"Say Cheese!"

With spring break finally here, I wanted to remind everyone that if you are going to be on college campuses - for formal tours, to visit friends or simply on vacation - please Take A Picture! The picture can be of you anywhere on campus... a pretty area, a building where you might spend a lot of time in the future, or (as most of the pictures on the "Oh the Places You'll Go" wall show) in front of a college sign. Enjoy your visit, make a few notes about what you think of each school, and when we are back in school I will look forward to seeing your picture and hearing about your visits!

Spring Break!

Hooray! Although the weather doesn't exactly make it seem like spring, we made it and are now officially on Spring Break! 

I hope that you have a wonderful and relaxing break. Good luck to all of the individuals, groups, and teams that are traveling this week. Please travel safe and enjoy the time away.

I will only be updating a few times over break.  Have a great week and stay safe!

Student/ Staff Basketball Game

There are a variety of events each year at Kilbourne which contribute to the school spirit and overall morale of the building... one of these events is the student-staff basketball game which will be held tomorrow afternoon. The students who won the intramural basketball tournament will compete against the staff team. Typically, the game is rigged so that the staff has a chance to win. :-) It should be fun!  A special good luck to Chandler Bridges and Benton Carter, two of "my" students who are playing against the staff as a part of the Intramural Champion team.

For those of you who have late start, please be sure that you plan ahead to arrive to your classes on time. Here is the schedule for tomorrow:

1st Period: 7:45 - 8:29

2nd Period: 8:34 - 9:18

3rd Period plus news: 9:23 - 10:15

4th Period: 10:20 - 11:04

5th Period: 11:09 - 11:53

6th Period: 11:58 - 12:42

7th Period: 12:47 - 1:31

8th Period: 1:36 - 2:20

Basketball Game: 2:28 - 3:05

Please Don't Ask

The approach to April 1st tends to bring increased anxiety for seniors who are still awaiting their college admissions decisions. Getting the decision can be hard enough, but often the more difficult aspect is being asked, “Did you get accepted?” by well-meaning friends. Trust me on this one, if they were accepted, the students will be telling everyone – you won’t need to ask. If they don’t offer up the news sharing if they were accepted or not, then be sensitive to the fact that more than likely they did not get accepted and don’t ask about it as it puts them on the spot to share disappointing news.

"Senior Survivors"

On Monday morning we hosted the "What to Expect" workshop where senior students shared their insight with younger students and parents about what they can expect during their upcoming senior years. The panel presentation by senior students who have survived their senior year and are nearing the end of their high school career and their experiences in navigating the adventures of senior year. I was INCREDIBLY impressed with the information they shared. The participants did an outstanding job giving honest viewpoints about the upcoming year for the sophomores and juniors and their parents.

A very special thank you to (alphabetically) Alex Brothers, Mike Coen, Lily Fang, Lauren Hedges, Abby Hunt, Maddy Quinn, Kerry Speed, and Kevin Stovall for their participation on the "Senior Survivor" panel. These students represented a variety of different college choices - different sizes of schools in different areas of the country. More importantly though, they represented WKHS in a poised and helpful manner.

I was also excited to see so many of "my" younger students in the audience along with many of your parents. Remember that I am always here to help you in any way that I can.

One last special thanks to "my" students who participated- Lauren, Alex and Mike. I appreciate your help more than you will ever really know!

Academic Honors Night

Congratulations to all of the students who were honored at tonight's Academic Honors ceremony. As a component of the award ceremony, students are presented with gold, silver, and bronze keys in recognition of their achievements in academic excellence.

Gold keys are awarded to students who have earned a cumulative GPA of a 3.5 or higher at the end of 7 full semesters. 22 of "my" students were among tonight's gold key recipients.

Silver keys are awarded to students with at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA at the end of 5 full semesters. 23 of "my" students received silver keys tonight.

Bronze Keys are awarded to students with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher at the end of 3 full semesters. 28 of "my" students were presented with bronze keys.

Congratulations to each of you for your academic commitment and achievements!

Information about Tomorrow

Tomorrow begins the 4th quarter. (Hard to believe how quickly the year is flying past!) Each year, in the spring, some students find it hard to focus on school when they simply want to go outside and enjoy the sunshine. I understand that, but if this is an issue for you, it is important to remember that as we run full speed into spring the beautiful weather will only continue. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I don't want you to enjoy each day, but I do hope that you are keeping in mind how your actions today will influence you tomorrow and in the future.  Take some time now to reflect personally and academically on where you are, where you want to be and what you need to do to achieve your goals.

There is a late start day tomorrow (1st period starts at 9:10) which is a nice way to ease into the final 5 days before spring break.  In an effort to help you prepare for what to expect in the years ahead, we are hosting a panel presentation by some of the current senior students from 8:00 - 9:00 tomorrow morning.  It is open to all students and parents, but in particular I hope to see all of the sophomores and juniors tomorrow!  This will provide you with a great opportunity to help you learn from the experiences from other students who have successfully completed their senior year just as you will soon aim to do.  The presentation will take place in the auditorium.

Upcoming Deadlines

There are a few key deadlines next week that I wanted to make sure all students and parents are aware of:

- Tuesday, March 25th is the deadline for students to register to take an Advanced Placement (AP) exam. The cost to take the AP test this year is $97. Please note that all registration materials (forms and payment) must be received at the Worthington Education Center by March 25th.

- Friday, March 28th is the deadline for students to submit their paperwork to indicate their intent to apply for and participate in the Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program. You will turn these forms in to me.

If you have any questions about these upcoming deadlines, please stop by and see me.

Field Hockey at OWU

Congratulations to Addy Boyles who committed to play field hockey next year at Ohio Wesleyan University. Addy participated in a signing ceremony after school today. She was joined by her parents for this recognition and was surrounded by other supporters including many of her teammates and friends. Congratulations Addy! We are so proud of you!

National College Fair

The National College Fair is coming to Columbus on April 5, 2014.  This will provide students and parents with a wonderful opportunity to meet with admissions representatives from hundreds of colleges to learn about the opportunities available on their campus.  This college fair will take place at the Greater Columbus Convention Center from 1 - 4pm and is free.

The National College Fair is organized by the National Association for College Admissions Counselors.  One major difference from the Columbus Suburban College Fair is that they do ask all students to register for the fair in advance.  Registering will allow you to provide your information one time so that you save time from having to fill out information cards as you walk through the college fair.  You will print and bring the barcoded pass so that as you walk around and talk to college admissions representatives they can scan the barcode to receive your information.  This allows you to spend your time talking about academics and other opportunities on campus instead of filling out the same information multiple times.  You can register at www.gotomyncf.com.  Students who register using their smart phone can also save the image of the barcode for later use.  Be sure to bring your barcode print out with you to the college fair!

When you are at the fair you will be able to pick up the on-site locator for the latest school list and a booth location map.  In addition to talking individually with college admissions representatives, you can also attend a workshop on topics such as writing a great essay, financial aid, and getting the most out of the college search process.

To see a list of the schools scheduled to attend, please visit: http://bit.ly/NCFExhibitorSearch

I hope you will take advantage of this great opportunity to further your college search.

Career Articles

Do you know what you want to be when you grow up?  50% of students who enter college start off
undecided and most college students change majors at least one time (many change majors even more than that).  That is ok and obviously that is very normal, but it is valuable to explore career choices and begin thinking about careers would interest you for the future.

Here are some articles related to careers that may help:

6 careers that are high in salary, short on school

Majors that demand the most study time

36 questions that help you choose the right career

11 skills you’ll need for a career

10 questions to ask before picking a major

Don’t just find your passion – find your fit

I'm So Tired

"I'm soooo tired!"  I can't even begin to tell you how many times I hear that phrase repeated over and over again - especially these past few days.  I know that it has been a pretty significant adjustment for most of the students to return to the normal bell schedule where you start school at 7:45 instead of 9:50, but you have control over your sleep choices.

The biggest suggestion I have for you is to go to sleep earlier!

I realize this isn't always easy with the time commitments you have with other activities, but ultimately it comes down to making choices that prioritize taking care of YOU.  Make the most of down time that you have during the day - 30 minutes after you finish eating your lunch, 10 minutes at the end of a class, 30 minutes when you're checking twitter and instagram - it all adds up and you can use that time to get more of your school work completed so that you don't have as much left waiting for you to complete at night.

I know that I have posted about sleep before and included article links, but here are a few more.

Lose sleep, lose your mind and health

16 amazing facts about sleep that will surely impress you

The danger of sleep deprivation

Please try to get some extra sleep so that you can finish this quarter strong!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope you have a great day.  It doesn't have to be a major holiday or a day with a formal celebration, but try to remember that every day provides you with the opportunity to find joy and make positive memories.  You are in charge of your life - take steps today, and every day, to make the most of it.

Panel Wisdom

The WKHS counselors are planning a workshop for sophomore and junior students and their parents for the late start morning on Monday, March 24th.  The goal of this workshop is to allow younger students the opportunity to hear and learn from the experiences of some of our "senior survivors."  A panel of senior students will be sharing their experiences related to the college search and application process.  The topics addressed will also include scholarships, college admissions tests, suggestions to manage the senior year successfully.

The presentation will be held in the WKHS Auditorium from 8:00 - 9:00am.  It will be a valuable opportunity to learn more and while I know that sleeping in is appealing, I hope you will take advantage of this chance to hear and gain insight from the wisdom of our panel presenters.

Local Scholarships

The local scholarships are now completely updated and available on the Kilbourne Counselor website at www.wkhscounselors.com.  These scholarships provide a great opportunity for students to earn some additional financial help for college. And, with the scholarships being local, it means that there would be less people applying for the scholarships (compared to national scholarships) which gives you a better chance of receiving one of the scholarships.

Please take the time to carefully read through the criteria for the scholarships to see which ones would be appropriate for you to apply for and then start working. When you go to the WKHS Counselors website and click on the local scholarships area (bottom of the home page) you will be taken to the listing of all of the scholarships and it has the links to each scholarship application.

Most of the deadlines for completed applications is the end of the school day on April 18th and no late applications can be accepted. I cannot stress enough the importance of planning ahead and starting to work on these scholarships now!

Also, please pay attention to see if the applications require a written recommendation letter and ask your teacher(s) for a letter as soon as possible - especially if they have not already written a rec letter that you can use for the scholarships.

Also, don't forget that a complete list of all the other scholarships that we are aware of are also featured on the Kilbourne Counselor website in the scholarship area (at the top).

An Admissions Decision... Coming Soon

The next few weeks will be big as students finally receive the college admissions decisions that you have waited months to receive. Most of the schools that have yet to announce their decisions will be releasing them over the next couple of weeks. This can be a very stressful time for students. Try to take a deep breath and relax – you have done the best job to put yourself in the best situation possible with your applications. If you are stressing out awaiting the news, feel free to stop in and see me so we can talk about it.

Volunteer

Volunteers make a significant impact - not only are the people that you help impacted, but the people who reach out to help someone else are also changed for the better. There is not just one choice about what you can pursue as a volunteer project. Community service opportunities are as different as each individual who decides they want to help make a difference in the world around them. The sky is the limit and I encourage you to find something that inspires you.

For those of you who are interested in summer volunteer opportunities at a hospital, I thought it might help you if I mentioned that the Ohio State University Medical Center allows high school students to volunteer during the summer. (They only utilize college students as volunteers during the school year, but are willing to work with high school students in the summertime.) Volunteers must be at least 16 years old. They have stringent timelines to apply and interview for a volunteer position.  If you are interested in applying, visit their website for an application and additional information.

March Students of the Month

Last Friday morning was the ceremony to honor the students who were selected as March Students of the Month. Students are nominated as students of the month by Kilbourne faculty and staff for their academic achievement, good citizenship, and/or service to the school or community. Students can only earn this recognition once in their high school career.

Six of "my" students were among those honored this month. Congratulations to (left to right): Maggie Baumgardner, Haley Carlson, Veronica Dahn, Danielle Chan, Ariel Bloom, and Bobby Austria. I'm proud of you!

Test Anxiety

It’s normal to feel a little bit nervous before and during a test. What is important is to learn how to deal with those anxieties so that they do not become overwhelming. Below are a few key strategies for managing test anxiety. If this is something that you struggle with, please stop in and see me so that we can discuss additional ways to help manage your test anxieties.

- Study. Being prepared is the single most effective way to help manage test anxiety. If you are confident that you know the material and have put forth your best effort to be prepared for the test, then you can relax and do the best you can.
o There are lots of study strategies available that can help students and I have a variety of ideas so if you are interested, stop by and see me and we can talk about different techniques you can try to implement for various classes.
o Learn from past quizzes and tests
o Ask the teacher for suggestions on how to best prepare for the upcoming test
o Don’t cram – that only adds to the stress and pressure of trying to “squeeze” everything in

- Stay Positive. Being confident and entering the test with a positive attitude will help you to achieve success. There are lots of strategies people use to help maintain a positive outlook –visualization (imaging yourself doing well on the test) and positive self-talk (we all talk to ourselves so instead of thinking that you are going to fail the test replace that self-talk with positive comments such as “I am prepared” or “this test will allow me to show how much I have learned”). Sometimes it is important to stay away from other people who tend to express their negative outlooks and opinions going into a test… those people who will just stress you out more with their panic about the test.

- Take care of yourself. I *know* that you hate hearing things like this (and yes, I acknowledge that at times this can be a hypocritical statement for me to make), but it is important to take care of yourself. Get plenty of sleep so that you are well rested and mentally alert for the test. Eat a healthy meal (breakfast/ lunch) because you don’t want to be sitting in class focusing on food or listening to your stomach growl and you also don’t want to be coming down off a sugar or caffeine high and be dragging the rest of the testing period. Allowing yourself time to exercise is also important as it is a physical release of stress and can reinvigorate you for studying as you prepare for the test.

- Be a “smart” test taker. Don’t panic! Read the directions carefully. Take a deep breath to relax. Answer the questions to the best of your ability and if you don’t know an answer, skip the question to return to it later and continue on to other questions that you are more confident in answering. Budget your time, but don’t just rush to be the first finished – this is not a race. Stay focused. (Focus on answering the question – don’t allow yourself to get off track and worry about your grade or how others are doing – just continue to refocus on answering the next question.) If you start to become overwhelmed with anxiety during the test, take a few slow deep breaths, relax your muscles and remember that you are in control of dealing with these feelings so just take it one step at a time.

- After you are finished, give yourself a short break from thinking about the test, but also don’t forget to consider what worked well and what could have gone better and then make changes accordingly for the future. If you were able to manage your anxiety effectively then you can continue practicing these skills for future tests. If some of the strategies were not effective, then you can try to adjust and adopt new strategies to help manage the anxiety.

Remember, it is also important to keep the test in perspective. It is actually quite rare that a single test will make or break you. (And yes, this includes the OGT/ SAT/ ACT tests because you can always repeat these tests again in the future.) Good luck on your next test!

And, one last reminder - tomorrow begins OGT testing week - Sophomores, you need to be at school on time for the tests.  Juniors, hopefully you are taking advantage of the ZAPS ACT Prep Course so you will also be coming to school on time for the first three days.  Freshmen and Seniors, enjoy sleeping in for the week!

Beauty and the Beast

I had the opportunity to attend this year's musical last night - Beauty and the Beast.  It was AWESOME!  We have such incredibly talented students and it was fun and exciting to see all of their hard work and dedication pay off.

I had many students who had roles in the show.  Those who were featured on stage included: Alex Brothers, Mike Coen, Steven Borchers, Grayson Brown, Emily Dyer, Katybeth Crider, Brooke Coverdale, and Nick Contreras.

While those who were showcased on the stage often get all the attention, the show wouldn't have been a success without the help of many behind the scenes.  This included: Jake Eyen, Robyn Du, Molly Kate Cline, Jessica Carroll, Max Alderman, Erica Eyen, Danielle Barker, Makayla Doran, Chris Dessoir, Hannah Fahmy, Coty Beety, Alston Carrico, Chase Carrico, Tyler Cochrac, Tommy Davis, and Julian DeLa Cruz.

Congratulations to all of you on an outstanding musical!  For those of you who didn't attend last night's production, I strongly encourage you to go and see the final show tonight at 7:30pm!

Ohio Graduation Tests (OGT's)

This coming week the Sophomores will be taking the Ohio Graduation Tests (OGT's). Each day will feature a different test - Monday is Reading, Tuesday is Math, Wednesday is Writing, Thursday is Science, and Friday is Social Studies.

I cannot stress the importance of EVERY sophomore student attending school all five days to complete the tests. If you are too sick to make it to school you will have to take the test during the following week which is not as ideal of a testing environment.

Freshman, Juniors, and Seniors are probably looking forward to OGT week because they have the special added treat of a few extra hours of sleep. :-) The busses are running twice next week in order to make sure that the Sophomores are able to arrive at school in time for their tests and also for everyone else to come to school after the extra time sleeping in each morning. Classes for the week will only be 35 minutes long so the week should go past pretty quickly for you.

For your information below is the daily bell schedule for this coming week:
OGT Tests: 7:45 - 9:35
1st Period: 9:50 - 10:25
2nd Period: 10:30 - 11:05
3rd Period: 11:10 - 11:45
4th Period: 11:50 - 12:25
5th Period: 12:30 - 1:05
6th Period: 1:10 - 1:45
7th Period: 1:50 - 2:25
8th Period: 2:30 - 3:05

Also, juniors, don't forget, if you are interested in taking the ZAPS ACT prep class, please make sure you register online at http://www.zaps.com/ as soon as possible.

Good luck on the OGT's!

We Need Others

We are not meant to live in isolation.  Each of us has our own individual talents and strengths, but no matter what, we need other people.  We need people to encourage us when we are down, to listen when we are lonely, to help us when we struggle, and to celebrate with us when we succeed.  Thankfully, at WKHS we have an incredibly supportive community who jumps at the opportunity to help others.  We have seen that in big ways like how people have rallied together to support Grayson Biglin and Drew George.  But even more consistent is all of the small ways that people help one another on a daily basis.  It is awesome to see and it makes me thankful to work in a place where people care for each other.

Today, I was the beneficiary of a compassionate action.  My mailbox was hit and essentially destroyed in early January.  I bought a new mailbox and attempted to fix it.  Total and complete failure!  As I mentioned, people have their own strengths... fixing things or doing repairs is definitely not one of my strengths and I am always impressed by those who have those capabilities.  Since Mr. Nally's office is right across the hall from mine, he was forced to hear my frustrations about the 4 hours my stepdad and I spent trying to replace my mailbox last weekend and he immediately volunteered to help.  Today, he pulled up in front of my house with a trunk full of tools and before I knew it, I had a mailbox again.  It may not seem like much to you, but it was HUGE to me!  I am so thankful that he would share his time and his talents to help make my day better.  I have come to find that this is the true "Worthington Way."

So, I hope that when you are needing something you will find that there are people around you who are willing to jump in and help.

Since I know that you don't really just want to hear about me and my excitement over having a new mailbox, here are some articles related to personal/ social issues that I think might interest you.  Happy Reading... I'm going to go find something to mail!  :-)

The dummies guide to time management

Top 12 time management tips

12 steps to raise your self esteem and be a better person

30 things you need to stop wasting time on

How to control your emotions effectively

Stop the madness – 4 keys to helping you forgive

5 simple and easy relaxation tips

10 ways to beat the winter blues

15 things you can do to stop worrying

Types of procrastination and how you can fix them

9 lessons I’ve learned overcoming depression that can help anybody succeed in anything

7 best ways to deal with online bullies

11 surprising benefits of volunteering

10 anger management lessons no one should miss

Congratulations Joey!

During a ceremony today after school, Joey Cipicchio formally announced his commitment to attend Brown University next year where he will play soccer.

As Joey sat with his parents, Coach Sprunger shared his thoughts about Joey and his dedication to soccer along with the suggestion to stay away from fences (referring to an injury he experienced as a freshman).  Joey then signed to symbolize his commitment before sharing a speech to thank everyone in attendance.

It was awesome to see so many people from various aspects of Joey's life gather together to celebrate his accomplishment.  This is a goal Joey had set for himself many years ago and it is so exciting to see that his hard work and dedication have paid off.  Congratulations Joey!  I am proud of you and wish you the best at Brown!

Anxious About Future

It has become obvious how many of the seniors are struggling with mixed emotions about the future. Sure, many of you are very excited to graduate and be done with high school, but that also means the future, starting college, getting jobs, and being "adults" is just around the corner. I know that this is a time of high anxiety and remember, I am here to help support you. Please, do NOT sabotage yourself and your grades in your classes as a *solution* to not feeling ready to leave high school. Stop in and see me - let me know how you are feeling about high school coming to an end. I look forward to chatting with you soon!

Admissions Test Reminder

Just a quick reminder that the registration deadline for the April ACT is this Friday, March 7th.  If you want to take the ACT in April, you need to sign up soon.  You will register directly on the ACT website at www.actstudent.org.  For those of you who took the ACT in February, your scores are now available online.

If you are planning on taking the ZAPS ACT Prep Class at WKHS next week, you also need to make sure you sign up for that online.  You sign up directly on ZAPS website at www.zaps.com.

Here are a couple of articles related to admissions tests...

7 ways to improve SAT and ACT scores

4 reasons you should be using practice exams in your test prep

New test prep methods aim to close income gap in college admissions

School Changes Because of Weather

Have you heard the latest update about the impact of the snow days on our schedule?  (Don't shoot the
messenger... this is not my fault.)  Since we have now missed 7 days due to snow and we are only allowed to miss 5 days, we have 2 days to make up.  The district has determined that we will be in school on Friday, April 18th and on Friday, May 30th.  Both of these dates are listed on calendars as being non-school days so you will need to change your calendars.  I know that this is going to create headaches for some of you.  For example, when I heard the news my mind immediately went to a student whose family will be moving on May 30th.  We will figure it out together so try not to panic.  And yes, these two additional days are being added to the calendar no matter what happens with the decision the Ohio legislators are debating about allowing additional snow days.

I know many of you had hoped we would have a snow day tomorrow, but we ended up with a lot less snow than had been predicted so clearly that isn't likely.  I'm ready for spring, but if we still end up with more snow days, we will be using "blizzard bags" to make up the day.  Your teachers will be posting assignments and school materials to engage you with the content that you are missing out on by noon and then you will have two weeks to complete the assignments.

Please be sure to change your calendars about the cancelled days off so that there isn't confusion at the last minute.