College Pets

I hope you are enjoying your summer! It is hard to believe we are in the final few days of June. Many of you are refining your list of colleges that you are considering for the future. As you are looking at different factors that may help you in making your college decision, one that I had not heard of prior to this New York Times article was the option of taking your pets with you to college. I can think of at least one former student who felt that the option of leaving home to go to college far away was not a good option because of how much she would miss her pets. If have similar feelings, perhaps the pet friendly campuses that are being established would be a perfect solution.

Diploma Presenter

This blog post topic is long overdue, but I have been so sad for the last few days over the tragic death of Cannon as well as the death of one of my friends/ former colleagues so I just hadn't been thinking about posting. It is a strange mix of emotions in that I was so happy to see so many former students again, but so sad regarding the circumstances that had brought everyone together. I did have an overwhelming sense of gratitude for what an incredible sense of community and family there was as I looked around and saw everyone united in support of one another.

It is this same sense of community and family that continuously makes me grateful to work at WKHS with such incredible students. As most of you know, I love many of the traditions at the school and one of my absolute favorites is that each graduating senior is given the opportunity to select one person from the eductional years to have present them with their diploma. I suspect that some students put a great deal of thought into picking who they would like to have as their diploma presenters and others quickly dash off the name of someone at the last second. No matter what, I am confident that you have no idea how much that means to the teachers, coaches, or other staff members that you select. I know that speaking for myself, this is truly one of the highest compliments I feel like I could ever receive and it is a thrill to be able to give a hug and offer my congratulations as I present students with their diploma.

This year I had the honor of presenting six students with their diplomas.

(Left to Right): Will Campbell, Chris Bryan, David Busch, Kristin Black, Michael Frizzi, and Ryan Keller

To Will, Chris, David, Kristin, Michael, and Ryan - thank you for allowing me to share in your graduation day! I look at this picture and it is hard to believe that you are no longer "my" students, but I am happy for you and excited for all that is ahead of you in the future. I cannot wait to see the difference you will make in the world. Thank you for brightening my days throughout the year and for always giving me a reason to smile! I wish you nothing but the best in the future!

A special thank you also to Andy Gottesman, a former student, who was kind enough to stop back at Kilbourne to take this picture.

Cannon Caswell

It is with a heavy heart that I share that Cannon Caswell, a WKHS 2007 graduate, and one of my former students, died Thursday. After high school, Cannon continued his education at Capital University before transferring to the Ohio State University. Cannon’s death has left a hole in the hearts and lives of his family and friends. My thoughts and prayers are with Cannon’s family as well as all of his friends who are grieving today.

I wanted to pass along information regarding the funeral arrangements for Cannon.

Calling Hours will be held on Monday from 2 – 4pm and 6 - 8pm at the Schoedinger Worthington Chapel, 6699 N High St., Worthington.

Funeral Mass will be held on Tuesday at 11am at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, 10700 Liberty Rd., Powell.

If you are having a hard time dealing with Cannon’s death, please remember that there are always people available to help you. Talk to a trusted adult or remember that there will be a counselor on duty at WKHS during summer school.

A link to Cannon's full obituary.

Finally Finished

While it was only a few days longer than all of you, it felt like an eternity! This last week has been so busy and I felt as if I was running in a million different directions trying to get everything finished for the school year. I am happy to say that I am now officially on summer break too! :-) As a result that means I will no longer be able to receive voicemail messages at school until I am back in the building and e-mails may take a little longer to be answered. I have several blog postings that I want to get up here soon, but this is also midterm week for me for the classes I am taking so studying for midterms will have to take priority for the week. Since exams were not *that* long ago for all of you, I'm sure you understand. :-) Enjoy your summer and the fact that you don't have to study this week!

Lifelong Friendships

Today I spent part of the day at a 60th wedding anniversary party for some of my grandparent's friends. As I walked around the party talking with their group of friends and some of their kids I thought a lot about all of you. My grandfather went to the same high school as several of their friends. After graduating from high school he, like the rest of his friends, went off to fight in World War II. They came home, married, started their own lives, but their friendships remained strong. And it is not just the males, the ladies of the group also have an extremely close and special friendship. This group of friends have been a huge blessing to my grandmother since my grandfather passed away and that is what I have come to expect from all of them - they are truly lifelong friends. Time is so different now than it was when my grandparents were teenagers, but the treasure of friendships is timeless. When you leave high school you will likely spread out and attend different colleges, perhaps you will travel the globe, begin new careers and start families of your own, and I hope you will find a way to nurture the friendships that are the most important to you.

Summer School

There are a lot of productive ways you can spend your summer break. One option is summer school. Today, most of my day at school was spent reviewing the semester failures and for a lot of students, summer school is not just a good option it is essential! If you have failed a class or are trying to get ahead or you are hoping to create more room for elective courses in your schedule during the year, summer school is a great option.

I also noticed that there were a LOT of students who had told me during registration time that they planned on taking classes in summer school, but I didn’t see many of your names on the summer school list. It is very important that you let me know if your plans have changed and I need to rework your schedule. This is particularly important if you will no longer be taking a class required for graduation and I need to work it back into your schedule for next year.

If you are contemplating summer school there are a couple of pieces of information I would like you to be aware of:

1.) Sign up soon! The first session of summer school begins one week from Monday, but you should be signed up prior to that point. You register at the Worthington Education Center on Wilson Bridge Rd. Here is a link to the registration brochure.

2.) Summer school will be held at WKHS. (Some Wellness for Life – formerly called Phys Ed – courses are being offered at other locations and I heard that the WKHS Wellness courses are full.)

3.) Most classes run from 7:40am – Noon. That means that most days are like a week of school so you cannot miss a day – attendance is essential!

4.) The classes are just 3 weeks in length. The first session runs from June 21st to July 9th (with no school on July 5th). The second session runs from July 12th to July 29th.

5.) Most courses cost around $200. (Students on the free and reduced lunch program are allowed to attend for $50.)

6.) The first session of summer school correlates with the 1st session of the school year. So, if you failed a 1st semester of a course, then you would want to attend the 1st session of summer school.

7.) The second session of summer school correlates with the 2nd session of the school year. So, if you failed a 2nd semester of a course, then you would want to attend the 2nd session of summer school.

8.) There are traditional classroom options with Worthington Summer School and also Worthington Online Summer School Credit Recovery. (Even if choosing the online option you still have to come to summer school daily and complete your work on the computers at the school.) For many classes you would have the choice which format you wanted to take your classes in this summer. Be sure to think about this carefully though because some people do really well at going out and pushing themselves to learn the information without having a teacher there to share the information and answer questions when you don’t understand things, but others prefer the interaction and hands on activities that can come from a traditional classroom. That being said, not every course will be offered in both formats – you can double check with the summer school office to find out which is offered.

9.) One advantage of the online option is that students can take a semester class that they failed in a “different” session time. (This is very important to remember if you failed two classes during the same semester!) So, for example, if you failed both US History and BESS during the 2nd semester, then I would recommend that you sign up to take US History via Worthington online credit recovery during the 1st session of summer school and take regular BESS (traditional setting) during the 2nd session of summer school.

10.) Students who failed one or more sections of the OGT may elect to re-take up to two sections of the OGT this summer. You must complete 10 hours of tutoring prior to taking the test though so it is important to log your hours so that you can take the test. If you are in this situation and need information about logging your hours, please contact me at school. You must also e-mail Mr. Sparks or notify the summer school office that you plan on testing and which test(s) you plan on taking so that they can order enough tests.

If you have any questions about which classes you should be taking during summer school, feel free to contact me (via phone or e-mail) before Tuesday.

School Is Out!

Congratulations! You have successfully completed another school year. I am sure that you are all breathing a sigh of relief that exams are over and summer has finally started which means you get to sleep in tomorrow. (I am jealous!) Hopefully your exams went well and your grades for the 2nd semester will be strong.

Teachers will be in the building tomorrow working on finalizing grades and I will still be working through next Tuesday trying to readjust all of the schedules based upon failures and working to arrange for students to make up credits in summer school.

After next week I will still check e-mails routinely, but will not be in the school or checking voicemail messages. If you need to reach me e-mail is definitely the best option. As for the blog - I will still update it during the summer, but not as often. I am currently thinking about two updates a week, but we will see... I don't want you to get out of the habit of reading the blog, but I also don't want to bore you with mindless chatter.

Enjoy your summer!

Good Luck on Exams!

Final Exam time... the stress of having 20% of your grade in one test combined with the anticipation with finally being done with another school year. I know this can be an overwhelming time, but hang in there. The time you spend studying will determine how well you do on your exam, so please take the time to study! Many of you stopped in to see me today to see your schedule for next year and if you haven't had a chance to stop in yet you are welcome to do so in the next few days during lunch or any off times.

For those of you needing a reminder about the remaining exam schedule:

Tuesday:

7:45 - 9:45 1st period exam

10:00 - 12:00 6th period exam

12:00 - 1:00 Lunch

1:05 - 3:05 7th period exam

Wednesday:

7:45 - 9:45 3rd period exam

10:00 - 12:00 4th period exam

12:00 - 1:00 NO Lunch Provided!

1:05 - 3:05 Exam Make Up Period

Good Luck on your Exams!

Congratulations Graduates!

I love graduation day! It is a celebration of all that you have accomplished - not only in high school, but really from your very first day of Kindergarten. There is such joy and excitement seeing all of you in your caps and gowns. I love to watch as you march in and try to search for your families in the stands and then, of course, watching when you receive your diplomas and are officially high school graduates. There are just so many reasons to smile! I wanted to share a few pictures that I was able to capture today as well as some thoughts for "my" seniors...
Above (L to R): Becky Borden, Rachel Bare, Will Campbell, and Evan Alexander

Above (L to R): "My" Graduates with Highest Honors: Mary Kate Blackmon, Kristen Bond, Becky Borden, Krystin Burgess, Kelly Chen, Stephanie DiBartola, and (in front) Roy Greim

Above: Marissa Minichello and John Jacob

Above (L to R): Becca Amato, Kaytee Ambrozich, Veronica Barker, and Zoubaida Benzegala

Above (L to R): Michael Brasser, Weston Bridges, Chris Brooks, and Chris Bryan

Above (L to R): Amy Bluem, Tyler Boggs, Jack Borden, Oliver Bosserman, Carrie Boswell, Ryan Bott, Vanessa Boveine and in front Alyssa Blevins and Aurora Braig

Above (L to R): Kristin Black, Haley Bogatay, and David Busch

Above (L to R): Molly Burton, Teddy Calhoun, Catherine Carrier, Alex Carter, Jay Carter, Zac Eanes, Jordan Burt, Alexandra Cassens, (Tessa Cooper in background), and Jeffrey Chang

Above (L to R): Front Row: Ben Corcoran, Emma Ellis, Kat Elkins, Julie Ecker, and Rasha Elkhammas and Back Row: Trey Corcoran, Jason Cunningham, Zach DeAndero, Shannon Donovan, Megan Dukes, and Stephanie Dutton

Above (L to R): Ben Beall, Stephen Batchelder, Ross Belkofer, Daniel Bland, Brian Baseler, Ryan Bintz, Ryan Armstron, and in front Michael Beck

Dear Seniors ~

Congratulations! Today you have officially transitioned from high school students to high school graduates. I am happy for you and your families as today is a celebration of 13 years of education. For the last few years I have been fortunate to have the chance to get to know and work with you. It is hard to believe how quickly the time has passed and strange to think that you are now “former students.”

There is a great deal that I will remember about the students in the Class of 2010 and I appreciate what each individual contributed to making this class a group that stands out. I cannot help but smile when I think about so many of the moments I was able to share with your class and there is no way that I could capture them all, but here are a few that stand out to me. There were times when a few of you were struggling to get motivated to work on college essays or did not want to edit them even one more time and yet, in the end, you pushed through and were able to express yourself beautifully as a perfect introduction of who you are and what you were looking for in a college. I remember a junior meeting when one student declared that she would go to any college except the one where her sibling attended… and yes, you guessed it, this college won her over and it is where the student will be attending in the fall. When my grandfather passed away, it was students in your class who volunteered to help serve the food after the memorial service and you will never know how much I appreciated the kindness during my family’s time of sadness. I have enjoyed the chance to cheer for you as you competed on the field, in the ice rink, or at the pool. I loved the chance to watch you in athletics because I saw how you responded to adversity, how you would reach out to encourage a teammate, or how you reacted in celebration to a goal or a team victory. Times when students in the stands would greet me with a hello or stop and sit with me for a while are also special moments to me. The quality of musical talent within your class is amazing. I loved being able to watch as you came down the steps singing “Come to the Water” during each choir concert. During band and orchestra concerts I not only saw incredible group performances, but also unbelievable solos by people from your class. I had multiple occasions to see you at homecoming and prom and enjoyed being able to see you dressed up. And yet, quite honestly, while moments like these will be treasured, it is really the one-on-one time I had with you in my office that means the most to me. This is the time we would spend catching up on what was happening in your life, helping to test out new organization strategies or coming up with better ways to study for tests, talking about academics, planning for the future, or celebrating your successes. And, sadly, many of you have also had difficult days that we have walked through together – the death of a loved one, breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend, struggling on a major test, moving between homes, or fears about the future – and while these are challenging days, I was inspired by your resiliency, your strength, and your courage.

I am proud of what you have accomplished, I am grateful that I had the opportunity to get to know you, and I am hopeful regarding all that is ahead of you in the future. Thank you for sharing your lives with me! Please know that I will miss you and that I wish you nothing but the best. Remember that if you ever need anything I am only a phone call or e-mail away and I’d love to keep in touch with you in the future.

Congratulations and Best Wishes,
Miss Abbott

Good Luck!

Good Luck to the entire WKHS Men's Lacrosse Team who will be competing today at 7:00pm in the State Championship! (Kilbourne is technically the home team, but will be playing at Dublin Jerome against UA.) Special good luck wishes to "my" students who are on the Varisty Guys Lacrosse Team - (left to right) Nick Bortolani, Will Campbell, Charlie Bassani, and Kevin Carey.The Dispatch also has a story about tonight's match up. I am so excited for you and I hope you enjoy every moment of the State Championship game! Good Luck and Go Wolves!

Traffic Warning

I normally try to space out my updates so that you don't have to read a ton in one day, but I suspect that this weekend will have more than its normal share of posts. I am not sure if Mr. King sent this information out to all of your parents, but we just received word that traffic will potentially be a challenge on Sunday near the Schottenstein Center for graduation. Evidently Lane Avenue will be reduced to one lane in each direction between Fred Taylor Drive and Kenny from 8 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday, June 7 for bridge work. Guests are advised to utilize other means of arriving at the Schottenstein Center. Our best suggestion of an alternate exit is Ackerman Rd. I hope that helps you as you plan for Sunday. Don't forget you need to be there by 1:15pm to get lined up and the actual ceremony begins at 2:00. Girls, don't bring purses or anything you have to carry. (Guys, you can't be carrying anything either.) Looking forward to seeing you all on Sunday!

Baccalaureate Ceremony

Tonight I had the chance to attend the Baccalaureate Ceremony for this year's seniors at Worthington Christian Church. Planned by a committee of 5 seniors and some parent advisors, this ceremony is a great tradition for kicking off the graduation weekend. The students responsible for planning the event put a great deal of time and effort into the night and it was certainly worth it. 2 of "my" students were on the committee - Zoubaida Benzegala and Shannon Donovan.

Several of "my" kids were featured as a part of the evening's events. (I tried to get pictures of everyone, but wasn't successful...)

Allison Carney sang "This is the Moment"

David Busch played the guitar while singing "Falling Slowly" in a duet

Shannon Donovan introduced the keynote speaker and the video

Acafellas (which include seniors David Busch and John Jacob as well as underclassmen Hunter Atha and Josh Cook) and Encore (which includes seniors Rachel Bare and Allison Carney along with junior Gina Badillo) also performed

Zoubaida Benzegala helped introduce Mr. Dunaway And the entire senior class were on stage with candles lit while the choir students led them in the singing of "Come to the Water"

There was also a video that included a wide range of pictures submitted by students and parents which was fun to watch. I love the Rascal Flatts song, "My Wish." I even have the words to the song framed in my office because I think it is the perfect song to describe my wish for all of my students and I also admit that I have been listening to the song (at least once) daily for the last few weeks as I drive to school or to other senior events, so needless to say, when that song came on as the pictures were flashing on the screen my heart was very full.

Graduation Reminders

Graduating from high school is definitely an exciting milestone and today was the last day of classes and exams for the seniors. There is one step remaining which is the graduation rehearsal. I'll be honest, it is a long and rather boring time - not at all like the excitement you will have during the actual ceremony on Sunday! The rehearsal is very important though and it will be worth it Sunday. One of the most important details that seniors need to remember to pass along to their parents after the rehearsal is which side of the stage you will be on at the commencement ceremony. As a general rule, assuming you are one of my students, you will be on "Stage Left" which means that if you are standing on the stage you are on the left side or, put another way, looking at the stage you will be on the right side. This is the side where you will march into the Schottenstein Center and around until you reach your seat on that half of the center aisle as well as the side where you will go up the stairs to receive your diplomas. Trust me, your parents will not be happy if they end up being on the "wrong" side and don't have a good view of your special day.

Final Transcript

Every senior student that is planning on attending a 2-year or 4-year college next year needs to make sure that you have requested a copy of your final transcript. As was the process when you applied to college earlier this year, you must complete a transcript release form in order to grant us permission to send your transcript. The yellow transcript release forms are located on the cabinets in the middle of the Counseling and Career Center or you can download a copy from PrepHQ in the Shared Files area. After you have completed your transcript release form, please turn it in with $2.00 to Mrs. Hoyt or one of the secretaries. The transcripts will be mailed by Mrs. Hoyt this summer after all grades are submitted.