Confidentiality

Having safe adults that you can talk to and trust is an important aspect of navigating life as a high schooler. In addition to your parents and teachers, as counselors we hope to work to be able to earn your trust so we can also be one of those safe people in your life.

It is important to know that there are limits to confidentiality. Some of those limits are long-standing, consistent aspects. If you are at risk to yourself or someone else, we must report it. If someone is harming you (abuse or neglect), we must report it.

What is new in limits to confidentiality are some of the new Ohio laws that we must follow. If you share information with us related to gender - such as wanting to use a different name or pronouns, then we must share that information with your parents.

Another new requirement within the Ohio law is that we must notify your parents if you have had a "substantial change" academically, physically, or emotionally. 

Knowing that your trust is important, we want to make sure you understand that these new laws and requirements are in place. All of it is with the goal of helping to make sure you have as many positive, supportive adults in your life as possible. So if you have any questions about confidentiality, please don't hesitate to ask!

Lexi

Do you know who was REALLY excited for school to start again?  Lexi!

For those new to WKHS (either incoming freshmen or students who have moved to Worthington), Lexi is short for Lexington. She is a Miniature Goldendoodle (which means that she is a mix between a Golden Retriever and a Miniature Poodle.) Lexi weighs 23 pounds and she is hypoallergenic which means she should not be a problem for students with allergies.

Lexi is a therapy dog and she LOVES coming to school to spend time with students and staff. Her only goal is to love and be loved and she has definitely missed the love and attention from everyone throughout the summer. So, in case you need a reason to stop by the counseling center to say Hi, remember that Lexi will be there and, like us, she will be thrilled to see you.

Back to School

It's a school night!  :-)

Can you believe summer is over?  Tonight is a school night which means you are going to have to try to go to bed at a decent time so that you can function during the day tomorrow.  I hope you enjoyed your last day of summer vacation and are getting excited about coming back to school. I am looking forward to seeing everyone again!

Today we had a great day welcoming the freshmen students to Kilbourne. I was so impressed with the Link Leaders who made the day fun, meaningful and welcoming to the 9th graders. Thank you Link Leaders for your service and commitment. I was proud of how you demonstrated your leadership and set the standards for what can be expected at the high school. You set a great example for the Class of 2030 of what it means to be a part of our Pack. 

We're looking forward to seeing you all in the morning.  Sleep well!

You Made It!

Congratulations! You have officially made it to the end of the 2025-26 School Year. It still feels like we just started the semester and we blinked and somehow here we are. We hope you are proud of how the year went and that you are pleased with how you finished the year academically. Enjoy the start of your summer and please stay safe!

Lexi & Exams

1 more day of exams!! Are you excited that you only have 2 exams remaining in your year? Most students have said their exams haven't been as bad as they had expected which is always encouraging news.

Do you know who is NOT excited that there is just 1 day of school remaining?  Lexi.  She is NOT ready for summer and NOT ready for everyone to leave her. In fact, this week has been quiet in the counseling center except for the breaks and lunch period and she has been acting so sad. It is kind of comical to watch and several of the students and staff who have been around have noticed. 

So tomorrow, with very little break time between your exams and then everyone leaving for the summer, I anticipate Lexi will be very sad to see you all go, but we will be at the doors so she can see as many people as possible to say goodbye and get one last "belly rub" before you all leave. But if you do have a few extra moments or are stressing with your exams, please stop by and see Lexi... and us too of course.

Summer Plans

Summer is a great time to relax and unwind from the hectic schedule of homework, studying and the general day to day expectations of school. But your summer shouldn’t just be wasted away into day after day of doing “nothing.” The summer is a perfect time to explore your passions, investigate your interests and indulge in fun activities that you might not have time for during the regular school year. As we have just a few days of school left in the year, we want to encourage you to start thinking about what you will do this summer to make sure that you have a productive summer and don’t spend the entire break being bored.

So, what are some ideas of how you can spend your summer? Consider taking a class (or two) in summer school. This is especially important if you are behind in credits and not doing well in school. Success rates of summer school completion are very high – in part because you are able to focus on just one subject at a time and you generally have smaller class sizes so the teacher can focus more one-on-one time with each student. If you are planning on taking a class in summer school it is important to sign up as soon as possible to make sure that you will not be closed out of the class of your choice.

Perhaps you are looking for ideas that do not involve more school… Summer vacation is a great time to expand your resume and pursue your passions by volunteering or working a summer job.  If you're still looking for summer job opportunities we have a page on the Counselor website highlighting some organizations who have reached out because they are seeking employees. And, with regards to volunteering, many students don’t know where to volunteer and the truth is the sky is the limit – anything that interests you has the potential for being a volunteer service project. Get creative in your approach! For ideas about existing needs for volunteers you can visit HandsOn Central Ohio.  

If you are starting to consider different careers, perhaps you have a family member or friends that would allow you to shadow them for a day or two on the job to see what their particular career is really like as this will help you determine if that career is truly of interest to you.

Current juniors (Soon to be Seniors) – this summer is going to be busy as you prepare for your senior year. Hopefully you are taking the time to visit colleges from your list and getting an idea of what you think about different schools. You can also begin drafting your college application essays and preparing for the ACT and SAT exams.

Of course, there is always spending quality time reconnecting with your family and friends, going on vacation, reading, and even attending camps or other formal activities which can be a part of the summer for many. If you are interested in learning about some of the camp opportunities - many of which are offered on college campuses, please be sure to check out the camp opportunities page on the WKHS Counselor website as we continue adding summer enrichment experiences to the site as we receive them.

The bottom line is try to be productive this summer – at the very least it will give you great stories to share next fall when people ask you what you did over the summer.

Happy New Year

** First, I want to remind anyone reading this blog site that I have discontinued the automatic email posts coming from this site. You can sign up to have the posts sent to you automatically from the new blog site - www.wkhscounselors.wordpress.com. I have written and sent 3,951 blog posts since launching this site... which is pretty crazy. I appreciate all of the students and families as well as colleagues who have followed along the way. The new site is simply a way for all WKHS students and families to gather the information and not just "my" families. So please, join us there. And know that I appreciate you still coming back to read the updates.**

Happy New Year! 2026... I wonder how many times I will write 2025 out of habit and if that will continue beyond the month of January. (History would tell me that the answer will be I'll write the wrong date often and far into the year...) But here we are, ready to roll with the 2nd semester and a full 5 day week to get us right back into things.

I hope that you had a restful break and that you're feeling ready to be back at school... or at least ready to see your friends, teachers and classmates again! I haven't been awake even remotely close to "school time" throughout all of break so I am anticipating that waking up in the morning will be rough. I suspect I'm not alone in that concern.

One of the exciting aspects about returning to school tomorrow that I am looking forward to is seeing the new library space and the new Student Services office area - both of which are expected to be back up and running tomorrow. I think those areas being open is going to make our school seem WAY less like a construction zone than it has in the past. I believe that the athletic training room, sports lockers, and music wing addition are the big spaces that the construction teams will be continuing to work on in the 2nd semester - so that is a much smaller area of impact than what we have seen previously. Yay!

In addition to checking out the new spaces of the school, be sure to check Infinite Campus to see which of your semester long classes have changed and where you'll be going for all of the new classes. I know that there is always a lot of uncertainty about how much you will or will not like your classes or the timing of your lunch period and who you will know in the classes or in your lunches. Just try to go into tomorrow with an open mind and hopefully you'll find that you love your schedule. If you don't, remember that you will need to do a schedule change form. These forms are available on the Counselor Website for you to download or you can pick up a form from the front of the Counseling Center - it is on the black shelves to the left of the front entrance near the secretaries. Those forms are required for any year-long classes that you are going to drop and any other significant changes that you are trying to make.

Seniors, remember, you need to think VERY hard about making any schedule changes that could be seen by the colleges as changing your level of rigor from your application. The colleges asked for your senior year schedule because the classes you are taking matter to them. If you decide that you are going to change your schedule, please be sure to double check with each of the colleges to let them know about your planned schedule change and confirm with them that it will not negatively impact your admissions decision BEFORE you make a change to your schedule.

Looking forward to seeing you all and hearing both about your break and what you're hoping for in the new year!

Snow Day!

I absolutely LOVE a snow day! There is something that feels extra magical about them. Perhaps they make me feel like a kid again, but I love the simple joys that having a snow day brings. The hope that we can have a bonus day off grows into the anticipation as the snow starts to fall and then the surprise and excitement as the news about school being cancelled is all fun. Add in the enjoyment of some hot chocolate, the beautiful look of the snow, the warmth of a fire and my Christmas tree lights, relaxing while reading, and counting shoveling snow as my exercise for the day - all of it equals a pretty great day as far as I am concerned!

Tomorrow as we return to school, we will also have a return to End of Course testing for some of our students. Please check your school email for information on who will be testing on which days. The Holiday & Grief workshop that was scheduled for today will move to later in the week. We will be sending out details to students who have expressed interest in participating. (If you feel like this is something that could be helpful for you this year, we still invite you to join us - please talk to your school counselor for more information.)

I hope you had a great snow day and used it to rest, relax and recharge... and I guess maybe to study too. Just 10 days of classes left before exams!

Big Changes Coming

I have been writing this blog for a LONG time... as in longer than my current students have been alive! And in these years I have published nearly 4,000 posts. Which is a little bit crazy and definitely a labor of love. But in the last year I have had feedback from quite a few people that they wish I was writing the blog posts for the entire WKHS Counseling Department. And, so, changes are coming...

As of this week I am now posting my blog messages to a new site. The new blog address is wkhscounselors.wordpress.com. I think it will be an easier blog address for students and families to find. And it will have the same easy option to be able to get the posts sent directly to you by clicking the "Subscribe" button.

What does that mean for this blog? It means that it is going to go away. For the rest of 2025, I will post all of my posts to both blog sites. I am going to try to add a reminder to the bottom of this blog's posts to remind people that you will need to switch to the other blog to continue receiving messages in 2026 and beyond... but you can make the change now.

I genuinely appreciate all of you who follow this blog and I am thankful to know that even after all of this time people are still finding it helpful... so I hope you will make the transition with me and follow my posts over on the new blog site.

(FYI - I will not be posting the copy of this message to the new site as I don't want it to be confusing to anyone.)

Long Weekend Ahead

I love long weekends... and I suspect I'm not alone in that. I want to use this time to encourage you to follow the directions.

From the time you were little you probably learned that there are always rules and consequences of not following those rules. Sometimes we don’t have any problem following the rules and sometimes… well, it isn’t always quite so easy to do *exactly* what we are supposed to do.

I can think of countless examples of this in my everyday life and many of them cross over into your life too – be at work/ school on time, don’t use cell phones in the school day, drive the speed limit, etc. Sometimes these are easy and sometimes we may struggle even though the reality is – they really aren’t that difficult to obey.

OK, I am rambling – the basic point is that I’d like to remind you to follow the directions! In everything and in every way – there are consequences of not following directions. This applies to your school work and – for those of you who are seniors – to your college and scholarship applications.

When they ask you to write an essay of 250 words or less – keep your essay to that length. If they ask for a list – give them a list. If they ask a question – answer the question completely. The difference is often in the details! Please pay attention and do what they are asking you– you never want someone to have a reason to eliminate your hard work on a technicality. Remember, in class not following your teacher’s directions might result in a bad grade, but as you get out into the real world the consequences can be much more severe and have a lasting impact.

I recognize that this all seems very obvious, but at some point we all get tired and think, “oh well, this is good enough…” So, remember I’m here if you need me to encourage you to push through and take it that one extra step. And, for the next few days, remember that this is a great time to relax, reset, and refocus on taking care of the details being asked of you.

Half Way

I wanted to give you a heads up/ reminder on a few items for this week...

1. We are half-way through the first quarter. Can you believe it? This is a great time to pause and check your grades. How are you doing in your classes? Where do you need to step it up? What changes do you need to make in your homework routine or studying skills?

2. I am out of the building for a conference on Thursday and Friday of this week so if you need me this week, please try to stop by tomorrow or Wednesday.

3. Wednesday is another PACK period day.

4. College rep visits are continuing. The conference I am going to Thursday through Saturday is a national convention of college admissions counselors that is being held in Columbus so there are a TON of colleges that are going to be here this week and so many visits are also happening around this time. Check the counselor website and sign up to meet with the reps.

5. Don't forget that Sunday is the Columbus Suburban College Fair at Capital University. (Again, college reps are here for the conference Thursday through Saturday and then the college fair is on Sunday to align to their timing of being in town.) Don't miss the chance to meet them if you want to explore more colleges.

Confidentiality

Having safe adults that you can talk to and trust is an important aspect of navigating life as a high schooler. In addition to your parents and teachers, I hope to work to be able to earn your trust so that I can also be one of those safe people in your life.

It is important to know that there are limits to confidentiality. Some of those limits are long-standing, consistent aspects. If you are at risk to yourself or someone else, I must report it. If someone is harming you (abuse or neglect), I must report it.

What is new in limits to confidentiality are some of the new Ohio laws that I must follow. If you share information with me related to gender - such as wanting to use a different name or pronouns, then I must share that information with your parents.

Another new requirement within the Ohio law is that I must notify your parents if you have had a "substantial change" academically, physically, or emotionally. 

Knowing that your trust is important, I want to make sure you understand that these new laws and requirements are in place. All of it is with the goal of helping to make sure you have as many positive, supportive adults in your life as possible. So if you have any questions about confidentiality, please don't hesitate to ask!

And We're Underway...

The first day of school was a success! Hopefully you loved all of your classes, found everything without a problem, enjoyed connecting with your friends, and are looking forward to a great year ahead.

I enjoyed having a chance to say hello to a lot of students - most of whom were coming to discuss schedule change requests. Remember, we cannot change teachers. If classes are full, I cannot overload them. And, in what seemed to be one of the surprises to a lot of kids today, not every class is offered every period. In fact, many classes are only offered 1-2 times in total which can make it really difficult to change schedules at all.

If you are seeking a schedule change now that school is in session you will need to fill out the Schedule Change Request form and get it signed by a parent. You have until Monday to make any changes, but after that you are in the classes for the semester.

I am excited for another year to be underway and I'll be so happy when all of you are in and settled in your classes and no longer feeling like you need to make changes to your schedules because it will also allow you to build connections with your teachers and classmates. I hope this will be your best year yet!

Back to School

Your summer is officially over and tonight is a School Night... which means many of you most likely have to try to completely flip your sleep schedule.  I know it will be hard, but please try to go to bed early tonight because the first few weeks of adjusting to being back at school full time tend to be exhausting.

I am looking forward to seeing all of you tomorrow!  It will be so good to have everyone back in the building again. Kilbourne is a great place to work, but it truly is amazing because of our students and so it will be so nice to have you all together with us again. Even just having the freshmen in the building today brought life and spark back to the building. Lexi is definitely anxious to see all of you!  She doesn't understand where her friends went for the summer so be sure to stop by the counseling center and say hi to Lexi and me.

Dear Seniors...

Dear Seniors in the Class of 2025,

Today was your last day of high school. With every senior that I saw and had the chance to talk with yesterday and today, the constant theme was reflecting back on how fast high school went. I completely agree with that sentiment! It doesn't seem like it has been 4 years since you all first came to WKHS and yet, here you are ready to graduate and take on the next adventures in your life.

I have done a lot of reflecting about your class and the word that comes to my mind most of all is RESILIENT. You have adjusted, adapted, overcome, endured, and through it all you have done it with joy, compassion, and kindness. In a lot of ways when I think of resilient students I think of this characteristic for the big aspects you have faced in school whether that was transitioning to high school with masks and then to no masks, dealing with the massive upheaval of construction, fighting for creative parking options, slugging through difficult content or challenging courses, balancing classes at WKHS and on college campuses, helping your friends, competing with your whole heart on athletic fields, and dedicating so much time to perform well on stage. But I also think of your resiliency in how you faced personal challenges - learning a new language, fighting cancer, dealing with the death of a parent or other beloved family member, struggling to find your place and where you belonged, moving to a new school, managing the stress of hard family situations at home, and so much more. 

There are no words that can adequately express how thankful I am that you have allowed me to walk alongside you in this journey. Thank you for opening up your hearts and your lives to me. Please know that you have made me a better person and I will always be grateful that I had the privilege to know and work with you for the last four years!

You have a very bright future ahead and I cannot wait to see the impact you will have. Congratulations!

Love, Miss Abbott

PS - Enjoy your day off tomorrow and I will see you all Friday afternoon for Graduation Rehearsal!

Teacher Appreciation Week

This week is national Teacher Appreciation Week!  WKHS is blessed to have a staff of incredible teachers who are committed to their student's success - not only in the classroom, but also in life.  I can think of so many examples of teachers going the extra mile to help students.  They are often found: spending time before or after school reviewing material with students, cheering on kids at concerts and games, responding to e-mails and text messages on evenings and weekends to clarify questions, developing exciting and engaging learning experiences, writing beautiful recommendation letters, listening to a student who needs to talk after a bad day, and countless other examples that make an impact in ways big and small.

Looking back at my own life I remain grateful for the teachers I had - for what they taught me, the care they showed, and the impact they had on my life.  I remember those who gave us challenging assignments that pushed me and still impact how I look at life today.  I remember the teachers who believed in me and helped me to develop the confidence to chase after my dreams.  I'll be honest - I don't remember all of my teachers.  But I suspect that there are other students who fondly remember those teachers who I can barely recall.  I think that is the beauty of education - hopefully every student has at least 1 teacher who they feel believes in and cares about them and a teacher who holds them accountable and pushes them to learn and grow.

I suspect that you all have some teacher that has made a difference in your life.  I don't know which Kilbourne (or even elementary or middle school) teachers stand out to you most as being the ones who challenge you to be YOUR best every day, but I hope you will consider taking time this week to say thanks to at least one of the teachers at Kilbourne who has made a positive impact on your life.  You never know - maybe your kind words to them will be exactly the encouragement they needed today and your words will stay with them for years to come. 

Advisory Council

Do you have people that you trust and can turn to for advice, guidance and direction? People who you know are going to be able to point out areas where you might need to change so you can grow and improve? And people who can encourage, support and celebrate your successes with you?

I firmly believe that having a trusted circle of people in your life is valuable to our growth as humans. And I also think it is important to have that feedback for our school counseling program. This was the second year of having an Advisory Council to help give feedback and ideas to help guide our school counseling team to help make our program and services the most impactful for our students as possible.

This year our Advisory Council members included (in alphabetical order by last name): Erica Backhurst, Dan Beck, Esther Boatemah, Sarah Cain, Kate Campbell, Kristen Collins, Noemi Garcia, Kaylee Guadalupe, Roshi Jamshidi, Rick Kellner, Tania Leal, Stephanie Matson, Angie Pope, Daniel Robey, and Tara Schumacher. They are parents, students, teachers and administrators who gave up their time to help learn about our programs and offerings and provide feedback, suggestions and guidance.

The Advisory Council met 4 times throughout the year and each time I was nervous about if our agenda would meet the needs and expectations of the committee members. And after each meeting I walked away excited and energized about the input and suggestions that they were sharing with us. Our counseling team does not take for granted the help and expertise from each of these valued stakeholders. 

We met for the final time this year last week and unfortunately the fire alarm went off and we had to cut our time together short, but we did try to grab a quick picture with many of the advisory council members as we were leaving to exit the building. And since we didn't get to formally say it at the end of the meeting, I would like to offer it here - THANK YOU to all of the Advisory Council members for taking the time out of your busy lives to meet with us! We are so grateful for your partnership and we thank you for helping to make us stronger because of your input!

Spring Break!

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. 

Have a great week and stay safe!

Long Weekend Ahead

We have a 4-day long weekend ahead!  I am sure that many of you (like me) are excited about having a 4-day weekend.  I would like to challenge you to be intentional during the weekend and select just 1 thing that you will do over the long weekend to spend your time wisely in helping set you up for the long or short term future.

Want some ideas on what you can do?  If you are behind on work in any of your classes, then you can spend some time working on school stuff in order to get caught up.  You can relax and really focus on recharging so that you can mentally transition yourself to a better place.  You can do some of the career exploration inventories such as YouScience.  Or perhaps you would be able to start exploring colleges more either by searching their online information or going and making an actual college visit... colleges are still in session on Friday so that can be a great day to be able to see the campus while students are around and going to classes.

You don't need to do all of those things.  In fact, my whole point of suggesting that you pick 1 thing is the hope that you will be intentional about doing something that involves taking steps to help yourself.  If you try to do everything at once then it won't help you feel as if the long weekend was a restful experience and I do hope that it will be an enjoyable weekend even as you are focused on getting other things done.

The Week Ahead

This is definitely going to be a WILD week in the Counseling Center.

As a reminder, on Monday and Tuesday the counselors will meet with every freshman student during their English classes and on Wednesday and Thursday we will meet with every sophomore during their History classes.  The good news is that we will get to spend a little bit of time with a lot of kids, but the bad news is that there won't be any free time available during the day for us to see other students.

Friday will be focused on meetings to catch up with student meetings and, of course, the next two weeks will be filled with lots more junior registration meetings.

In addition to the happenings in the Counseling Center, this week Student Council is also hosting a Spirit Week ahead of Saturday's Winter Formal.  The theme for each day will be:

Monday: PJ Day

Tuesday: College Day

Wednesday: Pink Day

Thursday: Class Color Day (9th grade: Blue, 10th grade: White, 11th grade: Black, 12th grade: Gray). Thursday evening is also parent/ teacher conferences.

Friday: Jersey/ Sports Teams Day

Friday will also be a modified bell schedule for a pep assembly which is a student/ staff basketball game. (I'm sure the staff are hoping the refs will cheat to allow the staff to be able to compete with the students.)

Student Council will also be doing fundraisers and special connection opportunities in the Commons so be sure to participate and check it all out!