Free Flu Vaccines

I hate getting sick. I don't like missing out on time at school or doing activities that I enjoy. Plus, being ill and not feeling good is certainly no fun! One of the best ways to try to prevent getting sick is to get your annual flu vaccine.

The Columbus Public Health Department will be at Kilbourne providing free flu vaccines to all interested students and staff. This will take place on Friday, October 23rd from 8:30am-12:00pm.

In order to take advantage of this free opportunity, students must have your parent's consent. Students can pick up consent forms in the WKHS Health Office or families can utilize the online registration:Flu Vaccine Clinic Registration

Juniors Planning for College Night

Next week, on Wednesday, October 14th 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.

We hope you will plan to attend! And yes, we want you to bring your parents to this meeting and no, we 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. Please RSVP so we know how many people to expect.

Next Week Senior Events

We have 2 events that primarily target seniors happening next week.

The first is a College Application Completion Workshop on Monday evening, October 12th from 5-6:30 in the WKHS "fishbowl" counseling center conference room. This is a great time for you to come together with your other friends and work on your own college applications with the support of the counselors. Need us to help read through your essay, no problem! Want to ask questions about your activities, we're right there. Not sure how to invite your counselor and request your transcript, we will guide you through it all step by step. If you haven't already completed and submitted your applications, this is a helpful chance to make some real progress on finishing up your application before the deadlines.

The second event will take place on Wednesday evening, October 14th at 6pm at TWHS. This night is the Pre-Apprenticeship Information Session. This is a districtwide presentation and so the meeting rotates between WKHS and TWHS each year and this year it will be held at TWHS. During this evening, each of the Worthington Pre-Apprenticeship partners will spend a little bit of time explaining to students and your parents/ guardians about their companies, what they do, what the opportunities are for participating in a pre-apprenticeship with their organization, and details about what your schedule would look like, if it is paid or not, and opportunities for careers in the future. The partners who will be presenting include: Worthington Enterprises, Worthington Steel, Independent Electrical Contractors, Hamilton Parker and Performance Columbus.

We do ask that you register so that the pre-apprenticeship partners who will be coming to present know how many people to expect and so that we can get you information on where to go when you arrive at TWHS for the presentation. The RSVP link is available on the Counselor Website. Additionally, while the pre-apprenticeship experiences are for seniors, younger students are also invited to attend the presentation to begin the process of learning more.

Meet the Teacher Night

On Wednesday evening, WKHS will host our annual Meet the Teacher night for parents/ guardians. This event is sponsored by our PTO.

This is a night when your parents can come through school, follow your schedule, and meet all of your teachers. Meet the Teacher part of the evening will be over by 9pm. Each class will be 10 minutes in length and yes, your parents will have the same 5 minute passing time that you have during the day. (Hopefully they won't get lost and be late or else they could end up with lots of tardies!) :-)

Here is the schedule for the evening:

Welcome & Introduction in WKHS Auditorium by Principal, Aric Thomas: 6:45pm
1st period - 7:00 - 7:10
2nd period - 7:15 - 7:25
3rd period - 7:30 - 7:40
4th period - 7:45 - 7:55
5th period - 8:00 - 8:10
6th period - 8:15 - 8:25
7th period - 8:30 - 8:40
8th period - 8:45 - 8:55

Please make sure you give your parents a screenshot copy of your schedule or at least write down the room numbers for all of your classes so they know where they are heading for the evening! Of course, parents, if your son/ daughter forget to give you a copy of their schedule, you can also print it off or pull it up on Infinite Campus. We will not have schedules available to hand out so this is a really important step for families to make the most of Meet the Teacher Night!

One of the benefits for parents about this evening is that it will allow you to put a face with a name so that if when your kids are talking about a test in Mr. ____'s class or an assignment for Mrs. ____'s class parents will be better able to keep it straight.

Common App 101 Reminder

Seniors, just a quick reminder that tomorrow at 10:30am is our first Common App 101 Workshop. If you have signed up to attend, please be sure to bring your laptop or chromebook with you because you will be working on your actual Common App application during the time together. We will be holding this work session in Room 201 and look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Schedule Pick Up Days

Are you getting excited to see your schedules for the coming school year?  Schedule pick up days are coming one week from today and we wanted to make sure all of you are aware of the days and times when you will be able to pick up your schedules... sorry, we can't email out copies ahead of time.

Tuesday, August 11th: 
9th graders, 11th graders: 8:30am - 11:30am

Wednesday, August 12th:
10th graders and 12th graders: 12:30pm - 3:30pm

Thursday, August 13th:
Any grade level of students: 5:00pm-8:00pm

Don't forget, schedule pick up day is packed with lots of activities like getting your school picture taken, picking up your books, etc.

The process is paperless again this year which means that your emergency medical information, health forms, and athletic forms should ideally be updated online BEFORE coming through the schedule pick up lines. Those forms will all be on the Worthington Schools website (not counselor website).

We know that every year there are questions about what you should do if you are not available to attend on your designated schedule pick up time. If you cannot pick up your schedule and books on your designated time, then you can come to school on the other schedule pick-up day/ times. If you will not be able to attend any of the designated days/ times, then you will not be able to pick up your your books or get your student ID made until the 1st day of school, but schedules will be available online starting Monday, August 17th or you're welcome to come to school on either Monday the 17th or Tuesday, August 18th from 1:00 - 3:00pm.  (No morning pick up's on those dates though because we are all in mandatory meetings both mornings.)

Each year schedule pick up days are two of the craziest days in our offices, but we are looking forward to seeing you!

Making College Lists

Having a good, solid, balanced, reasonable college list that meets your needs academically, socially and financially is an essential part of the college application process. Juniors, it is time for you to be actively working on building that perfect (for you) college list.

To support students and parents in this process we have a Junior Seminar coming up this week focused on building your college lists.

On Thursday, April 30th, we will host the final Junior Seminar of this year in Room 201 from 8:15-8:35am to talk about finalizing your college list.

We hope you will make plans to join us on Thursday!

Prom

Tonight is prom night for WKHS juniors and seniors. This is an exciting and memorable night for students and I hope you have a great evening. Let's be honest, I also hope that it is a safe evening! You want prom to be memorable because it was a positive experience...

Hopefully you are looking forward to a fun night at both prom and at After-Hours. 

One last reminder about safety - please remember to talk with your parents before you leave tonight about what you will do if you end up in an unexpected situation and need help. Have a good time - be smart and please be safe!

Tomorrow's Bell Schedule

We are on a very unique bell schedule tomorrow. The day will include a pep rally at the end of 6th period to kick-off prom weekend with the Powderpuff football game and a celebration of the spring sports athletes.

Here is the bell schedule:

• 1st: 8:40-9:19
• 2nd: 9:24-10:12
• 3rd: 10:17-10:56
• 4th: 11:01-11:40
• 5th: 11:45-12:24
• 6th: 12:29-1:08
• Pep Rally: 1:08-1:49
• 7th: 1:57-2:36
• 8th: 2:41-3:20

It's going to be a fun day and I hope that you will lean into the enjoyment of the festivities of the day.

Culture Day

Tomorrow at WKHS we will be celebrating all of the various cultural backgrounds that contribute to and shape the lives of our Kilbourne students and staff.  

As a component of this fun day, all students will have the chance to explore and engage with information and experiences during your lunch period. We know the students have worked really hard to put together a meaningful and impactful experience for all of our students.  There is no question that we are stronger because of our differences and the backgrounds which have shaped us into the people we are today. I hope you will take the time to check out the exhibits and thank the students who have worked so hard to make this day special.

Parent Lunch & Learn

On Friday, April 17th from 12-12:30pm we will host our final parent Lunch & Learn session of this school year. This quarter's topic is about choosing Careers and Majors.

For so many students, deciding what they want to be when they grow up and trying to figure out what path to take to get towards their end goal can be a challenge. Our hope is this lunch and learn topic will help parents as you work to support your children with their future exploration.

This brief, 30-minute session, will take place over zoom so that parents can grab their lunch, hop on the session, learn about choosing Careers and Majors, and continue on with your day. The zoom link will be emailed to all parents Friday morning and it will also be posted on the Counselor website.

If you are unable to join us online in person, we will post the video of the session to the Counselor Website within the next week.

Junior Seminars

 

Thursday kicks off our Junior Seminars and I am really excited about the programming. On designated Thursdays, junior students are invited to attend brief, in-depth, workshops on a particular topic. Students can decide which workshops interest them and come to just those sessions. The seminars will be held in Room 201 from 8:15-8:35am just before the start of school so I hope you'll grab your breakfast or coffee and come to school 20 minutes early to participate in the sessions that interest you most!

March 12th: Choosing careers/ majors

March 26th: Using AI effectively in college applications

April 16th: Recommendation letters

April 30th: Creating a solid college list

Save those dates and we hope to see many of you Thursday morning!

Tomorrow

There are lots of exciting happenings tomorrow related to WKHS students.

First, we are going to be on a 2A/2B bell schedule to enable all students to see a teaser of the Black History Month celebration.

Here is the bell schedule:

• 1st: 8:40-9:20
• 2nd: 9:25-10:50 (class and assembly)
• 3rd: 10:55-11:35
• 4th: 11:40-12:20
• 5th: 12:25- 1:05
• 6th: 1:10- 1:50
• 7th: 1:55-2:35
• 8th: 2:40 - 3:20

Then, tomorrow evening at 7pm, everyone is invited to the WKHS Auditorium to see the whole Black History Month celebration presentation. It is a free event and open to all students, parents, and community members who are interested. The students have been working really hard to make this a special evening and it should be fun!

And, as if that wasn't enough, tomorrow members of our girls swim team have qualified for the Swimming State Championships and will be competing in Canton, Ohio! Good luck to (in alphabetical order): Grace Baker, Keira Fidler, Caity Fuller, Abi Goodrich, and Madelyn Richner. We are so proud of you and will be cheering you on from afar. Go Wolves!

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!

Tomorrow's Alumni Day Schedule

Did today feel tiring to you? Perhaps it is just me being old, but wow, I am exhausted after our first day back. I hope you had a good day though.

Tomorrow we are welcoming back a small group of alumni to share their perspectives, insights and experiences with students and so we will be on a different bell schedule. The alumni presentation will take place in the auditorium during a 2A/ 2B schedule. This schedule is below for your reference.

1st period: 8:40-9:19

2nd period and assembly: 9:24 - 10:56

3rd period: 11:01 - 11:40

4th period: 11:45 - 12:24

5th period: 12:29 - 1:08

6th period: 1:13 - 1:52

7th period: 1:57 - 2:36

8th period: 2:41 - 3:20

Why THIS College?

Answering college supplemental questions - those questions that are uniquely for each specific college can be an important step for many of the applications, especially for the more competitive schools. One of the common questions you may see will be asking why you are interested in their college in particular.

These types of questions are taking you back to the basics.  Why do you like a particular college?  What is it about the school that made it stand out to you and left you with the impression that this would be a good place for you to spend your collegiate years?

Hopefully, you have an idea about what you'd answer for both of those questions for each school that you are including on your list of schools where you are going to apply.  And, let me clear - you should like something about every college that you are considering and you should feel good about each of the schools if you are applying there!

In addition to those answers mattering for deciding where you are going to apply, your answers to these questions are essential when you are trying to answer college-specific essay questions - especially if they ask you a question related to what you like about their school.  They may phrase it in different ways, but the bottom line is that they are trying to determine why you believe their school is a good fit for you.

Remember, the admissions officers who work for the school already think their school is great and they know about the wonderful opportunities available so you need to take it beyond saying that they have a great location, outstanding professors, a strong academic reputation and wonderful weather.  You need to take it to the next level by identifying specific aspects at the school where you can see yourself contributing to the school and the particular offerings that you plan to take advantage of while you are in college.

Good luck in searching for the right college fit for you and for conveying why it's a good fit in your essays. Also, remember, tomorrow night, Monday, October 13th from 5-6:30 the counselors will be hosting a College Application Completion Workshop in the Commons. If you're not already done with your application, please bring your chromebook/ laptop and let's work on making some solid progress together! And for those of you not planning to attend college following high school, don't forget that you can come to the Counseling Center tomorrow night at 6pm for a Pre-Apprenticeship presentation. Lots of great opportunities tomorrow evening and I hope to see you there!

Planning for College Night

Save the date!  Next week, on Wednesday, October 15th, the WKHS Counseling department will be hosting a virtual Student and Parent College Planning Information Night. This is one of the most valuable nights we provide and students and parents who attended this meeting in the past have expressed how much this helped them get started with the college search process and understand more about what to expect in the coming year and a half. Topics that will be covered during the presentation include searching for colleges, exploring careers, ACT/ SAT and testing plans, making college visits, how colleges evaluate applicants, what you can be doing now to prepare for college applications and so much more. The meeting is primarily targeted at juniors, but sophomores and freshmen are welcome to attend if interested. The meeting is at 7:00pm and the zoom link will be posted on the counselor website the morning of the event. 

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

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.  We want to help make sure students and parents know of the range of opportunities available through Worthington Schools.

To help start sharing that information with students and families, next Monday, October 13th at 6pm in the new Counseling & Administrative Center we will host 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, Independent Electrical Contractors, and Performance Columbus Drive Direct.

Current seniors can explore the options from Worthington Enterprises, Worthington Steel, and Independent Electrical Contractors 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!

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 opened today 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 13th from 4:00 - 7:30pm and on Wednesday, October 15th 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.

Common 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 Monday, October 13th, from 5:00 - 6:30pm, the counselors will be at school 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 have components checked, 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 on Monday the 13th to work on finishing them!