, while I will look forward to going to another CBJ game in the future, I will also look forward to Friday night's football game and the upcoming start of winter sports.

Thanks to all of the freshmen and sophomores who took the PLAN test today! After the PSAT and PLAN tests both being administered in the last two weeks I have to say that I learned a few things there too... You should bring regular pencils - NOT mechanical pencils! Wear a watch. Dress in layers. (It was so cold in the gym this morning, but I remember last year's PSAT was unbelievably hot so you never really know what to expect.) Bring a calculator. It's interesting, my guess is that most of those reminders - except maybe the dressing in layers part were probably on the reminder sheets, but it is true. Hope it helps you when you test again in the future.

PrepHQ and the College Search

Last month I talked about the importance of searching for a college by looking inside and finding the characteristics that you are personally seeking, but as I have been trying to find seniors to discuss which colleges you are considering, I raelized that some practical advice might help you.

If you have not already logged in and started exploring PrepHQ and the wealth of knowledge that is available to you on this website… please stop reading this now and register for PrepHQ. (Click on the area that says "Click here to Register" in the grey box. You will need your student ID number to get started. Then simply answer the questions and follow the directions to create your own username and password.)

OK, now that everyone has registered… let’s talk about one of the areas of PrepHQ that can be very useful for students and parents – the College Search component. When you are logged into the system you will see a menu of choices on the left side of the screen – click on “Colleges.”

This takes you to a page that features the upcoming college visits to WKHS (you can register to attend one by clicking in the area where it says “sign up” and then downloading a pass from the Shared Files area to have your teacher sign granting you permission to miss class so that you can attend the college meeting.) There is also a quick link section to the top 20 colleges WKHS students have applied to in the past. And you will find the “College Search” area.

In the College Search area you have a few choices. You can type in the name of a particular school that you are interested in learning more about or you can click on the green “Go to Search” bar to look for schools that would match your interests. If you decide to complete a search you will have three different areas of more specific information to enter in order to come up with the colleges are similar to what you are hoping to find.

When you find a school that you are interested in learning more about you can click on the name of the school and it will pull up a College Detail screen that provides a more detailed overview of the school. Some of the components featured includes the percent of people admitted, the average high school GPA, average test scores, costs, size, location, majors available, and sports offered. You can also review the total number of students and the percent of freshman that return each year. In the top right hand corner of the College Details page there is also a direct link to the college websites so that you can gather additional information about the potential school.

If the school is one that you want to keep on your radar or one to whom you will be applying, you can click on the “Add to My College List” bar in order to keep it in your “My Organizer” area for future reference.

Please keep your college list current in PrepHQ. When we have scholarships or colleges arrange to come to WKHS for a visit, we look at the list of students who have expressed an interest in that particular school to decide if any of those individuals meet the eligibility requirements for different scholarships.

Important Deadline Reminders

It feels like there are so many dates and deadlines that continue to rush up so I figured it might help to give you a few reminders...

- All Sophomores and any freshmen interested in taking the PLAN test should have registered today, but we will accept additional registrations tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. Please be sure to bring your $10.00 to one of the secretaries first thing in the morning to get registered.

- Wednesday is a Late Start Day for students. All of the students taking the PLAN test will need to arrive at school (via your own transporation) at 7:30am.

- Wednesday is also the deadline for students to submit their permission slips if interested in participating in the field trip (on November 12th) to the Delaware Area Career Center. Please see Mrs. King in the Counseling Center if you lost your permission slip.

- This week is OGT retake week for all of the Juniors and Seniors who have not taken or passed one or more sections of the OGT. You should have received a registration slip telling you where you will be taking your test. Please make sure that you take the test as scheduled!

- Seniors who have college application deadlines of November 1st should have already submitted the transcript release forms. If you have not yet done so and you have a school that you are hoping will have your materials by November 1st, please complete a transcript release form and turn it in with your $2.00 right away.

Parent Teacher Conferences

Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on Monday, November 9th, and Thursday, November 12th. 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.

One other reminder, all sophomores and any interested freshman should sign up by tomorrow with the secretaries in the Counseling Center to take the PLAN test on Wednesday morning. The cost is $10.00.

Oh The Places You'll Go

Outside of my office I have (finally) updated the new "Oh, The Places You'll Go" display featuring pictures of students on their college visits. I am thrilled with the pictures I have received already, but I also know that many of you have recently taken or are soon planning college visits and I hope you will take a moment to capture a picture of you somewhere on the college campus. As a reminder, the picture can be anywhere at the college - a pretty place, in front of a cool building or an area where you expect to spend a lot of time, or, as seems to be the biggest hit - in front of a sign featuring the name of the college.

Will Campbell gets the recognition for giving me the first picture for the class of 2010. (Ohio State)
Jack Borden gets the recognition for giving me the picture from the college from the greatest distance from WKHS. (Southern Methodist University)
Will Campbell also gets the recognition for giving me the most pictures to date. (5 colleges) - FYI, this was a close one as two students have 4 college pictures displayed and both have assured me that more pictures are coming soon.

Amy Bluem gets my vote for most creative picture. (Kent State) - Come see the pictures to find out why her picture is unique.

So far it appears that Wisconsin is the "most visited" school with 3 pictures provided by Jason Cunningham, Julie Ecker, and Haley Bogatay.

Thanks again to everyone that has helped me with this project by taking pictures! There is still a lot of white space to fill up, so please continue taking pictures - I love seeing them when you bring them back and hearing more about your visit to the school!

News Links

I follow a *lot* of blogs - particularly those related to school counseling, education, and college. (Thank goodness for Google Reader as it saves me tons of time!) I keep saving links to posts that I think would interest you and had grand intentions of writing notes about all these different topics, but there are just too many so here are a few you might enjoy reading:

College Costs Keep Rising

Number-Crunching The Effects of Student Loans

Confronting an Avalanche of Mail from Colleges

Make your Work Rock and Get Your Creative Juices Flowing

Treating a College Admissions Essay Like a First Date

How to Prioritize

Secrets of Student Success

The How NOT to Study Guide

Checking it Out: Does Music Interfere with Studying

Stressed About College Applications

The Elusive First Line of the College Essay

Out of State Dreams

Application Essay Tip: Generic-itis Prevention

Application Essay Tip: Story Time (Part 2)

Treat Your Extra Curriculars Like Your Major

Five Mistakes To Beat... Before They Beat You

OSU is Bursting at Seams

And just for parents:

School Volunteer Jobs that Most Help your Kids
How much should you tell your kids and should you ever LIE for them?

Also, one quick update for planning ahead... I will be out of the building on Friday afternoon for a meeting. So, if you need anything this week, please plan on stopping in before 11:00 on Friday morning.

PLAN Test

Attention Sophomores (and any interested Freshmen):

PLAN Test Date: October 28, 2009
Location: WKHS
Time: 7:30 – 11:00am (but you must arrive before 7:30 to sign in)
Cost: $10.00 (checks payable to WKHS)

The PLAN Test is the practice test for the ACT. This test is not an option for juniors so it is very important to take it during your sophomore year. You can register now in the Counseling and Career Center.

The content of the PLAN test is closely tied to that of the ACT achievement test, which is used for college entrance and placement decisions. It covers the same subjects and gives you estimated ACT scores. This test is only a practice test; therefore, it will not appear on your transcript.

The PLAN test has many benefits. It can help you get started in thinking and planning for life after high school. It will show you areas you may need extra help. The results can also be used to help focus your test preparation to improve your ACT scores. In my opinion, the MOST valuable aspect is that the PLAN test is that it includes a career component that helps identify career interests and possible career fields. The number of students who have no idea what they might want to do some day is scary and this is one way to help come up with some ideas.

It is important to note that this test is being offered during the Late Start Day. This means that you will need to arrive at school at the regularly scheduled time via your own transportation as busses will be following the late start schedule. In addition to the late start time, you will miss the first few classes of the late-start day.

Teacher Recommendations

Have you started looking at your college applications to see if they are going to require one or more teacher recommendation letters? Some schools will require it and some will not. OSU, for example, does NOT require any recommendation letters. (Can you blame them? Imagine trying to read 22,000 recommendation letters on top of the applications and essays that they receive.) The University of Michigan, on the other hand, will require a teacher recommendation. If you are having problems determining if the colleges you are considering require recommendation letters – just stop down to see me and I can try to help you figure it out.

If you do need a teacher recommendation letter, give some thought ahead of time to who you would like to ask for the recommendation. Look at the requirements specified by the school – are they open to coaches or advisors writing letters or do they want them to come from academic teachers? If they require that the letters come from teachers, can they be from any subject area or are they only open to the core subjects of English, math, science, and social studies? Are you looking at a career in a specific area that a teacher at WKHS can write about your strengths in that field? For example, if you are considering majoring in Spanish perhaps a recommendation letter from one of your Spanish teachers would be appropriate. What teachers know you best? Who can speak to your work ethic and classroom contributions? If more than one teacher recommendation letters are required, it is often ideal to show your strengths across multiple subjects, so if you have a few teachers to pick from and 2 are math and 1 is science perhaps it would be beneficial to ask 1 math and 1 science teacher rather than the 2 math teachers simply to show that diversity. Remember, in recommendation letters from teachers the colleges are asking for information about you as a student and your potential for handling the academic rigors of college.

Once you have figured out the teacher or teachers that you want to ask for a recommendation (if needed) it is then time to ASK them if they are willing to write a letter for you. It is really important to be reasonable in the amount of time that you are allowing them to have to write your letter. (Think 30 days or more!) They are very busy with their classroom work and grading homework and papers and of course life in general and many teachers are often bombarded by students requesting recommendations. If a teacher is unable to write a recommendation letter for you – either because they don’t feel that they know you well enough to write a strong letter or because they have too much on their plate, don’t take it personally, simply ask another teacher. You will be thankful that you didn’t force them to write the letter because it wouldn’t be as solid of a recommendation letter if they were rushed or only had vague highlights to discuss.

In the Senior Information Drawer in the Counseling and Career Center and in the Shared Files area on PrepHQ we have forms you can use to ask your teachers to write a recommendation for you . It is also helpful to provide a resume or the type of information which is frequently seen on a resume to your teachers. (To make this easier, we have a recommendation information sheet on the back of the recommendation request form mentioned above.) It is also really important to specify the number of letters that you need, for which schools, and to provide envelopes as well as any forms required by the schools for the teachers to complete. (For example, some colleges will have a separate form for the teachers to complete in addition to their recommendation letter.) If you are applying using the Common Application you will need to "invite" your teacher to write you a recommendation on their website and they can elect to submitting the recommendation electronically. If they prefer to recommend using paper, offline, then you will have a two-page form that you need to download and provide to them.

Once your teacher has completed his/ her recommendation letter they will either give it directly to me to add into your application packet when we mail it or they will give it to you to bring to me. You are the one ultimately responsible for making sure that the recommendation letter is submitted to me, so if you are unsure if your teacher has provided me with the letter, stop down to see me.

There is one other important point that I need to make sure you are aware of - do NOT ask teachers for a recommendation letter if the colleges where you are applying do not require a letter. Writing recommendation letters requires a great deal of time. Do not waste your teacher's time by having them write letters that are not necessary. Some students have asked if they should ask multiple teachers to write letters even though only one was required and the answer is NO! If your teachers agree to write a letter on your behalf, you should feel confident that they will write a solid recommendation. I also recommend that you waive your rights to seeing their letter.

And finally, please do not forget to write your teachers a thank you note expressing gratitude that they took the time to go above and beyond by writing a letter of recommendation for you.

College Essays

Writing a college essay is the most time consuming part of the college application – it can be a frustrating, challenging process, but this is your opportunity to put your best foot forward and show the colleges what makes you special. Ideally the college admissions and scholarship officers will learn something about you and see how well you write.

When colleges review your application they can read things like your grade point and test scores, but they still want to know more about YOU – the person behind those grades, scores, and activities. It is important to remember that your essay will be one of hundreds or more-likely thousands that the admissions committee members will read. (Can you imagine reading all of those?!?) Try to interest them in what you have to say and be sure that it is written well so that it will hopefully stand out. Think of this as your opportunity to introduce yourself to the admissions and scholarship officers reading your application. Be open, honest and real.

When you have to write an essay you need to keep a few important points in mind:

1. Answer the question!
When they give you a prompt or question – be sure that your essay is answering what they are asking! These are smart people – they know when you are just trying to take a different essay and trying to make it fit for their question. Put in the time to write an essay that answers what they are asking. Also, be sure that you respond to all parts of the prompt.

2. Show me – Don’t tell me.
Great, so you told me that you are organized and honest… good qualities for their future college students, but are you demonstrating that to them with your essay? Show them what you mean – that will usually be specific, concrete stories or examples to illustrate your point.

3. Did I learn something about you?
The whole point of these essays is so that the college admissions officers will learn something new about you. (And trust me, they are learning something about you – even if that lesson is that you didn’t care enough about getting into school to pay attention to details like spelling.) So, step back and look at your essay again – did they learn something about you that they wouldn’t have known prior to reading your essay?

Let me assure you – they really do read the essays! Don’t think you can just throw something down on paper and have it be “good enough.” These are formal essays for an application to a college that will be the launching ground for the rest of your life. I know that it is intimidating, but relax and start writing – and editing – and then do some more writing and editing… One of the biggest challenges as you write your essay is controlling the tone. You want to come across as confident but not boastful, self-assured but not aggressive, accomplished but not perfect. Try to avoid claiming that everything you've ever done has been unbelievably great. Don't be afraid to admit that you are human. Colleges want real, interesting people. Because it's so hard to control the tone of an essay about yourself, you will want to ask several people – teachers, friends, your parents, or even me – to read and respond to your essay. Get a variety of reactions, and then decide how you want to revise the essay. Remember, when getting help with essay revisions it is important to go into it with the thought that you want to get revisions so it can be the best possible essay (instead of going in hoping the editors will just say – good enough.) And yes, that also means you can’t procrastinate and put it off until the last possible second. :-)

There is a ton of information and resources available online to help you in writing your essays. Here is some additional college essay writing information that I really liked and copied from another high school counseling website:

PICKING THE TOPIC
More than likely, if you look at all of the essay prompts you are going to find that they all contain the word “you.” For example, they may ask you to write about a significant experience in your life. No matter what you choose to write about, the essay should say something about who you are, what you value, how you think, and/or what you hope to accomplish. As you search for a suitable topic, be sure to think about the relationship between YOU and the experience, issue, or person.

Be creative. Don't make the mistake of adding one more routine essay to the pile. Many topics that jump to your mind may also jump to the minds of thousands of others applying to college this year. Instead, explore a new angle. Explain how you are different from everybody else, or investigate an unusual opinion.Don't be afraid of controversy. If you have strong opinions about your topic, let them be known. It's probably a mistake to say what you think your readers want to hear just to keep from offending them. Instead, write what you believe. Admission officers often welcome strong opinions, especially if convincing facts and examples support the ideas.

Remember all the times your English teachers have said, "You write best about what interests you most?" Take their advice. Find a topic that excites you, one about which you have strong feelings. If you bring genuine interest to your writing, your readers will find it interesting as well.

COMPOSING THE ESSAY

Your English teachers have given you other good pieces of advice to remember too. Show your topic, don't just tell about it. Use vivid examples. Describe the scene or the person with sharp nouns and active verbs, using details that will invoke the senses. How did it look? feel? smell? sound? What, exactly, did the person say? Don't just tell your reader that "Uncle Henry was odd." Show us his collection of paper clips and his pet slug, Seymour. Don't just say you've been involved in "various leadership positions." Show us how you talked the school board into changing the study hall policy and how you turned the annual church youth group chicken BBQ from a poorly attended, money losing embarrassment into a standing-room-only, budget-busting, finger-licking success.

REVISING THE ESSAY

After you've finished a draft, take a break-a couple of days if you can-before you begin to revise. You need to take a fresh look at the essay. Does it reveal who you are? Does it represent your best academic ability? Does it sound like you? Be sure to examine the overall structure of the essay. Does it make a stunning point at the beginning and then fizzle, or does it steadily build in interest and intensity? Have you made clear the relationship between your ideas? Is the essay well organized?The essay needs to read smoothly. As you revise and refine the piece, be sure that it has an attractive introduction, carefully crafted body paragraphs, and a confident conclusion. Look for clear transitions between paragraphs, and try to vary sentence length and structure. Pay careful attention to the verbs of each sentence. They should be active rather than passive (not "A decision was made," but "I decided") and should give your reader a clear picture of you in action. Although the essay needs to be personal, you shouldn't overuse the pronoun "I." Use it, of course, but don't start every sentence of the essay with it. Sometimes putting another word in the subject position of the sentence will help. (Compare: "I cut lawns every summer during high school, and I learned a lot." "My lawn care business taught me to work hard, to manage my time and my money, and to communicate well with my customers.")

TARGET: PERFECTION

If you ever write an error-free essay, this needs to be it. Grammatical and mechanical errors may ruin the entire application. Ask a knowledgeable person to help you proofread, and be sure that you type it carefully or-if the application insists-write it neatly by hand. Don't let careless last-minute flaws keep you out of the college you want to attend.

Please Vote

I believe that everyone living in the Worthington School District has probably heard about the fact that there is a school levy on the ballot for November's election. The levy is essential for our schools to continue functioning in an effective manner for all current and future students. Now, I realize that the majority of the students reading this blog are under 18, so this post is really more of a reminder to encourage your parents and your extended family and friends who live in the district to vote in support of Issue 49. Obviously, for all of the students over 18, hopefully you have already registered to vote so that you can have a say in the future of the schools.

I know life can get busy making it difficult to find time to vote on election day (November 3rd). In case it would make things easier, here is a link to request an absentee ballot. If you plan to vote absentee, the absentee application must be received at the Franklin County Board of Elections by noon on October 30th. They will then mail you your absentee ballot so that you can vote.

If you are voting in person or absentee, the Worthington Schools levy is Issue 49 (the last issue on the ballot) so make sure you go all the way to the end so that you can vote for the school levy.

Some reminders about Early Voting/Absentee Ballots

- Anyone can request an absentee ballot for any reason and you can have it sent to wherever you are living now, even if you are living abroad or are in the military. The address at which you are registered to vote should be your permanent address to which you plan to return if you are temporarily living somewhere else, such as at college, an internship, a short-term temporary job, etc.

- Your absentee ballot request must be received at the Franklin Co. Board of Elections by noon Oct. 30, 2009.

- Your absentee ballot must be postmarked by Nov. 2, 2009 to count.

- Send in your absentee ballot request ASAP. Absentee ballots start going out Sept. 29. Fill out and return your absentee ballot ASAP to make sure your vote counts.

- At the top of the absentee ballot request form put the date of the election 11-3-09 and fill in the bubble for "General Election." You need not put a party affiliation.

- Mail your absentee ballot request form to Absentee Dept., Franklin Co. Board of Elections, PO Box 182111, Columbus, OH 43218-2111

I hope you enjoyed your day off and being able to sleep in this morning! Have a great weekend!

All Boy...

As you are aware, I try to include some blog posts that allow you to glimpse a little bit of what is important to me as a way to enable you to get to know me better. Without a doubt, the two highlights of my world (although I don't get to see them often enough) are my 6 year old niece, Carly, and my 3 year old nephew, Cole.

Cole is a wild man. He is absolutely all boy and loves to play and have fun. Unfortunately, yesterday his playground adventures came to a crashing halt (literally) when he fell and broke his arm. (All I can think is poor baby! I am sure he would point out to me that he is not a baby, he's a big boy and I agree that he is also very brave...)

Cole has a cast (John Deere Tractor Green, of course) that goes from his armpit to his hand. The doctor asked him what happened and he told him he fell off a building. :-) OK, so the little play area on the playground doesn't exactly equal a tall building to us, but I guess Cole felt that was about the right way to describe it.

My sister said that he is doing just fine (poor little guy) and that Carly was really excited about his cast and she wanted to be the first person to sign it. (Granted, she was also trying to persuade him to get a pink cast which makes me laugh too.) Needless to say, I adore my niece and nephew and would never want anything bad to happen to them, but I guess a broken arm goes along with the "all boy" territory.

Early Decision

In the past few weeks I have had the chance to meet with seniors about college applications and have found drastic differences in where everyone is at with the process. Some of you have barely given a thought to where you want to apply (for the record, this worries me, so if you are in that situation, please come talk to me). Others have already received their acceptances and are ready to kick back and enjoy senior year. The vast majority are somewhere in between the two extremes.

While I am always happy to help you in any way possible, there are some decisions that are for you and your family to make. For example, what schools you apply to and when you apply (assuming it is before the deadline) is entirely up to you. The other issue that has been weighing heavily on the minds of some students and their parents is the choice about applying Early Decision. Remember, as I explained in a previous post, Early Decision is binding. If you are not 100% sure if you want to go to that school, then the choice about should you apply early decision or not is actually quite easy - no. Because it is a binding decision, you cannot wait and see and take more time to decide, so if you are not completely sure about your desire to attend that school, then applying early decision would not be ideal. The other aspect that you and your family must seriously consider is the financial impact that attending the school could involve as you are making a commitment to attend the school and cancel your applications at all of your other schools. This means you will not be able to compare financial aid packages to see which school will provide the best offer. (You can try talking to the financial aid office at the college to see if they can provide an approximate range of expected financial aid to help you in your decision about applying as an early decision applicant, but remember that their guesstimate is not a guarantee.)

Some of you may be wondering what the advantage is to applying Early Decision. Aside from getting your admissions decision earlier, there is a definite advantage at some schools where applying as an early decision student increases your potential to be accepted at the school. In fact, US News and World Report recently featured an article with a chart summarizing the numbers and percentages of students accepted through early decision and regular decision at a range of colleges. Perhaps it will help you as you make your choice to determine if applying early decision is right for you.

Do Not Forget

A quick reminder to make sure that all Juniors as well as any interested Sophomores and Freshmen register by the end of the day tomorrow to take the PSAT. Registration is $15.00 in the Counseling and Career Center - just bring your check (payable to WKHS) or cash to one of the secretaries and they will get you signed up and give you the PSAT booklet and test day information sheet. The test is Wednesday morning and you will have miss your morning classes. All students are responsible for making up missed work, but teachers are aware that the majority of our students will be testing that morning. As always, if you have any questions please stop in to see me.

Homecoming

It has been a week full of fun activities to celebrate Homecoming weekend. The painted windows looked great and I enjoyed seeing the students dressed up in their interesting range of themed outfits each day. The football game last night was a heart-breaker when we lost in overtime, but hopefully that will not dampen everyone's spirits as you enjoy tonight's dance.

A special congratulations to one of "my" students, Jordan Ellwood, who was crowned Homecoming Queen during yesterday's assembly.

(Thanks to Ms. Schwartz who was able to get this picture of Jordan for me.)

I love to chaperone the homecoming dance beause it is great to see all of you dressed up and having fun. I hope you enjoy your time with pictures, dinner, and the dance! Have fun and be safe!

October Students of the Month

Last Friday morning was a ceremony to honor the October Students of the Month. The recognition as a Student of the Month can only be earned once during a student's high school career. 6 of the students selected for this month's recognition were "my" students.

Congratulations to (pictured left to right): Alex Huston, Mary Kate Blackmon, Sarah Bebart, Evan Alexander, David Busch, and Michael Frizzi. I am proud of you all!

Delaware Area Career Center

When students enter 9th grade, many are excited about the different choices and opportunities available in high school. Unfortunately, the reality is that the first two years of high school really don't have all that many choices. There is a great deal of flexibility though as students reach their junior and senior years. One of those options includes the possibility of attending the Delaware Area Career Center.

Today during Science classes, all sophomores listened to a presentation about the Delaware Area Career Center (DACC) and the programs that they have available for students. This is a great opportunity to earn your elective credits in an area that interests you rather than taking electives that you are selecting simply because they will fill up your schedule. One of my students, Alex Carter, did a great job as one of the student ambassadors who spoke during the presention. (Check out the photo - that was Alex during her field trip to the DACC when she was a Sophomore!)

It was interesting to hear about all of the different programs that are available for students to explore. There are some unique experiences and opportunities available that can really stand out to colleges. In particular, the students that I have worked with in the past who participated in Teacher Academy and in Zoo School were stand-outs to the colleges!

Sophomores – if you are interested in participating in the field trip to the DACC, please be sure to stop into the Counseling and Career Center to pick up a permission slip. After signed by your parents please return it to Mrs. King in the Counseling and Career Center. She will also give you a teacher permission slip that must be completed before you can attend. The field trip is Thursday, November 12th.

Class Reminders

Just a few reminders related to your classes...

- Wednesday is the last day for students to drop a class without having it appear on your transcript. Remember, this is only an option if you have more than the minimum number of courses on your schedule. (After dropping classes, students must have at least 5 classes if a senior and 6 classes if a freshman, sophomore, or junior.)

- Wednesday is also the last day to be able to change a class from conventional grading to pass/ fail grading. If you are interested in this option, please start by making sure that it is a choice for the class and then stop by the counseling center to pick up a pass/ fail slip. After you have it signed by your parent return it to me for a signature.

Confidentiality

It is very important to me that I work to earn your trust every day. During high school there are times when you may feel that there is no one there to listen and I want to remind you that I am here for you. Please remember that what you say to me is confidential between us unless you are a risk to yourself or someone else in which case I am required to report it.

If you want to meet with me - just drop by my office! That is honestly the BEST way to meet with me. You don't need to schedule an appointment in advance. I'm generally around before and after school as well as during your lunch or academic prep/ option periods for you to stop in and chat. You don't need a big reason to come down and say Hi. I am happy to see you even if you just wanted to tell me how well or how poorly you did on a test that day. If I am busy meeting with another student or parent - you can stop back down or leave a pass for me. If I don't know who you are and you have left a pass that leads me to search for you in the commons please try to help me out and let me know that "you" are the student. (I know, not always easy, but if you left a pass and I haven't tracked you down that day or the following day, chances are I can't find you in the commons - so please come back!)

Don't forget I have candy and toys in my office - so it is always worth just stopping by to say hello. :-) Nope, I am not above bribery if it means that I get to know you all better. :-)

College Fairs

Mass Chaos… Let’s be honest – that is what a college fair can feel like, but it is also the opportunity for you to gain a lot of useful information from a large number of schools in a short period of time.

So, if you are going to head out to the Columbus Suburban College Fair on Sunday, October 4th from 1:00 - 3:30 at Otterbein College, here is some information that can hopefully help you. Take a deep breath, relax, and try not to get too overwhelmed.

The good news is that college fairs give you a chance to meet with admissions representatives in person. They are all gathered together in one place in order to meet you and to answer your questions. Many schools also keep track of the number of interactions/ meetings you have with their admissions representatives during your search and application process so that they can gauge your interest level in their school. As a component of this, and also a way to expand their mailing database, a large number of the college fair booths will have cards for you to fill out with your contact information and interests. If you want to save time you can create and print out address labels that include your name, address, phone number, e-mail, high school name, year of graduation, intended major(s), and extra-curricular activities of interest. You can then just put the label on the card instead of re-writing the exact same information at table after table for each college.

Be prepared before you get to the college fair. Know that there will be far more schools than you are interested in or can even truly take in during one afternoon, so it is useful to come up with a list of colleges that you would be interested in learning more about. You can use PrepHQ to help you create that list by doing a search that looks for different criteria that seems to be a good fit for you. With that list in hand you now have a starting point for the colleges that you would like to talk to during the fair.

It can be useful to ask the same questions of each college so that you can compare them and their responses appropriately. There are suggestions and tips for getting the most out of the college fair and a list of questions you can ask at the college fair in the Student Resources section of the Columbus Suburban College Fair website. The National Association of College Admissions Counseling (NACAC) also has a handout that you can use to help with questions and I encourage you to also consider thinking about the things you most want to know about the school and can’t find in a brochure or website. Everyone is different so your questions are going to be different depending upon your interests, but if you are really interested in playing a club sport in college, you might want to ask about their club/ intramural program and the numbers of students that participate. You may want to ask what the top 2 or 3 majors are on campus as that will give you an idea of what most of the students are interested in studying. If you are undecided about what you would like to study, it would be a great idea to ask them what support and services are available to help students in exploring different majors.

Take something with you to be able to jot some notes on and also a pen or pencil. It is a crazy event with so much happening that if you don’t write it down as you go, you won’t remember much after the fact. The admissions representatives are giving you a small look of the college – what do you think following each glimpse?

When you are walking through the college fair with the list of schools that you want to talk to don’t forget to leave some time for browsing – you may realize that a school you hadn’t previously considered has just what you are looking for in a college. It can be easy for us to get caught in the cycle of only looking at specific schools because that is what “everyone” else is considering.

Ideally you will be able to avoid getting caught up in the crowds and confusion so that you don’t walk away from the college fair with a lot of brochures, but no real ideas or impressions about which colleges most interest you. At the end of the day you will likely have a bag filled with information about colleges. As the “Faring Well at College Fairs” article says, “Don’t succumb to the temptation of just piling all those brochures in some obscure corner of your bedroom. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, take a day or two away from the college search. Then get out all of those brochures, along with the notes you took at the fair, and read through them. You may find that some colleges aren’t as interesting as you first thought. Others only look better the more you research them.”

Good luck and happy college searching… I can’t wait to hear about the schools that spark your interest!

(By the way - in addition to the Columbus Suburban College Fair on Sunday afternoon there is a Columbus Kiwanis College Fair at Vets Memorial on Monday night from 6-8pm and a Learning Disabilities College Fair at Gahanna Lincoln High School on Tuesday evening from 6-8pm.

Class Rank

At Worthington Kilbourne High School we do not rank students. The only exception is for students who have a 4.0 or higher grade point average. All of these students receive a rank of #1 in the class.

The reason behind this procedure is that WKHS is a highly competitive high school environment. For example, in our school, a 3.8 is not in the top ten percent of the class, but in a less competitive high school it might be and so we do not want anything that could potentially reflect negatively on our students to be included on your applications.

When you are asked on applications to write in your ranking or percentile simply write, "School does not rank." (Unless, of course, you have a 4.0 or higher in which case you can write 1st.)
When I complete the counselor report forms that is what I write as well.

Some of you may be curious about your class ranking and while no one else will ever see it, you are welcome to check out your ranking in PrepHQ.