ZAPS ACT Prep Course

At the end of each year we survey the senior students as a way to help evaluate what we are doing and to identify areas that need improvement. Over the last several years we have heard that students would have liked to have more ACT/ SAT preparation options. We have consistently heard from ACT representatives that the best preparation is a rigorous high school curriculum, but we wanted to try to be responsive to the student feedback we have received. As a result, we investigated several test prep course options to try to find one that would work with us on scheduling and would be a cost effective alternative.

We were thrilled to find ZAPS, a test prep company, who has offered to work with our students by providing a course that will span 3 mornings on March 14, 15, and 16 from 7:35 - 9:30am during the late start times during OGT testing.

An informational letter including registration instructions was mailed to the home of all junior students. The cost of this 3-day ACT prep course is $79. If you are interested in participating, please be sure to register as soon as possible to make certain that you don't get closed out of the course.

Columbus State Applications

Are you planning on attending Columbus State Community College next year after you graduate? This is a great option for a lot of students because it allows students to transition from the high school to college expectations in typically smaller classes and for a fraction of the cost. Students attending CSCC have much later deadlines for admission and so it can be easy to procrastinate on completing the application. It is an easy, online application and will not take you long to complete it so I would like to encourage you to apply this week. As a potentially added incentive, students who are interested in applying for one of their academic scholarships must complete the application for admission and the scholarship application by Thursday, March 1st. Additional information about the CSCC academic scholarships can be found on the WKHS Counselors website at http://www.wkhscounselors.com/ in the Scholarship section.

Talent Abounds

Everywhere I look lately I am blown away by the amazing talent of all of my students. In the last week several students have excelled and set themselves apart in impressive ways.


Seussical
Josh Cook was the Cat in the Hat for the musical, Seussical. His ability to transform himself into his part was evident and I was thoroughly entertained by his fun and engaging stage personality. Jordan Birch and Jey Bukkapatnam also excelled in their on-stage performances. Of course, any musical wouldn’t be complete without the musical performers which included Emily Cantrell, Anna Bright, Matthew Cooperman, Arthur Ding, Sayak Das, and Rosalyn Chen. Additionally, behind the scenes, many of my students were working hard to promote and assist with the Seussical production including Robyn Du, Sarah Ahrens, Marino Koyama, Rachel Berg, Ryann Chambers, Jessica Carroll, and Zach Alexander.


Collegiate Volleyball
Today after school Brooke Barney participated in a signing ceremony to indicate her intent to continue her volleyball career at Wittenberg University. Surrounded by her family, friends, teachers and coaches, Brooke expressed her appreciation for the role people have played in supporting her as she reached her athletic goals. Coach Hopkins even read something from Brooke’s future college coach regarding how excited they are to have her joining their team next year. Congratulations Brooke! This is an wonderful moment and a recognition for your years of hard work and dedication to pushing yourself in volleyball and in life.

Athletic Successes
Zach Badowi was one of just 8 Kilbourne athletes to qualify for Districts in wrestling. He has now concluded a very successful high school wrestling career.

Intramural basketball is always a huge hit among WKHS students and this year 3 of “my” students were on the intramural championship team – congratulations to Colin Chancey, Kalen Corcoran, and Yoseph Araya.

Last week I had mentioned that Hunter Atha and Keeler Callahan had both qualified for the state swimming and diving championships. This is a huge accomplishment and both of them did incredibly well. Keeler qualified for finals in both the 100 and 200 freestyle events. Hunter finished 5th in the state and received a medal for his performance.


Mock Trial
The Mock Trial team has had an incredible season and they participated in Regionals on Friday and did so well that they have qualified for States! Manda Cash was awarded with the Best Attorney recognition for the 2nd time and Karam Dhillon was recognized as the Best Witness. Other Mock Trial members vital to the team’s success includes Hannah Vincent and Michelle Ding.


Congratulations to all of you for your accomplishments!

PSEO Program

The Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program is an opportunity for high school students to take college courses while still enrolled in high school. There are two alternatives for the PSEO program.

Option A is when students take courses at any college of their choice and pay for the courses on their own (often at a discounted rate) and are able to earn the credit for college credit only.

Option B is available in Central Ohio at Columbus State Community College, the Ohio State University, and Franklin University and is paid for by the school district. Students who participate in this option earn both high school and college credit.

There are a lot of details involved in participating in the PSEO program and it is not meant to replace or substitute for coursework available at the high school, but rather to enhance the educational opportunities available. Students must complete the paperwork by March 30th to indicate their intent to participate in the PSEO program in the following school year.

In order to explain all of the details of the program and to provide you with the forms necessary, all students and parents interested in participating in this program should attend the PSEO Information night on Thursday, March 1st at 7:30pm in the WKHS auditorium.

Interim Reports

Third quarter interims are available today. You may access your interim grades by logging into eSembler. Should you have questions regarding your interim grades, please talk to your teacher.
Also, a reminder, Parent/Teacher Conferences are on Monday, February 27th from 5:00-8:40 and Thursday, March 1st from 5:00-8:40. There is no school Friday, March 2nd! :-) If your parents would like to schedule a parent/ teacher conference appointment, they will also be able to do this directly from the portal. (I wrote additional details about conferences a few days ago.)

Junior College Prep Night

On Wednesday, March 14th the WKHS Counseling department will be hosting a Junior Student and Parent College Information Night. Over the last few years, this program has received 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 at 7:00pm in the auditorium. I hope you will plan to attend! And yes, I want you to bring your parents to this meeting and no, I 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 note, this date was changed after some of you received your junior meeting handout due to conflicts with other school events.

Also, I wanted to let you know that tomorrow we will be on a modified bell schedule with the student/ staff basketball game at the end of the day. Check the WKHS website for details regarding tomorrow's bell schedule.

Good Luck at States!

The State Swimming and Diving Championships are being held tomorrow through Saturday in Canton, Ohio and two WKHS students, Hunter Atha and Keeler Callahan qualified!

During this past weekend's District meet, Keeler qualified in both the 100 and 200 freestyle events! Hunter was the Central District Champion and will be competing in diving. Congratulations Keeler and Hunter on qualifying for states! This is both Keeler and Hunter's 3rd trip to States. I am so proud of you both and wish you the best of luck at states!