The Scheduling Process

Each year students have questions about how the schedule will be created from the registration requests that they submit. I thought it might be helpful if I give you a quick overview of the scheduling process. (I am saying quick because it is actually boring and is known to cause massive headaches for those trying to put it all together and make it work for every student.)

By now, nearly everyone has selected their classes using the online registration system. (And if you didn't enter in your requests, I am working on picking classes and meeting with you regarding electives.) I met individually with all of my juniors and many of your parents. I have also started going through all of the registration requests submitted by "my" sophomore and freshmen students to make certain that the courses selected make sense based upon the previous classes and teacher recommendations. After I finish going through all of the freshmen and sophomore requests I will meet personally with any students for whom I have questions regarding the courses selected. All of this needs to be finalized by the end of this month and officially given to the administration as the "final" registration requests.

Once the final requests are submitted by all of the counselors at the end of this month the administration (principal and assistant principals) will look at the numbers for all of the courses selected to determine what, if any, courses do not have enough students signed up to be able to offer the class. After they figure this out they will provide that information back to the counselors with a list of students impacted and we will work with those students and their alternates list to find a suitable replacement course.

The administration will also begin working to determine the total number of sections of each class (for example English 1's) that are needed to meet the demand. They will then work to create a schedule with computer services that will create the smallest number of conflicts possible. This is a MUCH bigger challenge than most people would imagine. For example, if a class like AP Computer Science is only offered 1 time in the day, then they have to figure out what students want to take that class and try to make sure that the time of day selected to offer the course will not conflict with any other classes - especially any other classes that are only offered once in a day.

Eventually, they will create a schedule and "lock" it in place. When that happens they will then come back to the counselors with a list of all of the kids with conflicts in their schedules. In some cases, we are able to make minor adjustments - move a few classes around and make the schedule work. In other instances, we will have to work with the student to make tough decisions about what classes they do or do not want to take and use the alternates to find other courses that would work and still meet requirements toward graduation.

And that's it - we will ultimately get the schedule set just how we want it and hopefully all of you will pass all of your classes 2nd semester so that we don't have to go back and add anything into your schedule or change classes that you no longer meet the pre-requisites for, but all of those types of changes will happen after the final grades are submitted in June.

I hope that helps you to understand what is going on with the scheduling and registration process. It is a long and tedious process and I appreciate your patience.

PE Waiver

The PE waiver is just what it sounds like - it provides the opportunity for students to waive having PE as a required class for graduation.  This option is available to students participating in high school athletics including cheerleading and marching band.  (For ease of explaining and writing this, when I refer to sports or athletics throughout this post, please know that it also includes marching band.)  All students must still earn the full 20 credits to graduate from high school, this waiver would simply mean that what has typically been required (1/2 credit of Physical Education) would not need to be included in the 20 credits earned.

The option to utilize a PE waiver is open to any current 9th, 10th, or 11th grade student (as well as all future, incoming Kilbourne students).  The waiver option is NOT available to any current 12th grade students because athletic participation during your senior year does not count.

In order to utilize the waiver, students must successfully complete two full seasons of athletics.  This can be 2 different sports in one year, it could be 1 sport over two years, or even 1 sport one year and another sport the other year.  So, for example, if I participate in both football and basketball in the same year, I could apply for the waiver.  If I participate in football as a sophomore and again as a junior, I could apply for the waiver.  If I participate in football as a sophomore and track as a junior, I could apply for the waiver.

The waiver option went into effect last year, so any sports completed prior to the start of the 2013-14 school year do not count toward the two sports needed to meet the waiver requirement.  So, essentially, as of August 2013, every student began with "0" sports and then will have to fully participate in 2 seasons before the end of junior year to be able to apply for the waiver.

In order to have your sport counted as one which can be used for the waiver, it must be an approved high school sport.  This means that your club sport participation, like club soccer or club volleyball, is not included in the waiver eligibility.  Also, bowling, dance team, and the competition cheer team are all club teams and not high school sponsored athletics and so they are not eligible for the waiver option.  Additionally, team managers and statisticians cannot count their involvement as a season toward the waiver.

Students must complete a "full season" in order to have the sport count which is considered from the first practice through the last event or banquet.  If a student is "cut" from a team, quits, or has an athletic/ activity code violation which requires them to forfeit 50% or more of the season, then that season would not be able to be used to meet the two-season requirement.  If you were to get hurt, the injury will not eliminate the option of having the season count if the principal, coach and athletic director concede that the student actively participated and made contributions in spite of the injury.

Many students asked if it could be a partial waiver because they had already completed one of the PE required courses and would only have 1 season of sport eligibility and the answer is no, there is no ability to mix and match.  If you have already completed a PE course, you can still utilize the waiver to eliminate PE as a required course, but you must complete 2 seasons of sports in order to apply for the waiver.  The bottom line is that 0 seasons of sports = needs PE/ doesn't meet the waiver eligibility requirement, 1 season of sport = needs PE/ doesn't meet the waiver eligibility requirement, and 2 seasons of sports = meets the waiver eligibility requirement and can apply for the waiver (therefore doesn't need PE classes).

The PE Waiver application is available in the Co-Curricular Office and on the WKHS Counselor Website.  When you finish your season of participation, you will get a signature on the form by your coach.  After you have completed two seasons (and have both signatures on the form) you will submit the waiver form to Mr. Todd and he will verify your completion.  Mr. Todd will turn the forms into me (or he will have you bring it to me) and we will then you will have fulfilled the PE requirement.  

As I have been reviewing student's course requests for next year I noticed that there are a lot of students who are waiver eligible, but have not turned in their waiver application.  Please, make sure you get the form, get it signed by your coaches, get it approved by Mr. Todd and bring it to me as soon as possible!

Where do you sit?

Are you looking for strategies to help you retain more information in your classes? Being able to recall the information covered by your teacher in class is essential in helping students excel in classes. One aspect you may not be aware of is that where you sit in class has a significant impact on your retention rates. 

Multiple research studies have shown that if you sit in the front row you have better retention rate than those who sit in the back rows. Additionally, the closer to the center you sit the better your retention rates. So, if you have the choice of a seat in a class, try to select the front row and middle of the room (assuming that is where your teacher stands as you want to be seated close to the speaker). If you cannot be in the front and center, then your second choice should still be in the front row just out from the center. Your next choices from that point would be to continue sitting in the center seats as close to the front as possible, but definitely in the middle. The places to avoid would be the back rows on the outside edges as retention rates in those areas are significantly decreased. 

In many ways I suspect this probably seems obvious to you as when you are sitting in the front and center, right in front of your teacher, you are less likely to be working on assignments for other classes or to get distracted and doodle or daydream. Even if your teachers assign your seats, if you have trouble paying attention and want to improve your retention rates, consider asking your teacher if you could move your seat to help maximize your retention rates. Also, when you are picking a seat, don’t forget that the location isn't the only key to retention - you also need to be sure that you are picking a seat that will be away from other distractions such as your friends.  (And yes, I know, it is fun to sit near friends, but it makes it much more difficult to pay attention when distracted by your friends.)

ZAPS ACT Prep Class

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. Students have shared that they 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 16, 17, and 18 from 7:45 - 9:30am during the late start times during OGT testing.  Since the prep class will take place during the mornings while sophomores are taking the OGT, you will not miss any of your WKHS classes by participating in the prep class.

An informational letter including registration instructions was e-mailed to the parents of all junior students. The cost of this 3-day ACT prep course is $79.99. 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.  If you plan on participating, you need to register online at http://register.doorwaytocollege.com.

Scholarships

As you are working on completing your financial aid paperwork it is only natural that your thoughts will turn to the overwhelming costs associated with attending college. Right about now, many seniors are so relieved to finally be done with their college applications that it can be hard to get motivated to complete scholarship applications. Several years ago I remember one student who complained all the way through his scholarship application and he ended up getting it done and submitted within hours of the deadline. As it turned out, he ended up receiving the scholarship and it was a significant scholarship (although, for the record, I believe that any scholarship received is significant as it is money that you do not have to pay on your own). Looking back, this student shared that he couldn't imagine earning that amount of money for just a couple of hours of work to complete the scholarship application.

I tell you this story to try to remind you that while I understand it can be hard to stay motivated to complete scholarship applications when only one or perhaps a handful of students will receive the scholarship award, it will be worth it if you receive a scholarship.

I also need to clarify that most money does end up coming directly from your colleges, but there are so many other places to look for scholarships and you should consider all of the options to try to help make your college experience even a little more affordable. For example, do your parent's employers offer scholarships for dependent children? What about your place of worship? If you volunteer for an organization, do they offer scholarships for their student volunteers? There are also countless scholarship search websites where you can complete personalized searches for other qualities and characteristics that would be ideal for you. If you want to see some of these sites, please check out the WKHS Counselors website at http://www.wkhscounselors.com/.

Cold Days & School

Are you enjoying our 2nd long weekend in a row?  Like many of you I was hoping that we would end up with a cold day and so I brought home a bunch of work that I needed to get accomplished.  These two days have been a huge asset for me to be able to get caught up on some of the work that I needed to do.  I hope that you have also made use of these days and were able to get caught up on anything you were behind on and prepared for the weeks ahead.

Obviously, one challenge of the cold days is that it impacted the PARCC testing schedules.  On Monday everyone will be on Schedule C.  (Schedule C is pretty close to our regular bell schedule with 3rd period being a little longer than the rest of the classes.)  For the freshmen students, Monday will be your 3rd day of English testing.  Tuesday through Friday will be the math tests.  So, the test order is remaining the same and we are just bumping everything out a few days.  Hopefully you are all making every possible effort to be in school for the testing each day, but if you were sick and had to miss, you will make up the tests that you missed after we get caught up on the initial test administration.

Stay warm and have a great weekend!

Failure is Not Fatal

I follow a lot of other blogs and one is written by another school counselor who works here in Ohio.  I read his post and immediately knew that I wanted all of you to benefit from his words.  He generously gave me permission to repost his thoughts about why failure is not fatal and I hope you will appreciate his insight as much as I did.

I couldn't help but laugh as I read the news tonight and the critics are jumping all over the weathermen and politicians in upstate New York. As you may know, everyone was predicting the snowstorm of "historic significance" all along the East Coast last night and today. The Governor, the mayor and anyone else who had any authority was making news statements telling the people to stay home, don't travel and don't go to school. The Governor authorized the closing of the transportation industry and warned anyone if they were out on the street, they would be arrested. According to all sources, they were getting two feet of snow with severe winds. Well as you are aware, New York city did not get the big snow storm that was called for and today everyone is apologizing and making excuses. The people of New York want to know how something like this could happen, especially in this day and age with all the technology we have available to us today.

As I read all this chit chat, I couldn't help but think... I guess the weather people failed us this time. This is one time that the people should be glad they got it wrong. I also thought that I am glad that the meteorologist don't just feel defeated and quit. What I have read is that they are going to go back and analyze their models and see what went wrong. I think that is a great idea and one we can all learn from.

See, there is nothing wrong with failure. If I can quote Winston Churchill "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts". We all make mistakes throughout our life, however, it is what we do with those mistakes that counts. We should always try to learn from our mistakes and then continue on. If we learn from our mistakes, we can become better people and better students. Did you know that Henry Ford failed in previous business efforts five times before he finally founded the successful Ford Motor Company. Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because he "lacked imagination and had no good ideas". He started several other business that ended in bankruptcy until he finally hit it with Disney Land. Albert Einstein did not speak until he was four and did not read until he was seven, causing his parents and teachers to think he was mentally handicapped, slow and anti-social. Thomas Edison is quoted as saying "I have not failed. I just found 10,000 ways that wont work".

That is my hope for each and everyone of you. I hope that no matter what you work at in life, you will realize that failure is a part of life. It is said, if you never fail, you never have tried. You will fail, but you need to understand that you can learn from your failures. Please get back in the game and don't let it bother you. Remember all the great people throughout our history that have failed, and then think, maybe someday everyone may be quoting you and recognizing your great accomplishments. I have faith in all of you, and as always, remember... you were created for something great! I believe you truly were.

Thank you Mr. Fisher for you words - I whole heartedly agree - my students were destined for greatness and can achieve anything as long as you never give up!