Chicago: Teen Edition

This year's musical is Chicago: Teen Edition and the students and staff involved have been working SO unbelievably hard to prepare for the show! There will be 3 performances of the show - Friday night at 7:30pm, Saturday at 2:00pm and Saturday night at 7:30pm. You will not want to miss out on the chance to see the incredible talent and dedication of our WKHS students in action. Tickets cost $12 and you can register on the Worthington Hometown Ticketing website.

There are over 100 students involved in this production including those who will be featured on stage, those helping behind the scenes to organize the show and manage the effects such as light and sound, and, of course, the musicians who will be performing in the pit orchestra. No matter their role I know they have all been working tirelessly to bring this show to life.

I know many students were able to watch the teaser part of the show's opening today during 8th period and, like me, are excited to see the whole show.  Good luck to everyone involved - you will do great!

Conversations About College

Sometimes we can get so caught up in our own lives that we forget not everyone is in the same situation or feels the same way we do. How we talk about colleges is like everything else in life and we need to approach it with sensitivity and kindness.

What do I mean?

As college admissions decisions arrive, students will sometimes start announcing where they were accepted and their feelings on different schools, forgetting that other students are around. Being accepted is wonderful news and it is completely understandable that you want to shout it from the roof-tops when you have been accepted to a school, but it is also important to be sensitive to those around you and to remember that some of your friends and classmates are NOT being accepted into those very same colleges. 

Receiving a college rejection letter is hard enough, but it is even more hurtful to hear someone else proclaim, "Oh, I was accepted to ___ (insert name of college) but I would never actually go there." Particularly if the school mentioned was the one where a student was recently rejected and had been their top choice college. 

This also plays out when people are talking about colleges where they intend to apply.  Students or parents saying things such as "I would never apply to _____."  This is hard because that college is most definitely someone else's favorite school.

Please understand, in no way am I trying to dampen your excitement, but I just want to encourage you to please try to be respectful and aware in what you say about schools and how you "rate" colleges. Remember, no one school is perfect for every student and every student is not right for every college- it is important to find the right fit and I sincerely believe that every student WILL be able to find the college that is right for them!

AP Test Registration Reminder

Just a quick reminder that the late registration deadline to sign up to take an AP Test this spring is coming up this Friday, February 20th. So for those students who weren't prepared to make the decision on if you wanted to take an AP Test in the spring before the deadline back in the fall can reassess how you are doing in the classes you are taking and if you want to take the AP Test.  Remember, the AP tests are a required step in order to try to be granted college credit for your AP classes. Each college sets their own policy on what classes they will grant credit for and what scores you must earn to receive that credit.  You can search for the policy on the colleges you are considering on the College Board Website.  Registering for an AP Exam now costs $140 ($100 for the test and $40 for the late fee) and you will complete the registration process on the My Payments Plus system.

February Students of the Month

Earlier this month there were 21 students honored as being Kilbourne's February Students of the Month. Nominated by WKHS staff, these students are recognized for demonstrating the characteristics that are the foundation of the Portrait of a Learner - Confident Communicators, Adaptable Leaders, Critical Thinkers, Responsible Collaborators, and Resilient Learners. Students are only eligible to receive this recognition once throughout their high school career.

Congratulations to the following students who were honored this month: Idir Ben Zaid, Ben Blankenship, Kenzo Burgher, Leandro Cobo, Sa'Kiyah Coleman, Murphy David, Layla Graeff, Hannah Karnai, Pierce Malinowski, Alex McCracken, Kelsey McFadden, Reese Miller, Henne Montooth, Andrea Pelcastre, Logan Poe, Jessica Pugh, Luke Renneker, Justin Serralde Romero, Addison VanLear, Cami Vantell, and Megan Vargas. We are proud of you all!

Pass/ Fail & Drop Deadline

Each semester students have the first 6 weeks to be able to make adjustments to their classes. The options involve switching from traditional to pass/ fail grading. This option is not available for core classes, but can be done for many of the introductory level elective courses. Additionally, students who are currently taking above the minimum number of classes can drop a class before the 6 week mark and not have the class appear on their transcript.

This semester, 6 weeks is next Monday, February 16th, which, obviously, is a holiday. As a result, you have until 8am on Tuesday morning to drop your class or to switch to pass/ fail grading. The forms for both of these options are available in the front of the Counseling Center and on the Counselor website.

College Visits

Just a reminder, you can take advantage of the fact that we have a long weekend coming up.  For many students this is the perfect opportunity to make a college visit. Friday will be a traditional day at colleges where students will be going to class and engaging in activities like normal making it an ideal day to visit campus. Additionally, many colleges will host special visit days on Monday because they know high school students are off and so they often plan days to will allow students to learn more about the different programs and opportunities available on their campus. No matter if you are trying to decide what colleges you might want to apply to in the future or if you are a senior trying to decide which of the many schools you applied to will be your future home, I hope you will try to take advantage of the long weekend and make visits.

If you have no idea what colleges you might be interested in for the future, you can still make use of the long weekend by exploring colleges. You can, of course, begin your search online and try to find colleges that fit your interests, but more often than not, students tell me that they don't know what they want in a college. If that is you, then perhaps starting your college search by exploring some nearby campuses would be a valuable use of your time. As you walk around the campus, people watch and listen to the presentations by the college admissions representatives. From these observations and conversations you will begin to gain insight into various aspects of college life. These impressions will help you to start forming more of an idea about what you like and what you don't like in a college. These views will be extremely valuable to you as you start narrowing your college search.

And finally, a reminder that students should be the one to call the admissions offices to set up the college visits rather than having your parents do this for you. The good news is that many colleges have the visit appointments available online so you may be able to do it electronically, but if not the student should make the arrangements. Remember, you are trying to show the colleges that YOU are interested in their college and that you are mature and responsible enough to take this level of initiative.

A 4 day weekend is going to be great and we will be excited to hear about the various colleges you explore during the weekend and what your impressions are of the schools.

Honors Diploma

For some students, earning an Honors Diploma is an important goal. I have to be honest, this is not a factor for the colleges because the honors diploma recognition isn't granted until you graduate so colleges are not considering it when making their admissions decisions. The requirements for the honors diploma are established by the state department of education.

Here is a link to the state's explanation of the Honors Diploma requirements. If it is something you are working towards, please check the requirements and make sure you are planning your classes so that you can earn at least 7 of the 8 required components.

Super Bowl & Olympics

I love watching sports. And, as a result, I absolutely LOVE watching the Olympics! It doesn't even matter what random sport is on, I am willing to watch. And tonight, I will shift gears and watch the Super Bowl too even though I honestly don't care who wins for that game either.

So why? Why do I care to watch when I don't know the athletes and for many of the sports, I don't even know the rules of what I am watching? Because, to me, it is about watching people chase their dreams. And yes, the vast majority of the competitors won't win the gold medal or hoist the Super Bowl trophy in the air at the end of the night, but they all dedicated themselves to a goal that at one time someone probably told them would never happen. And even if they don't win the ultimate prize as being the "best" I still believe that they have achieved their goals and therefore made it all worthwhile.

I suspect you have probably had similar experiences in your life. When you loved something or had a dream for yourself and your future. Maybe it was never so big as to be an Olympian or to play in a Super Bowl, but your own personal goal and dream for your life. I hope you never let anyone tell you that something is impossible. I hope that if you decide to shift your goal/ dream, it is because you have a new, better defined vision for yourself. And I hope that as you watch people chasing after their dreams you can pause, even privately in your own mind and heart, to cheer them on just as we all hope people will cheer for you as you take on your own challenges.

There is no question, these moments of glory - the standing on a podium or on the field getting applause can certainly feel good. But don't ever forget the hundreds of thousands of hours of work, commitment, dedication, and perseverance that was required before they ever reached this point in their lives. Your goals and dreams may (or may not) require that same level of commitment to achieve them and you might not have a crowd giving you a standing ovation when you reach the goal, but it doesn't mean it is any less meaningful if you set your mind to something and achieved it.

And, if you are not a sports fan, I get that too... hopefully if you end up finding yourself watching the Super Bowl or the Olympics you will find yourself inspired by the stories of the athletes, or captured by the creativity of the commercials, or at least able to enjoy some good food while you watch.

YouScience

Do you ever feel like everything happening at school is about your future? I mean, I guess I hope that you think that all of the time as each of your classes is helping to create a foundation of knowledge to help you in the future. But this week in particular I think a lot of students are feeling the future focus in our conversations... in registration 1:1 meetings we have been asking about your future plans and making decisions about your future courses. And during Academic Prep periods the administrators have been working with prep teachers to help support all 9th and 10th grade students to complete their YouScience assessment if students hadn't already completed it.

YouScience is a great assessment tool that lets you learn more about yourself while also highlighting careers that would be a good potential fit.

YouScience is a measure of aptitudes. Aptitudes are your natural abilities to do things. It is not about saying you are good at math or science - it is more about the specific strengths that cross over to various subject areas.

When you take this assessment it is all online so you can do it from any computer or chromebook. The entire process from start to finish is about an hour and a half, but you can split it up over however many settings that works best for you. The assessment consistents of a variety of different small computer challenges (also known as "brain games"). Each of these challenges is timed and you just do the best you can on each one of them. When you start any of those timed tests, you have to finish that piece before you could stop and save to return later.

I took the assessment and was fascinated by all of the information it was able to say about me just from doing these fun tests. At the end,you will receive an email with links to your results. There were 3 main things I liked best about the results. 1, there is a multi-page personal summary that can be downloaded that talked about things that are easier or harder for you based upon your results. 2, there is a discussion summary guide which is a great resource to help you for use in recommendation letters, resumes and college essays. 3, the career specific information is interesting. I really liked that the career information could be divided out so that you could look at it based upon which careers fit for people with your aptitudes, for careers with your interests, or for careers that overlap well with your aptitudes and interests.

If there are any older students who haven't completed the YouScience assessment, I encourage you to do so! There is truly a wealth of knowledge available to you. You can access your YouScience tool for free using the link in HelloID. And, if you have completed it, this is a great time to hop back in and look at your results again and think about possible future career paths and if there are any classes you might want to try out next year to explore an area of interest. And, for what it's worth, I can't wait to hear about which brain games you thought were easier and which ones you thought were harder along, of course, with the results and what you think it says about you!

CC+ Registration Reminders

Tomorrow we will start meeting with sophomore students before transitioning to juniors next week.  One quick reminder to all students who are hoping to participate in CC+ classes at any time next year, you need to bring your completed CC+ forms with you to our 1:1 meeting.

That means you need to have:

- Attended the presentation in person or watched the video on the Counselor website

- Applied to the college(s): Columbus State for English, Psychology, Ethics, Government, or Sociology and Central Ohio Technical College for Math (there are detailed directions to complete this step on the Counselor Website)

- Filled out the Intent to Participate form and full packet (for the CSCC packet, that will include having your Cougar ID number which will come to you via email sometime between 2 days and a week after you have applied.)

If you don't have those steps completed by the time we have your 1:1 meeting that is ok.  We will put your desired CC+ classes in as alternates and change your schedule once you have turned your forms in to us. Remember, the drop-dead deadline for turning in the forms is set by the state as April 1st. But if you want your CC+ classes to be considered when the administrators work on building the master schedule to give you a chance of getting your desired classes, we need to get those forms ASAP, but no later than the end of February.

National College Fair

This coming weekend, WKHS students have the opportunity to attend and participate in a National College Fair.  This event, sponsored by the National Association of College Admissions Counseling, is FREE to attend.  It will be held on Saturday, February 7th, from 1:00-4:00pm at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

Admissions reps from over a hundred colleges will be available to speak one-to-one with students and parents about the college admissions process, including paying for college, admissions requirements, activities on campus and more. The fair also features information on gap year and pre-college summer programming.

Students who plan to attend should register for the National College Fair online at: https://www.nacacattend.org/26GreaterColumbus and this website also has more information to help you make the most of your time at the college fair.

Don't miss out on this great opportunity to learn more about colleges and finding the schools that will the best fit for you.

• Saturday, February 7th
• 1:00-4:00pm
• Greater Columbus Convention Center

Parent/ Teacher Conferences

Tomorrow we will start meeting with every 9th grader and I'm looking forward to a busy, but meaningful day!

I also wanted to make sure that all parents know that Parent/ Teacher conferences are coming up next week and the online system for parents to sign up for a time to meet with teachers opened this morning. Conferences will be held on Monday, February 9th from 4:00pm - 7:30pm and Wednesday, February 11th from 5:00pm – 8:30pm. 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.

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.

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

• 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.
• Go to http://ptcfast.com/schools/Worthington_Kilbourne_High_School This will take you to the conference scheduler.
• 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 email 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.

PE Waiver

The PE waiver provides the opportunity for students to waive having PE as a required class for graduation. This option is available to students participating in high school athletics including cheerleading and marching band. (For ease of explaining and writing this, when I refer to sports or athletics throughout this post, please know that it also includes marching band.) All students must still earn the full 20 credits to graduate from high school, this waiver would simply mean that what has typically been required (1/2 credit of Physical Education) would not need to be included in the 20 credits earned and an additional 1/2 credit of Elective would be required instead.

Please be aware that athletic participation during your senior year does NOT count toward the waiver.

In order to qualify for the waiver, students must successfully complete two full seasons of athletics.  This can be 2 different sports in one year, it could be 1 sport over two years, or even 1 sport one year and another sport the other year. So, for example, if you participate in both football and basketball in the same year, you would qualify for the waiver. If you participate in football as a sophomore and again as a junior, you would qualify for the waiver.  If you participate in football as a sophomore and track as a junior, you would qualify for the waiver.

In order to have your sport counted as one which can be used for the waiver, it must be an approved high school sport. This means that your club sport participation, like club soccer or club volleyball, is not included in the waiver eligibility. Also, dance team and the competition cheer team are all club teams and not high school sponsored athletics and so they are not eligible for the waiver option.  Additionally, team managers and statisticians cannot count their involvement as a season toward the waiver.

Students must complete a "full season" in order to have the sport count which is considered from the first practice through the last event or banquet. If a student is "cut" from a team, quits, or has an athletic/ activity code violation which requires them to forfeit 50% or more of the season, then that season would not be able to be used to meet the two-season requirement. If you were to get hurt, the injury will not eliminate the option of having the season count if the principal, coach and athletic director determine that the student actively participated and made contributions in spite of the injury.

Many students ask if it can be a partial waiver because they had completed 1 season of sport and so they only want to have to take 1 PE class and the answer is no, there is no ability to mix and match. If you have already completed a PE course, you can still utilize the waiver to eliminate PE as a required course, but you must complete 2 seasons of sports in order to qualify for the waiver. The bottom line is that 0 seasons of sports = needs PE/ doesn't meet the waiver eligibility requirement, 1 season of sport = needs PE/ doesn't meet the waiver eligibility requirement, and 2 seasons of sports = meets the waiver eligibility requirement and therefore doesn't need PE classes.

The district has developed a system to track your athletic participation automatically and that happens at the end of each school year. Even though it should catch your sports automatically, it never hurts to double check at the end of the year to make sure your waiver appears on your transcript.