Monday, July 29, 2013

Schedule Pick Up Days

By now you all should have received the new school year information packets in the mail, but I wanted to make sure you were aware of the upcoming schedule pick up days!

Tuesday, August 13th: 

9th graders - 8:30 - 11:00am 
All students new to the district (regardless of grade) - 8:30 - 11:00am
12th graders - 12:30 - 3:00pm

Wednesday, August 14th:
11th graders - 8:30 - 11:00am
10th graders - 12:30 - 3:00pm

Don't forget, schedule pick up day is packed with lots of activities - finding your locker, getting your school picture taken, picking up your books, etc. (All non-freshmen students need to bring your ID's with you... the freshmen will have their ID cards made while at schedule pick up.)


This year, one new addition is that parents are now asked to update emergency medical information  online instead of having to write out the same repetitive information on multiple cards.  Dr. Trent Bowers posted detailed information on his blog regarding this process and I suggest that you read it and then follow the steps he outlines.

Additionally, Dr. Bowers blogged about the fact that parents can now pay fees online.  Here is a link to the post that he wrote about this new opportunity.  When I think back to past years where so many students forgot to bring in the check for school fees and had to go back home or go to meet up with their parents to get a check for the fees, I have to believe this is going to be a significant improvement.

I know that every year there are questions about what you should do if you are not available to attend on your designated schedule pick up day.  If you cannot pick up your schedule and books on your designated day you can come to school on the other schedule pick-up day.  If you will not be able to attend either day, then you will not be able to pick up your schedule and get your books until the 1st day of school.  Please plan on coming to school early on the 1st day if you are picking up your schedule and turning in any remaining forms and fees.

I'm sure it will be a few crazy days in my office, but I am looking forward to seeing you!

Monday, July 22, 2013

Schedules

I am on vacation right now enjoying beautiful weather and fun times with my family.  Yet, school work and your schedules for next year had to come along this year.

Normally, the administrators are able to set the schedule and have everything locked into place before students leave for the summer.  This year, because of the move to Infinite Campus, what we all thought was going to be an "easy" schedule build quickly became a nightmare.

The administrators have continued to work on the schedule and a few weeks ago they let us know that they were done and we could start working on fixing conflicts.  They helped in that process quite a bit by going through and making switches to your alternates if your first choice classes weren't working, but there is still quite a bit of work left for us to do.

Unfortunately, the biggest part of the remaining problems will be tough choices for students and families to make.  The bottom line is that sometimes a class only runs 1 period a day and if a student has requested two classes which both happen to run just once a day at the same time then there is nothing left but a tough decision on what you'd like to take.

So, even though I am on vacation, I have started sending out e-mails to students regarding their schedules for next year.  If you don't get an e-mail, hopefully that will mean your schedule worked just the way you requested it (or at least with your alternates).  Although these are messages I hate sending out, I am happy that I at least have a great view to enjoy while working on my computer.  :-)

Thanks for your patience, flexibility and understanding if you are one of the students who isn't able to have their requested schedule to work out!

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Volunteering

Have you been productive this summer? Have you accomplished any of the goals that you had hoped to achieve? I had pretty lofty expectations for some of the things that I had hoped to accomplish this summer and I certainly haven't made it through all of the items on my "to do list," but I continue trying to check items off the list. One of the great goals I know that many of you had this summer was to make a difference in the community by volunteering your time, talents, and skills. Have you enjoyed your volunteer experiences so far? If you haven't thought much about volunteering, there is still time to get involved!

Friday, July 19, 2013

College Athletics

Many students who participate in high school sports have an interest in continuing their athletic participation
at the collegiate level.  The reality is that only a small number of student athletes are able to compete at the varsity level in college.  However, most colleges offer a variety of ways that students can meet their athletic goals, which can include club and intramural participation.

Students planning to participate at the varsity level in college, will be looking at NCAA or NAIA colleges.  Athletic scholarships can be offered to students attending NCAA Division I or Division II colleges and NAIA colleges.  NCAA Division III colleges do not offer athletic scholarships for participation.

If you are hoping to be a recruited athlete, it is important to be aware of the restrictions on when athletes can be contacted by coaches as well as when it is acceptable for you to reach out to college coaches.  Additionally, the emphasis on academics is critical and so the NCAA and the NAIA both require student athletes to register to determine their academic/ athletic eligibility.

The website for NCAA Eligibility is: www.eligibilitycenter.org

The website for NAIA Eligibility is: http://www.playnaia.org/

NAIA Requirements:
  •           Must meet 2 out of 3 requirements in addition to graduating from high school

o   Minimum GPA of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale
o   Minimum test score of 18 composite score on the ACT or 860 on the SAT (excluding writing section) – They do not superscore
o   Graduation in the top 50% of your high school class
  •           You must submit test scores directly from the testing agencies.  Their number is 9876.
  •           Students must submit a transcript after graduation.  Only 1 transcript is needed and should be sent after graduation unless you qualify for an “Early Decision.”  To be eligible for an early decision students must have the minimum test scores and have earned at least a 3.0 GPA after junior year or at least a 2.5 GPA after first semester of senior year.  If you will qualify for an early decision, you may send your transcript early and you will receive an eligibility determination before you graduate from high school.
  •           Registration fee: $70


NCAA Requirements:
  •           The NCAA requirements are a bit more complex because there are different requirements depending upon which division a student hopes to play in during college.
  •           Additionally, the requirements for students in the Class of 2014 and 2015 will be different than for those in the Class of 2016 and beyond.  Please look carefully at what your requirements will be depending on your year of graduation and your anticipated division of play.  (Division 3 does not require  eligibility approval for participation.)
  •           ACT scores used to determine eligibility are the sum of the individual scores (English, math, reading and science – not composite) and the SAT is the sum of the critical reading and math sections.  Writing scores are not used.  They do superscore (taking highest scores from each area added together rather than just using the highest from 1 testing date.)
  •           You must submit test scores directly from the testing agencies.  Their number is 9999.
  •           One of the key components to understand with NCAA requirements is that they compute your Core GPA instead of looking at your Kilbourne GPA.  Core GPA is made up of just your core classes – English, Math, Science, Social Studies and Foreign Language classes.  Please double check the list of NCAA approved courses on the NCAA website as not all Kilbourne classes in the core areas are NCAA approved.
  •           Registration fee: $70
  •           They will require that you submit your transcript after your junior year and again after you graduate from high school.
  •           Online classes (such as credit recovery) cannot count for core classes.



For students graduating in 2014 and 2015:
                Division 1:
o   16 core classes
§  4 English
§  3 Math
§  2 Science
§  1 additional credit in either English, Math or Science
§  2 Social Studies
§  4 Additional years of Core Classes (English, Math, Science, Social Studies, or Foreign Language)
o   Minimum GPA and minimum test scores based upon sliding scale
§  Lowest GPA is 2.0
Division 2:
o   16 core classes
§  3 English
§  2 Math
§  2 Science
§  3 additional credit in either English, Math or Science
§  2 Social Studies
§  4 Additional years of Core Classes (English, Math, Science, Social Studies, or Foreign Language)
o   Minimum GPA is 2.0
o   Minimum test scores is ACT sum score of 68 or SAT sum score of 820.

For students graduating in 2016 and beyond:
                Division 1:
o   16 core classes
§  4 English
§  3 Math
§  2 Science
§  1 additional credit in either English, Math or Science
§  2 Social Studies
§  4 Additional years of Core Classes (English, Math, Science, Social Studies, or Foreign Language)
o   10 of the 16 core classes must be completed prior to the start of the senior year and 7 of these 10 must be in English, Math and Science.
o   The 10 classes completed before the start of senior year are locked in for GPA calculation of core GPA.
o   Minimum GPA and minimum test scores based upon sliding scale
§  Lowest GPA is 2.3 to fully qualify
§  Students with a 2.0 GPA may qualify for an academic redshirt

Division 2:
o   16 core classes
§  3 English
§  2 Math
§  2 Science
§  3 additional credit in either English, Math or Science
§  2 Social Studies
§  4 Additional years of Core Classes (English, Math, Science, Social Studies, or Foreign Language)
o   Minimum GPA is 2.0
o   Minimum test scores is ACT sum score of 68 or SAT sum score of 820.


Although some of these articles are a bit older, I think the information on them will be valuable to students and parents hoping for college athletic scholarships.

(Be sure to read the articles highlighted on the left side of the above article too!)





If you have questions about college athletic participation, please feel free to see me, your coaches, or Mr. Todd in the athletic office.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Resume

Hopefully you are also balancing being productive with having fun this summer. If you are wondering what you should be doing this summer, one of the items that I hope you have on your "To Do" list is to create or update your resume.

It is important to compile a detailed list of:
- all of your activities including clubs, community groups, and sports
- awards received - it is helpful to know the award name, who it was from and reason for the recognition
- community service commitments with hours
- employment with hours

You can do this informally (just don't lose it!) on a sheet of paper or you can use a resume template.  The format isn't as essential as having an organized, accurate list.

Adding to and keeping this list updated is an important step for students of every age because when you sit down to start working on your college applications they are going to ask you over and over again to list out these types of items so having a complete list is key. I also hope it goes without saying that not only should the list be complete, but it should also be ACCURATE! Do NOT make up activities, awards, or other involvement that you did not participate in and did not earn!

Monday, July 15, 2013

Final Transcripts

I have received a few messages from students who just graduated worrying about their final transcripts.  We made all seniors complete a final transcript form along with the page that explained which college you planned on attending.  So, unless you have had a change in your college plans, your final transcript has been sent to your college.  If your college is still saying that they don't have your transcript by this week, then there must be some problem because they should all have them by now.  If your plans have changed or if your college is still indicating that they haven't received your transcript, please contact Mrs. Hoyt at WKHS.  (She works during the summer.)  She will help send another copy of your transcript.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Halfway Through Summer

You are now half-way through summer.  Hard to believe isn’t it? I hope that you have been embracing the time off, enjoying the warm weather, and finding time to connect and spend quality time with your family and friends.  Although I suspect that many of you, like me, wish the summer would slow down, I am looking forward to seeing all of you again and hearing about everything you did this summer.  Since we are at the half-way point, I thought a few reminders might be in order…

-         --  Summer work!  Many of you have signed up for classes that require summer assignments to be completed.  I know that procrastination is king in many of your lives, but please let me remind you that if you put off completing your summer work until August then you are going to start the year in a mad scramble and you will already be sick of doing school work before the year has even started.  Believe me, I understand that it is hard to work on something that doesn’t *have* to be done yet, but in the long run, using your time now will be worth it.  Plus, for those of you who participate in fall sports, the reality is that your summer will essentially be over when August arrives because practices will take over all of your free time.

-        --   Summer School!  Quite a few students are taking summer school classes either at Thomas Worthington or through an online program.  Those of you who are going to school every morning at TWHS are certain to be making progress in your classes, but I always worry about the online classes since they require more self-discipline and like summer work are easy to procrastinate on until it is too late.  I have received transcripts already for a few students who have already finished their online summer school classes so I know that some of you are working on the courses, but if you have been putting this off, please get moving on your summer school assignments.

-       --  College visits – many students and families will use the summer months to explore colleges.  Whether it is wandering around a campus near your vacation spot, checking out a school that is definitely on your application list, or just visiting schools to try to figure out what you like or don’t like, please make sure you take a picture of you somewhere on campus for me!  I also suggest that you jot down a few notes about your first impressions of the school.  This will be helpful to you later in the college decision making process.

Monday, July 8, 2013

AP Test Scores

Scores from the AP tests taken during May are available online today.  Scores are no longer being mailed
home and are only available electronically. 

To access your scores visit www.apscore.org and then login using your college board account information.  (If you don’t have a college board account, you will need to create one.)

As you are probably aware, colleges determine the tests and scores needed in order to grant college credit.  Typically a 3 is the minimum score needed for credit.  Additional information is available on the college board’s AP website - http://www.apscore.org/credit.html.

I hope you are happy with your scores!

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Common Application Essays

The Common Application is currently offline for revisions and system upgrades, but that doesn't mean you can't be working on the essay questions!  This is the time that senior students should begin working on their essays.  Take a look at these prompts and start brainstorming what your answers would be for each question.  After you list your thoughts for each question, look at which response tells the best story of who you are and will be the best introduction of you to the admissions committee.  Then it is time to start drafting and editing and drafting some more.  :-)  Students who utilize the common app will be asked to select and answer one question in 250-650 words.  (Please don't worry about word count on your first draft - it is always MUCH easier to cut words than it is to try to add more in later.)

Below are the common app essay questions to help you get started: 

  • Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
  • Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?
  • Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
  • Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?
  • Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.
(I liked the comic at the top of the page and wondered how many of you are thinking that I'm the one doing the nagging...sorry!)