Feeling Sentimental

I had a wonderful day filled with typical end of year activities - lacrosse game, graduation party, and tonight I attended the Grove City High School commencement ceremony.

As you are aware, this is just my 3rd year at WKHS and prior to that I spent a year working as a counselor at Grove City High School. The way their counselors divide up the students is different than at Kilbourne in that they have one counselor assigned to an entire grade level of kids. So, in my first (and only) year at GCHS, I had the entire class of freshmen students who as of tonight are officially high school graduates. As my first group of students, they will always hold a special place in my heart. Tonight, as I sat in the auditorium at Vet's Memorial I could still vividly remember their schedule pick-up night, their first day of school, watching them at sporting events, seeing them in the halls, and eventually the day I told them that I would not be returning to GCHS the following year. So, to say that I am feeling a bit sentimental tonight is certainly an understatement.

It was great to see all of the kids walking across the stage and receiving their diplomas. The one heart-breaking part was with nearly every speaker who came up on stage they mentioned that this class had to overcome having 3 counselors. (After I left another counselor came in for just 1 year and then the last two years they were with one of my former colleagues.) Even though that sent my guilt into overload, for me personally, the best part of the night was in the midst of the chaos after the ceremony was over when I was standing out in the lobby area and had a chance to see some of the students. It was so crazy that I wasn't able to see all of them that I would have liked to have seen and personally congratulated, but hopefully somehow through the grapevine they will hear that I was there and know that I still care about them and wish them the best in the future.

In the picture I am with one of my friends/former colleagues Susan Galloway who is a counselor at GCHS and her daughter, Erin, who was one of "my" kids that graduated tonight.

On a totally different note, and neither of these two students are "mine," but I saw that today Kevin Metka and Johnny Price won the state doubles title in tennis! How awesome!

Taking the Test - At Any Age?

Somehow this 4-day school week seemed incredibly long for me and I am so thankful that it is finally the weekend! I spotted this article in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week and quickly thought to myself that this lady was crazy and there was NO way that I would agree to take the ACT or SAT now. I know, not very nice of me to say since you have to take the tests, but I admit that I am glad that my college admissions testing days are over. When a former student (thanks Andy) sent me a link to the article I decided it was time to share it with all of you. I think you (and your parents) will like to hear about this mother's preparation and her thoughts about taking the SAT. My guess is that it will make many of the students feel much better about your own approach to the tests and I'd guess that, after reading this article, even if you challenged your parents to sign up and take the tests they would refuse. :-)

Enjoy the weekend!

Student Highlights

Recently several of "my" students have been recognized with awards for achievements, reached the next level athletically, or been featured in some way.

- Congratulations and Good Luck to Weston Bridges who qualified for Regionals in track and field for the 300 Intermediate Hurdles.

- Sam Dixius finished 3rd with a lifetime personal best this past weekend in the 3200M run and also qualified for Regionals. Way to go!

- Tim Davis and Will Campbell were awarded Honorable Mention for the All-Region lacrosse team. Congratulations! Tim had also received Honorable Mention for the All-MSLCA tournament.

- This season Charlie Bassani broke the high school record for most points scored in lacrosse by a freshman!

- And today, there was a story in the Columbus Dispatch highlighting the tradition that schools (including WKHS) have which allows seniors to pick a staff member to present them with their diploma at graduation. Timi Ademodi is one of the students interviewed for the article. By the way, on Friday Mr. King mentioned that about 15% of all of the seniors have not selected someone to give them their diploma. This is certainly fine as long as you are content to have someone from central office or one of the high school administrators present you with your diploma. If you prefer to have someone you know, think back through your education (K-12) career to consider asking a staff member - teacher, custodian, coach, etc - who has been a positive presence in your life to give you your diploma. Trust me, it is an incredible honor to the staff member that you select and it will make the ceremony more meaningful to you so that some day when you look back at the picture of you receiving your diploma you will be able to say, "Oh that's me with ___" rather than think, I have no idea who that is giving me my diploma. :-) If you are among the 15% and want to request someone to give you your diploma, please see Mr. King right away! He needs to be able to ask the staff member if they can participate and add them to the graduation line-up.

Test Prep Courses

It's a common question in my office every year, "Should my son/ daughter take an ACT or SAT test prep course?" There are a wide range of options accessible to students from private tutors, small group instruction, larger group courses/ strategy sessions, online practice questions, and books that families can invest in to try to reach their desired score. The reality is, I cannot tell you if you should or should not participate in tutoring or test prep courses - it is an individual decision and you know what will work best for you and your family as well any potential financial constraints.

It may help you to know that the National Association of College Admissions Counselors released a report last week saying that the courses do tend to have an impact on a student's score, but it is very minimal. The Wall Street Journal ran this story regarding test prep courses. As I have told countless students, the key is knowing what test you are taking and reviewing the types of questions you will see on the test prior to the test day morning. Being familiar with what to expect can help eliminate stress and make you a more prepared and effective test-taker. It is important to relax and do your best on the tests - that is all you can ask of yourself.

And remember, there are plenty of schools that are test-optional meaning that they don't require the ACT or SAT for their admissions decisions.

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope that you had a relaxing Memorial Day spending time with your family and friends. I also hope that you had the chance to pause and reflect on the meaning behind this holiday. Today I am thinking not only of those who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom and for the families they left behind, but also for all who have proudly served to make us the home of the brave. God Bless America and all who have made the choice to serve! See you tomorrow for a 4-day week!

Good Luck!

Good luck to the WKHS Men's Volleyball team as they compete in today's Regional Finals! The game is at 2:00 this afternoon at Hilliard Davidson High School against Hilliard Darby High School (who shared the OCC title with WKHS this year). Good luck to the entire team, but especially to "my" three student-athletes, Chad Ellwood, John Barry, and Sam Johnson. (Pictured above are Volleyball Seniors John Barry and Sam Johnson).

A Friend of Education

Congratulations to Sue Bobson, who was honored tonight at the Worthington Education Association Friend of Education and Retirement Celebration. Each building is able to nominate one individual who will be recognized as their "Friend of Education." This year, Mrs. Bobson won this award and she certainly deserved it!

Unfortunately, when the programs were created they inadvertently left off the information celebrating Sue, so I wanted to share it with you...

Sue is the parent of a current sophomore and if it had not been for her encouragement, help, planning, time, and commitment, the Worthington Kilbourne High School Career Fair never would have happened. Sue was the first person WKHS Counselor Brianna Abbott approached with the idea of putting on a career fair, and her immediate response was to volunteer to do whatever was needed to pull off this huge school-wide program. After initially encouraging the idea, Sue then spent several months of volunteer time helping to plan and implement the career fair. While many parents served on the committee, no one else came close to matching the countless hours of time and devotion Sue put into this project. Dozens of community members from a wide variety of professions were on hand to provide over 1400 students with meaningful opportunities to explore their future career possibilities, and Sue’s leadership was pivotal to the program’s overwhelming success.

Beyond this project, Sue has been a committed parent volunteer for many years as her children have progressed from elementary to middle school to high school and beyond. We are deeply appreciative of her efforts.

I was lucky enough to have the honor of being able to attend the ceremony and present Mrs. Bobson with her award. The next time you see her at school or in the community, please take a moment to congratulate and thank her for all that she does for Worthington Kilbourne High School!

Tonight, after the banquet, I headed back to school for the Choir Concert. As always, I am amazed by how beautiful everyone sounded and by the level of talent within our school. A special congratulations to "my" seniors who performed in their final WKHS Choir Concert - Kelsey Adolph, Abel Araya, John Barry, Jon Carroll, Nicole Cason, and Michelle Dutton.