Before I close for tonight, I have to say a HUGE Thank You to Worthington Presbyterian Church. They donated all of the food to allow 40 WKHS families to enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving meal this holiday season. We appreciate your generosity and kindness and it was such a privilege to be able to be a part of sharing that joy with others as we handed out the food today.
See you all next week!
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.
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.
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!
Valentine's Day is often a holiday that is dominated by commercials encouraging people to buy special cards, jewelry, flowers or candy, but really those items are not what love is all about. Love is about caring for the people in your life and putting their needs above your own.
Love is also about respecting one another! February is Teen Dating Violence awareness month. I hope that you all know and realize that you deserve to be in healthy and respectful relationships. It is important to speak up and set healthy boundaries in your relationships and to seek help if that is not happening in your life or the lives of those you care about. Want to learn more about teen dating violence? Check out this website - http://www.loveisrespect.org/ - they have tons of great resources and information.
I am feeling so grateful right now as I await my extended family's arrival at any moment. I am thankful that we can all be together again this year for the holiday. I am grateful for my dogs who bring so much love to my life. I appreciate being able to work with my amazing students (and their families) who bless my lives daily. And during this holiday I am always reminded of how much I have that I tend to take for granted like my health, having a roof over my head, hot water, and food to eat, and yet as I stop to think about it I realize how lucky and blessed I am not just today, but every day.
Before I close for tonight, I have to say a HUGE Thank You to Worthington Presbyterian Church. They donated all of the food to allow nearly 50 WKHS families to enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving meal this holiday season. We appreciate their generosity and kindness and it was such a privilege to be able to be a part of sharing that joy with others as we handed out the food today.
Have a wonderful and relaxing break!
Did you like the staff's attempt to celebrate by being a part of the "Ted Lasso" Team?
I know that some of you have watched the show and others have not. There are a lot of meaningful themes and messages throughout the show. One of my favorites is "Be like a goldfish." The message behind this recommendation is that the goldfish has a short memory and so it doesn't dwell on past mistakes or things that have already happened. Instead, the goldfish remains in the present moment. Ultimately, the reminder is that the ability to let the past go and remain in this moment is a key towards happiness. If you want to check out the clip from the show about being a goldfish you can see it here.
There are lots of other messages that are particularly poignant. If you saw Lexi today, she was wearing a Ted Lasso shirt with the message "Believe" and I love that message too... because if you do believe in yourself and you believe in each other than nothing can stop you. If you want to check out that clip from the show you can see it here.
I hope you will always focus on the moment and believe in yourself!
So Yes, I love love. And I must admit a lot of my greatest lessons on learning about whole-hearted love have come from my dogs. Obviously this is NOT about romantic love, but on how we should love everyone around us at all times. My dogs are always happy to see me. They get excited to be doing anything together. They live in the moment and soak up the joy. They know how to listen without judgment or (clearly) the need to say something in response. All characteristics of love that I value in all of my relationships.
There are lots of different types of love around us - love for our family, our friends, our significant others, our encouragers, those who push us, challenge us and believe in us to be our greatest selves, our classmates/ teammates, and our pets. And all of those people in all of those different types of love deserve to be celebrated and honored. So it doesn't matter if you did it today or on another day (or hopefully strive to do it every day), but I hope you will take a moment to reflect on who helps you to feel loved in your life and who you are grateful for in your daily interactions and try to show them - either through your words or your actions so that they will know how much they mean to you.
Happy Valentine's Day! Remember, YOU ARE LOVED!
Instead, holidays are often times with added stress, too much to do, too many people's opinions and conflicting desires, messes that need to be cleaned, food that needs to be cooked, traffic, forced smiles, and more.
I can remember so many times in my own life when the holidays might have been good, but they still had their share of stress!
- Parents yelling.
- SO MANY dishes to wash by hand.
- Getting a new game that I was so excited about and no one in my family being willing to play it with me.
- Grandparents big dog finding a way onto the counter to eat the pies my mom had made.
- The stern conversations about the fact that we would all smile and cooperate for the photos so that they would be done faster.
- Driving to my grandparents house with luggage filling the space beneath our feet and my sister and I bickering in the back-seat about who was on the other's side of the car or if we were touching one another or not.
- Super late nights spent wrapping gifts before a ridiculously early time to wake up and open the gifts.
I say all of that not to say that my holidays have ever been BAD, but they were never PERFECT. And so, if I were to go into the holidays expecting or even hoping for this year to be the year it was different and that things would turn out the way I wanted it to go, I would end up disappointed. Keeping a realistic view on the holidays can help negate some of the stress and disappointment.
So my hope for all of you is that over the 2 weeks when we are off, you will find yourself filled with more moments of peace and joy. That you can find the peace within yourself to manage the difficult moments that happen around you. That you will embrace those good moments when they happen and allow that joy to be your focus more than the disappointments or frustrations. And that you will remember that even when it is all crappy and falling apart (which could happen), that you still have steps you can take to take care of YOU! So don't hesitate to come up with a plan about what you can do for you to give you something to look forward to, to help manage the difficulties when they arise, and to keep a realistic perspective that nothing is going to be perfect and that is normal and fine too.
Also, as was addressed today in the Pack Period, if you or anyone you love is struggling this holiday break, don't forget that there is ALWAYS help available - you can call or text 988 any time to be connected with a crisis counselor.
Worthington Presbyterian Church facilitates an outreach effort to raise the money to purchase food boxes for area families to be able to have all of the items they need to prepare their own Thanksgiving meals. Members of the church purchase and box the Turkeys, potatoes, stuffing, etc and then give them to schools so that they can be passed along to families in need.
Each year we have received 40-50 Thanksgiving meals to distribute and I have to tell you, it is so awesome! First, it is powerful to see all of these meals that have been donated. Second, it is a privilege to be able to hand the food over to families who might not have been able to afford the holiday food items easily. And finally, it is a humbling reminder that we live in such a compassionate, caring, and giving community.
A huge thank you to Worthington Presbyterian Church for making this outreach possible each year!
Now that you all are officially on Thanksgiving break, I hope you have a great 5 days! I hope you have safe travels, time to relax and unwind, and the chance to make positive memories with those around you.
When I was growing up my mom always had this tradition of giving us a small heart shaped box filled with m&m's. It would be sitting at "our spot" at the kitchen table on Valentine's Day morning. Even to this day, I associate Valentine's Day with the heart-shaped box of m&m's. It is a small tradition, but it represented the love and care she had for us all throughout the year. I hope that you have traditions in your family whether related to valentine's day or some other day that remind you of the love that is shared.
And, although I do not tell you often enough, I hope you know what a pleasure and an honor it is for me to work with all of you each day. I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's day and that your heart is filled with love and joy!
I have written before that I really like the perspectives shared by Brian Kight. He is a writer and speaker who focuses on reaching your goals. I get his daily email messages from DailyDiscpline.com and below is today's message. I thought you might also like the insight from today's message because it is so spot on. As a high school student, just like we all do, you think you know all that is ahead of you. But the reality is that change is the only constant and your ability to adapt and make these changes (that have been hard) will be valuable to your future when you realize that you CAN make hard changes and that they can, and will, lead you to success. Here's to a new year and all the changes that it will inevitably bring.
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As we gathered together our conversation turned to the fact that we ALL are experiencing grief due to our life circumstances being changed by COVID. For those grieving, this is yet another loss on top of all the hurt they are already enduring. But I loved their perspective in recognizing that all of us are grieving right now.
Let's be honest, under normal circumstances the holidays are stressful! This is NOT a normal year and so the stress is even more overwhelming. If you are someone who is grieving this holiday season, I hope you will strive to honor and remember your loved one in whatever ways are most healing for you. Tell stories about them, eat their favorite foods, light a candle, create a scrapbook, decorate their grave stone with flowers, or whatever else you might find comforting.
Giving yourself permission to grieve and to deal with the loss in your own way is important because how you feel is important. So feel your feelings without judgment and allow the sadness and the joy to live side by side in your life because those feelings are both there in your heart.
And finally, I want to extend a huge thank you to the students who participated in the holiday and grief workshop. You inspire us all with your bravery!
As we look ahead to the holiday season I wanted to make sure that you (or perhaps one of your friends) would be aware of some of the resources that could be available to help you.
School connected resources:
- One of the local churches, Worthington Presbyterian Church, is providing WKHS with all of the food for Thanksgiving meals so that we can distribute them to some of our families in need. If you need help with a Thanksgiving meal, please contact me ASAP so that I can try to see if I can arrange for a meal for you.
- Community Cares Backpack Program: a group of dedicated, compassionate, and incredibly thoughtful Worthington mom's do a variety of things to help our school community through the Activity Club. One of those programs is to provide bags of food that students can take home with them over the weekend to add a little extra to their family's food supplies. Every other week we receive several bags that we can distribute. If this resource is something that would be helpful for you, please let me know so that I can add you onto the list for future backpacks. Please note that while this is provided by WKHS mom's, it is still confidential - they provide the backpacks to us and we distribute the bags to our students in need.
- WKHS Community Cares Closet: The Activity Club also stocks a closet of toiletries and other items that any WKHS family in need can access. There are a wide range of items available for you to take home with you including shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, soap, feminine hygeine products, lotion, deodorant, shaving cream, and more. The closet is located in the Counseling Center and I am happy to show you where it is so that you can take whatever supplies you need. Please note that if there are specific items you were searching for that might be out of stock when you stop by the community mom's are constantly refilling the closet and if you let me know what item you were hoping to access, I can make sure that they know it is currently out of stock and let you know once it has been added again.
Community Food Resources:
- Worthington Resource Pantry: www.worthingtonresourcepantry.org 614-985-1766 Located at 6700 Huntley Rd., Columbus, OH 43229, the Worthington Resource Pantry provides families in our community with food and other resources of support. Their hours are Mondays 10 - 2, Wednesdays 3 - 7, and Saturdays from 10 - 12.
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