Halloween & Reminders

My nephew, Brady, dressed up as a red panda along with their dog (Wonder Woman), my dog Mia (M&M), and Lexi (a princess) from earlier this month.
 

Happy Halloween!  Construction & flexibility has been a major theme for the year and therefore it only seemed appropriate that they selected construction as the staff's halloween costume theme.

Here are some important reminders for seniors as we head wrap up the week...

- Friday, November 1st, is a common early application deadline for many colleges.  You have until 11:59pm to submit your applications, but do NOT wait until the last second.  Inevitably there could be computer glitches and errors due to lots of people trying to submit at the last possible moment.

- Remember, you MUST request your transcript through the transcript request form in addition to inviting me on Common App to submit your school forms.  The transcript request form is on the Counselor Website - www.wkhscounselors.com - hover over the college/ career tab and then it is one of the drop down options.  You MUST do this BEFORE the end of the school day for me to be able to upload your transcript on time.

- You can submit your application before your teacher or counselor pieces are uploaded.  

And finally, to all of the students out collecting canned goods through the Trick or Canning effort, thank you for your leadership in our school and community!

College Visits

Visiting college campuses - near and far, big and small (and somewhere in between), urban, suburban and rural, will help you to start to develop a sense for what you can find at all colleges and what will fit best for you.  For most of my students over the years, what they have quickly realized after about 3 college visits is what they do NOT like as much and they can then use that information to help narrow down their interests and perhaps find other similar schools to explore.

What should you ask on a college visit?  

You will want to ask questions as you tour the school. (We have a lengthy list of question ideas for you on the Counselor website.)  After each visit, review the list to see if there are any other questions you might want to add. Remember, you are visiting campuses to get a feeling for the atmosphere of each place – something you can’t get from a brochure or website.

When can you make your visit?
Anytime!  Students often schedule visits to colleges on times when it fits with their parents schedule.  You are allowed to miss school for college visits - it is an excused absence, but please be sure to still have your parents contact the attendance office.

While you can make visits at any time, I encourage you to try to select days when you know you will have a positive experience.  There are many colleges that will host a major specific day and those days often include lots of unique experiences in that field of study including meeting professors, talking to students, seeing their projects, etc.  You also want to maximize the positive experience of going on the visit by not creating problems with your high school schedule and commitments.  For example, if you know that you have a game and therefore have to be in school for at least half the day, then that is probably not the best day to try to squeeze in a college visit.  You also know that there tend to be a lot of tests, quizzes and projects on the last day of the semester, so I encourage you to avoid that day as well.

Other great days for all students to make college visits would be the days that we have off in Worthington, but the colleges will likely still be in session.  For example, next week, Tuesday, November 5th, students are off because it is election day, but college campuses will still be in session making it a great day to visit.

How should I set up the visit?
The student should be the one who communicates with the college - not the parent!  Remember, you are the one who is going to college - not your mom or dad.  You are trying to show the college that you are mature, responsible and ready for the college opportunities and that begins with having the ability to communicate effectively with the admissions office.

Some colleges have online visit registration options and others only take reservations by phone.  You will definitely want to sign up for the visits in advance!

Should I attend on a "major specific" day?
As I mentioned in an earlier question, there are many colleges that will host special recruitment days for students looking at a particular major.  For example, there may be an engineering day, a nursing day, a communications day, etc.  These are GREAT opportunities for students to consider visiting the campus - not only for those of you who have made up your mind that you are interested in a particular field, but also for those students who think they might like to study that field.  So, for example, if I think I might want to study something connected to business, but don't know any more than that going to the college's business day can be a great learning opportunity for me to gain insight into the different aspects available within that major and that college.  If you attend you might walk away excited about a particular opportunity or section of business or you may leave realizing you thought it seemed terrible and that would still give you the information to help you know that this is not the best job field for your future.

What else should I keep in mind?
- Pay attention to the details around you to learn all that there is to know about the college.

- Remember, a lot of outside factors can influence the quality of the visit positively or negatively. For example, the weather… if it is a gorgeous sunny day with perfect temperatures you may think it is the most beautiful school and if it cold, rainy, or dreary you may think it is miserable, but try to remember that the weather changes from day to day and judge the school without being overly influenced by the weather. (Please also remember that if you are traveling to areas in different climates than Ohio that weather may truly be an appropriate factor to consider, so I am not making a blanket statement to always ignore the weather.)

- Tour guides also form a huge impression of the school that you visit. Most colleges know that and will try to find outgoing, positive, energetic students to take you through the campus. Ideally the guides will try to get to know something about you or your interests to help point those aspects of the school out to you, but the reality is the students serving as tour guides are not always great and, let’s be honest here, we all have bad days so even some of the good tour guides can have off days where they won’t be impressive on the visit. I know it can be hard, but try to separate the guide from the school.

- If you can spare the time – stop and sit on a bench and just “people watch.” Are these people that you can imagine being your friends in the future? Remember, you are hoping that in the near future that you will be able to make friends with them and others like them on campus. Think about how you are feeling on the campus – can you imagine yourself being there and being both happy and successful at this school?

I cannot wait to hear about your experiences exploring college campuses!

On the Shoulders of Giants

Today I received an award as the Ohio High School Counselor of the Year.  I may be the one who is being honored and who had their name read, but I stand on the shoulders of giants. Let’s be honest, NONE of us live in isolation or achieve any element of success completely on our own.  We have always needed teachers to guide and mentor us, loved ones like family members and friends to support and encourage us, and someone to believe in us and take a chance on us. And I can assure you that everything I have achieved is because of the incredible people I have been fortunate enough to interact with in my life and in my career.

I briefly thought about who all I would want to specifically thank and my list was quickly over 50 names without even starting in on students and families.  Clearly that isn’t something anyone wants to sit and read, but I do want to recognize my department. The counselors who make up the unbelievable team I get to work with day in and day out are truly extraordinary human beings. They are there to support, answer questions, bounce ideas off of, give a project a try with, and they truly make things happen. Nothing that takes place in our school happens without a team effort and so I thank each of the school counselors who I have had as colleagues or mentors knowing they are at least as worthy of this recognition, if not even more so.

And most of all, I want to thank and recognize my students and their families. People who know me well know that I put my heart, soul, time, and energy into this job and that I refer to my students as being “my kids”. You are “mine” in that you are in my heart forever. It’s interesting, when you work as a high school counselor people would automatically assume we are the ones guiding you. But what I have found is that it is actually a job where I get paid to learn from you. I watch as you overcome struggles, explore who you are and who you’re going to be, and find the courage to try, to show up and care, and to be open, honest and vulnerable on the good days and the bad. I have been able to witness the BEST moments with you: as you achieved a goal you had been working so hard to reach, as you won state championships, got college acceptances, and as I handed you diplomas with hugs of pride. I have even been lucky enough to keep in touch with some former students after they have graduated to be able to see you working in your dream careers, finding and starting your lives with the ones you love, and having children of your own. But, of course, being a high school student/ young adult is not filled with just good days and I have had the honor of being present with students through some of the toughest moments too: grieving the death of people you love, struggling with mental health battles, fighting terrible diseases like cancer, questioning where you fit in this world and if your life mattered (it does!), navigating difficulties with friends or family members, and all the typical struggles of high school. Your courage and willingness to share your lives with me and to allow me to walk alongside you in your journey through high school is something I will forever be thankful for. I love this job and what I get to do each day only because I love you! 

There is no question that the best gift in life are the people who love us.  I am so blessed to have been gifted with so many people who love me so well and who I am given the chance to love in equal measure.  This starts with my family (the 11 of them who provide total steadiness in my life) and continues outward to all of you.  Since the news that I was going to receive this award was announced through and including today, I have received donuts, cookies, gift baskets, figurines and flowers. But above all I have received hugs of congratulations and unbelievably overwhelming words of encouragement, love and affirmation. 

I read a quote recently that said "all the words we say at funerals should be said on birthdays because we tend to leave too much love unspoken." I can assure you, my birthday came a week early and the love that is being spoken is heard and so greatly appreciated.  My heart is overflowing. Thank you all for the support and love as I received this award!

OSU Branch Campus

Have you considered attending an OSU branch campus in the future?  It is a great opportunity for students to have the benefits of being an OSU student right after high school with a better price tag and smaller class sizes.  One challenge of the branch campuses is that housing is limited so most students will commute to the branch or live in apartments in the surrouding area.  

As I mentioned, by attending a branch of OSU you are already a Buckeye.  If you want to transition to main campus after a year of full time classes, you can do that with grades of a C or better - no application needed.  (It is simply a form to change which campus you will be taking your classes.)

If you know that you are not going to be a strong enough candidate for direct admission onto the Columbus Campus, applying directly to the branch can be a beneficial option for many reasons.

1. You don't have to write the essay.

2. OSU has their own direct branch admissions application on their website.

3. There are scholarships set aside specificially for students who apply directly to the branch campus and attend there.

4. If you apply before December 1st, the application fee is waived.

The two closest branch campuses to WKHS are OSU Newark and OSU Marion.  If you haven't already investigated them as options for your future, now is a great time to look into the opportunities on both of those campus locations.

Cap & Gown Orders

Seniors, don't forget, the deadline to order your cap and gown at the discounted rate is October 31st.  You will go to Buckeye Scholastic's website in order to place your order.

Buckeye Scholastic has a ton of options that students can select of various specialty items such as announcements and frames.  I have had many students ask me what is REQUIRED to be ordered - that would be the Cap, Gown and Tassel package.  (No keepsake tassel required.)  So the total cost for that package is $37.90.

If you have a cap and gown that a sibling wore in the last few years that is the right size for you to wear, that is totally fine!  All you need to do is order the package that is the graduation tassel and stole.

It's so wild that it's time to be taking care of all of these official graduation related tasks!

Failures

Probably because I have been having lots of conversations with students stressed about college applications or stressed about first quarter grades, but I have been hearing many students talking about themselves as "being failures."  And I need to make sure that if you are saying or thinking this about yourself, you hear me clearly say that this is NOT correct!  

A failure is an EVENT, not a PERSON!  Too often we get this concept messed up in our minds.  We tend to think that we are a failure when we fall short of a goal or a dream that we had set for ourselves.  But in reality we are not a failure when we don't achieve a goal.  We are just human.

Having the mindset that we will be able to move forward, try new things, learn and and grow without ever failing is setting us up for disappointment because that isn't how life works.  A realistic expectation that we can have for ourselves is that we will learn from the mistakes we make and work to identify new ways to approach challenges.  

So please, if you find yourself falling into the mental trap of believing that you are a failure, try to remind yourself that failures are events you are going through and NOT who you are as a person!

PSAT Scores & Reminders

CollegeBoard has released your PSAT scores today.  Your scores are available electronically.  This means that you will log into your CollegeBoard account to view and download your scores.  (Which is what you will do in the future when you take your SAT as well.)  CollegeBoard has a BigFuture mobile app that you can use for accessing your scores or you can use their website.

If you submitted your email account when completing your answer sheet then you should have received an e-mail from CollegeBoard notifying you that your scores are accessible. Even if you didn't receive an e-mail from CollegeBoard you can still access your scores.

One of the best parts about the PSAT is that CollegeBoard has partnered with Khan Academy to use your scores to make a personalized practice plan.  This is a fantastic option and I strongly encourage you to use it.  If you have questions about this FREE option you can visit the Khan Academy website at: https://www.khanacademy.org/sat

Once you have your scores, you may be wondering what they mean.  The score sheets from PSAT provides a wealth of information so it can take some time to digest it all, but if interested, please know that the counselor website can help give you additional information, tips and links to better understand your scores.   http://www.wkhscounselors.com/. 

Don't forget, this is just a practice test so it is giving you an indication of where you might expect to score on your college admissions tests and you can use your results to help guide you in preparing to achieve college readiness.

A few other reminders:

Keeping with the testing theme, remember that tomorrow is the last day to register for the PreACT on November 7th.  Cost is $15 and is payable through the MyPaymentsPlus system and you need to pay along with sign up on the google form that is linked on the WKHS Counselor website.

And then sophomores, don't forget that the deadline to participate in the field trip to the Delaware Area Career Center which includes completing the google registration form and returning the signed field trip permission slip to the counseling center is also tomorrow (Friday, October 25th).  You must do both steps by the end of the day tomorrow to participate in the DACC field trip next month.

AP Exam Registration

By now, all students should have “joined” the AP course online at the beginning of the year to access resources from the CollegeBoard throughout the year.  You will need your CollegeBoard account information to login and join the AP classes you are taking.  (If you have taken the PSAT, SAT, or AP Exams in the past then you already have a CollegeBoard Account.)

If you have a CollegeBoard account, it is important to use that account (and not to create a new one) as your scores from previous CollegeBoard assessments (PSAT, SAT, AP exams) are linked to your account.  If you already have established a CollegeBoard account, please visit myap.collegeboard.org and make certain that you can log in. If you have forgotten your password, you may call 1-888-225-5427 or email apstudents@info.collegeboard.org for assistance. 

If you have not already established a CollegeBoard student account, please sign up by going to myap.collegeboard.org. Make sure you write down and save your log-in information for future reference.  Remember, when you are setting up your CollegeBoard account, you do NOT want to use your school email account as your wscloud account cannot accept emails from outside of the district.

If you have questions, about establishing your account or linking it to the AP resources, please contact College Board at 1-888-225-5427 or email apstudents@info.collegeboard.org.

In addition to joining the class through CollegeBoard, students who are planning to take the AP test will need to sign up and pay for the test through the MyPaymentsPlus system. The cost of the test is $100 if students register prior to November 1st. After November 1st there is a $40 late fee up through February 21st. There are no options for ordering tests after the February 21st late registration deadline. Please also note that for students who qualify for free/ reduced lunch, you still need to register through the MyPaymentsPlus system, but it will automatically show your fee as $0 instead of $100.

AP Exams will take place at WKHS from May 5-16, 2025.

Here is a link to the information that was sent home to all students/ parents who are currently enrolled in an AP class.

And here is a link to the district website with additional information and details related to AP testing.

Please don't miss the chance to register as a way to help earn free college credit!

CSS Profile

We are still more than a month away from the FAFSA being released for this year, but I wanted to be sure to remind you that you need to look at your desired colleges closely to see what their financial aid requirements include.

At some of the more competitive colleges - particularly those who cover all of demonstrated need for students, in addition to requiring the FAFSA, many of those colleges will also require that students and families will submit the CSS profile.  The FAFSA helps colleges determine federal aid, but the CSS profile helps colleges determine institutional aid.  The CSS profile typically asks for a lot more detailed information from families than the FAFSA does.  And while the FAFSA is free to complete, there are fees associated with the CSS profile, but fee waivers are also offered.

Usually this is a topic students figure out as they are going through the whole financial aid application process and the CSS profile is just another step in that process, but with the timing of the FAFSA being delayed, I realized that the CSS profile dates and timing haven't changed and so I wanted to encourage you to double check if your intended colleges are requiring the CSS profile and to watch your deadlines closely so that you don't miss them while waiting for the FAFSA to be released.

Here is a link to an article about completing the CSS Profile.

As always, feel free to stop and see me if you have any questions about the CSS profile requirements.

AI and College Essays

How are your college essay drafts coming along?  I saw a LOT of students who were wanting help with their essays and got email drafts of essays from many more so I know that this is definitely a stressful point of emphasis for many seniors right now.  I wanted to give you a few reminders related to AI and your essays.

1. Do NOT use AI to write your essay for you!  That is a hard no.  If you want to go to college, write your own essay.  There are a million reasons for this, but let's be honest, you already know that you should so just do it - write it yourself and get it over with.

2. You CAN use AI to help give you feedback about your essay.  But you should only be using this tool in the same way that you would ask a parent, teacher or friend to review your essay.  You shouldn't be asking any of those people to re-write your essay draft and you shouldn't use AI for that purpose either.  And you're possibly thinking, but you just said we can use it to give us feedback and that is true.  Feedback is different than rewriting your essay!

One of the questions I think is really helpful to ask anyone editing your essay to tell you is, "what did you learn about me" when reading my essay and making sure that the message they came away with is the same one that you had intended.  This would be an example of the type of feedback you can appropriately use AI to help you with as well.  Prompting for feedback on what characteristics/ values were explicitly or implicity conveyed in the essay can be a great use of AI.

You can also use AI to provide general suggestions to consider when you are revising your essay.  Perhaps it will point out that you use the same words repeatedly throughout your essay or that you would benefit from varying your sentence structure, but asking for suggestions vs having AI rewrite it is the essential element of what is vs is not acceptable.

Good luck as you continue working on revising your essays!

2nd Quarter Begins

Thursday marked the end of the first quarter.  This provides a natural point for you to pause and reflect.  Remember, quarter grades are not included on your transcript - just semester grades. But this means that you have reached the half-way point in earning the grades that will be on your transcript.  

Some of the questions you should ask yourself include: Are you where you want to be?  If you are not, what do you need to do different to turn things around?  If you need ideas for how you can improve your grades, I strongly encourage you to meet individually with your teacher.  You should also take advantage of the help available from the academic assistants in the Teaching and Learning Center (which is located in the library).  You are also welcome to stop by and talk to me and we can try to brainstorm some ideas to help.  If you are happy with your current progress, congratulations!  Make sure you think about what you have done that has been helpful to your success and continue to put forward those same actions.

Also, a reminder to you and your parents - report cards are not printed and sent home - you will be able to access your report cards on Infinite Campus as of the middle of next week.

It is also important to remember that your first quarter grade will make up 45% of your semester grade.  Your 2nd quarter grade will make up another 45%.  And your final exam will make up the remaining 10%.  So that means that you have 55% of your grade left to earn for the semester.  If your grades aren't where you want them to be, remember that every point matters and start now to get it turned back around!

I hope that you enjoyed the long weekend and are looking forward to kicking off the 2nd quarter tomorrow!

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, however, a great deal of flexibility as students reach their junior and senior years. One of those options includes the possibility of attending the Delaware Area Career Center.

Today, all sophomores had a chance to listen to a presentation about the Delaware Area Career Center (DACC) and the programs they have available for students. Attending DACC 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.  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. 

If you are interested in participating in the field trip to the DACC, remember that there are 2 steps required to complete the process.  The first step is to fill out the Google Form by following the QR Code on the DACC packet.  The second step is to turn in your permission slip signed by a parent to participate in the field trip on Friday, November 22nd.  If you are interested in exploring this option more, please be sure to fill out your google form and return your permission slip to the tray in the front of the counseling center.

Transcript Requests

I wanted to remind everyone that if you are in the process of applying to college you need to make sure you fill out the transcript release form.  This process must be completed for EVERY college where you are applying!  The transcript release form is a Google Form and there is a link to it on the WKHS Counselor website. (Imagine on right side will take you to it and also if you hover over College/ Career it is a drop down option.)

If you are applying to schools utilizing the Common Application or Send EDU, your transcript will be submitted electronically.  You will need to report me as your school counselor on the Recommendation page so that I am assigned the transcript data responsibility and given access to submit them on your behalf.  If you are unsure how to do this, bring your common app username and password to school with you and we will fill out the invitation component together.  

Some students have asked me if you have to be done with your applications to request your transcript and the short answer is no!  But you don't really want us sending transcripts to colleges where you're not actually going to apply.  So if you are 100% sure that you are applying to a school, you can go ahead and fill out the transcript release form to give us that permission to submit the transcript on your behalf.

Also, I will give one more plug for tomorrow night's College Application Completion Workshop.  The counselors will be available from 5-6:30 in the Commons to help work with students on completing your college applications.  If you're not totally finished with your applications, I hope you will join us to get some focused work on your applications accomplished.

And, on a separate note, for all junior students and parents, don't forget, tomorrow night at 7pm in the auditorium we will host the Planning for College Information night!  I hope to see you there!

Early Decision

Seniors are in very different places regarding where they are with the college application process. A few of you have barely given a thought to where all 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 if they should apply under Early Decision. Remember, as I explained previously, 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 a wise choice. 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 that you will withdraw 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. 

Some of you may be wondering what the advantage is to applying Early Decision. Aside from getting your admissions decision earlier, there is a statistical advantage at some schools where applying as an early decision student can increase your potential to be accepted at the school. This is, in part, due to the fact that it eliminates the concern from the college's side of if you will choose to actually come to their college in the future or not.  The data on how many of their accepted students actually end up coming and attending their college in the future is one of the factors that impacts college rankings and therefore it is an important predictor for colleges. Please know though, that just because you are applying early decision wouldn't make up for the fact that you still have to be academically competitive for that college.

Remember, if you plan on applying early decision, I need to know ahead of time because there is a form I must sign off on indicating that I have talked to you and your parents to confirm that you fully understand the binding nature of applying early decision.

Reminders about Tomorrow

I have lots of reminders for all of you about tomorrow (Monday, October 14th):

1. Room Changes: The new science classrooms are officially completed and opening tomorrow.  That means all of your science classes will be moved into the new rooms.  The classrooms that had been meeting on the back bridge (primarily foreign language rooms although there are a few other as well) are being moved into the new rooms that the science department had previously been housed in so that the bridge classrooms can be remodeled next.  What does that mean for students?  It means that there are a LOT of classrooms that have changed location - including some academic prep rooms.  Please be sure to look at Infinite Campus to see the exact room locations for where your classes will be meeting as of tomorrow.  All of the room assignments are up to date in IC so you can see if you have any classes changing location.

2. Hallway Closure: Going along with the room changes, your typical hallway path throughout the building may also need to adjust because the back bridge hallway will be completely closed off to students while they work on remodeling of those rooms.  So, if you are moving from a math classroom to a science classroom, you won't be able to use the back hallway and will need to walk up towards the hall closer to the commons and across to get between rooms.

3. Full Scale Evacuation Drill: Every 3 years Worthington schools and the local EMS/ Police departments all partner together to participate in a full-scale evacuation drill.  That drill will take place tomorrow during 2nd period.  You will be on a modified bell schedule with most classes being 37 minutes in length in order to give time for the evacuation drill.  Remember, we participate in drills like this because we want to make sure that ALL of us know what we would ever do if there was a crisis that required an evacuation of the building and because YOUR safety is of the utmost importance to us.  So it is always helpful to practice something so that, heaven forbid, something would ever happen at WKHS, you'd know what was being asked of you in an evacuation.

4. Parent/ Teacher Conferences: Tomorrow evening kicks off Night 1 of Parent/ Teacher conferences.  Students, if you think it would be beneficial for you and/or your parents to meet with your teacher, ask your parent to set up a conference for tomorrow or Wednesday and then you can participate in the meeting with your parent (or just send in your parent).  Parents, this is a GREAT opportunity to learn more about what your son/ daughter is doing in class, what their strengths and weaknesses are, and identify strategies that you can use to help them at home as well as sharing with the teachers any feedback about what might help them to better connect with your child.  Conferences play a vital role in the connection between the school and parents so I hope you'll take advantage of them.

5. Pre-Apprenticeship Partnership Presentation: And last but certainly not least, the counselors are hosting an information night for students and parents about the Pre-Apprenticeship programs that Worthington Schools have partnerships with so that students can learn about these hands-on learning opportunities and how they can translate into job prospects for after graduation.  This is an important evening for anyone hoping to participate in a Pre-Apprenticeship either this year or next year.  Join us at 6pm in the WKHS Auditorium.

Clearly, it will be a busy day, but it will be a great day too!

College App Completion Workshop

It may seem scary how fast time flies and that college application deadlines are rapidly approaching.  I don't want you to be haunted by your applications!  Even though it may be getting dark outside, on Wednesday, October 16th, from 5:00 - 6:30pm, the counselors will be in the Commons to assist you.  The most important trick is to bring your information with you.  Sometimes the essays may seem spooky and common app can be ghastly, but do not be afraid - the counselors are here to help!  No costumes are required, but we will have some treats.  You don't want to boo hoo because you miss it.  :-)

Students are in very different places in their application process.  A few of you still haven't started and so this will be a great opportunity for you to get started with your applications with our support and assistance.  Most of you have started, but are struggling to get finished and so if you need help finalizing your essays or just finding the time to be able to work through your application and get it finished, this is the perfect opportunity to complete your applications.

While I understand that coming back to school or not leaving after practice isn't very appealing, the reality is that it will make a difference.  By spending an hour and a half on focused application work, I am confident you will find the progress you make on your applications worth the sacrifice.  So, unless you have finished 100% of your applications, I hope you will join me and the rest of the counselors in the Commons on Wednesday the 16th to work on finishing them!

ACT/ SAT Score Submissions

I feel like this week has been filled with conversations about testing... even the blog has highlighted PSAT and Pre-ACT this week.  So I am just embracing the theme and continuing it tonight.

Seniors, if you are planning on applying to colleges and having them consider your test scores from the ACT or SAT, it is important that you have sent your scores directly from the testing agencies to your colleges.  This is a step that can be done far in advance, but because there isn't a key timeline for getting it done ahead of the deadline, it can be a step that inadvertently gets forgotten and then causes problems with applications being marked as complete so that they can be processed.

Your test scores are NOT on your transcript so the only way that the colleges will have access to your scores is if you arrange for them to be sent from the testing agency directly.  You received the option to send your scores to 4 colleges free of charge when you signed up to take the test.  There is an additional charge for any additional tests beyond those 4 that you want to send your scores to for consideration.  

You can log into the ACT and SAT websites to review your scores including where they have already been sent and make sure that every college you are considering that you want to see your scores has received a copy of your test results.  And, it is also directly on the ACT and SAT websites that you will pay to have your scores sent to any additional colleges.

I do strongly encourage you to just get this step taken care of and crossed off your list so that you're not scrambling at the last minute or missing the early action deadlines because you didn't send in your scores in time.

Pre-Apprenticeship Opportunities

Are you someone who isn't actually sold on the idea of college being your next direct step after high school graduation?  There are a lot of students who don't love school and can't imagine going directly on to college, but don't always know the options that are available in our community that isn't a direct to college pathway.  This year, helping make sure students and parents know of the range of opportunities available is a goal for us.

To help start sharing that information with students and families, next Monday, October 14th at 6pm in the Auditorium we will have a Pre-Apprenticeship Night.  

The Pre-Apprenticeship Night will allow families to learn about, hear directly from, and meet the staff at the Pre-Apprenticeship locations which Worthington Schools have a partnership with for students to be able to work and earn credit at the same time.  These locations include: Worthington Enterprises, Worthington Steel, Simpson Strong Tie, and Performance Columbus Drive Direct.

Current seniors can explore the options from Worthington Enterprises, Worthington Steel, and Simpson Strong Tie for the 2nd semester of THIS year! (They are semester only programs.)

Performance Columbus' Drive Direct Pre-Apprenticeship program is a full-year long program and so current Juniors who are interested should attend to learn about this program for next fall.  (Applications and interviews will be held in the 2nd semester of this year.)

We are excited and grateful for these partnership experiences that are available to our students.  If you have ever thought about something like a pre-apprenticeship or, maybe you haven't but are curious to try to see if it might be a fit, I strongly encourage you (and your parents) to come and check out the presentation next Monday night.  I look forward to seeing you there!

Pre-ACT

Congratulations to all of the students who successfully completed the PSAT today!  I realize that thinking about even more testing right after you took the PSAT isn't always the top of your priority list, but I wanted to make sure that you (and your parents) knew that registration for the Pre-ACT is now open!

There are a few things to know that might help you decide if you are interested in taking the Pre-ACT or not.

1. The test is open to sophomores and juniors only.

2. There is a cost to sign up for the Pre-ACT.  The charge is $15.

3. The Pre-ACT is the practice test for the ACT.  (This year, Juniors will be taking the SAT at WKHS for free in March.  If you decide you want to take the ACT instead, you will have to sign up and take that on a Saturday national test date instead.)

4. The Pre-ACT is a paper/ pencil test.  (The actual ACT is offered both paper/ pencil or digitally, but more students and more national testing sites administer it as a paper/ pencil test so that is what we are doing for the practice test too.)

5. Taking the PSAT and the Pre-ACT is a great way for students to experience both tests and be able to compare them to see which one you like better.  If you know which test you feel more comfortable with (and which one you scored better on for the practice tests) that can help you decide which one you would want to focus your test prep on for the actual ACT/ SAT admissions tests.

6. The Pre-ACT will be offered to Kilbourne students on Thursday, November 7th.

7. The PreACT also includes a career component to help students identify career interests and potential career fields to explore.

8. There is a LIMIT to the number of students who can take the Pre-ACT at Kilbourne on November 7th!  Space will be limited to the first 200 registrants.  (This is important because, for comparison sake, we had over 400 students take the PSAT today.  So, we have half of the number of seats available for the Pre-ACT which means if you are interested in signing up you will want to register soon.)

9. Registration is a 2-step process.  You will need to complete the registration google doc which is linked on the Counselor Website - www.wkhscounselors.com - and then log into your MyPaymentsPlus account to pay the $15 test registration fee.

If you have any questions or need any help getting signed up for the Pre-ACT, don't hesitate to stop by and see me!

PSAT Reminder

Don't forget - tomorrow is the day when many Kilbourne sophomores and juniors will take the PSAT.  

If you are one of the students who will be taking the PSAT, you will report directly to your testing location at your designated testing time.  (For most students, that will be the gym in the morning- 8:30 check in for an 8:40 start.  Juniors will primarily be in the main gym and sophomores will primarily be in the aux gym.)  You will need to bring your student id with you in order to check in.  One of my most important reminders is do NOT forget your FULLY CHARGED district issued chromebook!  If you haven't already opened and launched BlueBook to make sure that it is updated and working properly, I strongly encourage you to do that tonight before you get to testing tomorrow. 

As with every standardized test, you will not be allowed to have your cell phone or smart watch on you at any time during testing.  With the test being digital, I would still encourage you to bring a calculator if you like using a traditional calculator better than the digital one online, a writing utensil to use with the scratch paper you will be given, and I would recommend a normal watch if you prefer to track timing on your own. 

You will be able to have water and a snack under your table for easy access during breaks, but you cannot eat or drink at all during the test.  As you know, the temperature in the building varies greatly.  So because we don't know what to expect in the gym, I strongly encourage that you dress in layers so that you can add a sweatshirt or take it off depending on how hot or cold you might be during testing.  As with normal school days, you are not allowed to put up a hood during testing - this is a school rule, but more importantly, it is also a testing rule you must follow.  Also, PSAT does NOT permit you to wear ballcaps so those hats will also need to be removed.

If you haven't already watched this short (less than 3 minute) video about the digital PSAT, I would strongly recommend that you review it.  Knowing ways that you can flag a question, eliminate options, etc will only help you tomorrow when you are testing.

As a reminder for all of the other students - I will be helping to administer the PSAT tomorrow, so I will not be available to meet with you until later in the afternoon.  Sorry.  To those of you who will be testing, get a good night's sleep, be sure to eat breakfast and good luck testing tomorrow!

Parent/ Teacher Conferences

Parents, if you are interested in arranging to meet with one of your son or daughter’s teachers during conferences, the online system will open tomorrow morning for you to register for a meeting slot.  Conferences will be scheduled as people sign up for them, so if you want to make sure you have times that work well for you, I strongly encourage you to register right away.  

Conferences will be held on Monday, October 14th from 4:00 - 7:30pm and on Wednesday, October 15^th from 5:00 - 8:40pm.  Each conference will be scheduled in 15 minute time blocks.  Conferences allow parents the chance to learn about your student’s classroom performance from the teachers, it allows the opportunity for you to ask questions and they provide an opportunity to build a dialogue with the teachers regarding any thoughts and concerns you might have.  

Please follow the steps below to register for a parent/ teacher conference:

- Follow this link to take you to the conference scheduler:  http://ptcfast.com/schools/Worthington_Kilbourne_High_School 

-  Click on the teacher you would like to meet with for a conference.

-  Sign up by entering your child's last name, first name, your name and your e-mail address and then click Submit.

-  The next screen will direct you to check your e-mail inbox for a message with the subject "Select Date/ Team for Teacher Conference Now."

-  Open the e-mail and click on the link to select a conference time.  If you do not receive an e-mail, please check your junk/ spam folder.  Please note, you MUST follow the link in the e-mail in order to complete the sign-up process.

-  The link will take you to a Time Picker.  Available time slots will appear on this page.  If there are no available appointments that suit your schedule, please e-mail the teacher directly to set up an alternate meeting time.

-  After submitting your time slot, you will be prompted to finish, schedule another appointment for the same student or register another student.  Once you have completed your reservations, you will receive an e-mail confirming the date and time of your conferences and a link by which you can make changes to your date or time if you need to do so.

If you have any problems using the online conference registration system, please contact Sharon DeSantis at WKHS.  She can be reached by e-mail at sdesantis@wscloud.org or by phone at 614-450-6400.

Also, as a reminder, we have the Junior Planning for College night on Wednesday evening of conferences starting at 7pm so junior parents who want to meet with teachers for conferences and then come to the college information meeting can do it all in 1 night.  We hope that will help make attendance easier on families!

Students of the Month

Yesterday was the year's first Student of the Month Ceremony.  There were 26 Kilbourne students who were recognized for their contributions that make WKHS a better place - in the classroom and beyond.  This is an honor that students can only earn once during their high school years.

A huge congratulations to "my" 7 students who were among those honored at yesterday's ceremony.  In alphabetical order: John Alley, Jimmy Alvarado Dominguez, AJ Brockway, Sarah Carr, Sebastian Chavez Macas, Brandon Christian, and Kaleb Colegrove.  I am proud of you all and thankful for the positive impact you have at Kilbourne!

Columbus Suburban College Fair

The Columbus Suburban College Fair is coming up on Sunday, October 13th from 1:00 - 3:30pm at Otterbein University in the Clements Center (180 Center St., Westerville, OH 43081).  This is the largest local fall college fair and a great opportunity for our students.

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.

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 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.

All students are asked to register with Strive Scan by visiting www.strivefair.com because this will allow for you to have a bar code specific to you.  Then, when you are at the college fair next weekend and you talk to a college that interests you, they can simply scan your barcode and that will allow the college to know of your interest. I promise you, this is a MAJOR improvement over the days when students had to hand write out interest cards at each college table.

I encourage you to check out the Columbus Suburban College Fair information on the front page of the WKHS Counselor website for more information about this year's event.

A few other hints:

It can be useful to ask the same questions of each college so that you can compare them and their responses appropriately and I encourage you to 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 - I suggest a pen or pencil over a phone because even though your phones are amazing for the notes app, the impression it may give to colleges is that you're not engaged in what is happening and are side tracked and paying attention to your phone instead. It is a crazy event with so much happening, so 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 had not 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 college fair you will likely have a bag filled with information about colleges. One of the best college fair articles suggested, “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.”

If you have never been to a college fair before, I admit that it often feels like mass chaos.  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.  Good luck and happy college searching… I can’t wait to hear about the schools that spark your interest!

Planning for College Night

Save the date!  In 2 weeks, on Wednesday, October 16th the WKHS Counseling department will be hosting a Student and Parent College Planning Information Night. Historically, this presentation has received some of the best feedback out of all of the information nights we host. The students and parents who attended this meeting in the past have expressed how much this helped them get started and move forward with the college search process and developed a better understanding of what to expect along the way.  The meeting is primarily targeted at juniors, but sophomores and freshmen are welcome to attend if interested. The meeting will take place at 7:00pm in the Auditorium. 

I hope you will plan to attend! And yes, I want you to bring your parents to this meeting and no, I don't want you to just send your parents instead... this is YOUR future and you are responsible for deciding what direction you will take.

A Month Out

Many of you are planning to try to apply to colleges before November 1st - a common early deadline for colleges.  (For the record, some colleges have early deadlines of October 15th and some have early deadlines that are later, but many are falling on Nov 1 this year.)  That means you are exactly 1 month away from when you need to hit submit!

Time sure goes fast doesn't it?!

I spent quite a bit of time today going through the Common Applications that I have received from students and I have a few reminders for you...

You need to request for your transcript to be submitted to each college where you plan on applying.  You will do this by filling out the Transcript Request Form.  It is on the WKHS Counselor website - www.wkhscounselors.com - by hovering over College/ Career it is the bottom pull down option.  I cannot submit your transcript onto Common App without having this filled out!

It is ESSENTIAL to watch your deadlines carefully! You need to provide plenty of time for the transcript to be processed. Most college due dates are for all materials (and not just the application) to be received in their office before that date. Don’t forget that many colleges also have earlier due dates than those publicized to be considered for scholarships so you need to read carefully. For your transcript and school forms to be completed on time, you need to be sure that you have invited me AND filled out the transcript release form at least 3 school days in advance.

If you want colleges to consider your test scores when evaluating your application, you also need to verify that your official test scores were sent from the testing organization (ACT/ SAT) directly to the college. If you did not have them sent to that particular school when you registered to take the test then you will need to pay the fee to have them sent if the college requires official scores from the testing agency.

If you are applying to colleges that require a recommendation letter, hopefully you have already asked your teacher or me and given us your forms.  Remember, you are supposed to give all Kilbourne staff at least a month to write a rec letter for you.  So, if you need a letter and haven't already asked someone, please put this as your #1 immediate priority!  And, if your college doesn't ask for a rec letter then please let the pressure for seeking a recommendation letter go - colleges repeatedly tell us that they are only needing what they ask for in their applications.  If it is optional then it is only helpful to the college if the person who is writing on your behalf is sharing something new about you which isn't already covered in other aspects of your application.  The admissions representatives who are reading your applications only have so much time for each application and so you don't want them to skim through vital parts of your application as they work to read all of the pieces you have submitted if they aren't sharing anything new.

As always, please remember that I am here to help you and will help guide you through the process as we go. Feel free to ask questions and drop in to see me as you work on your applications.