Cap & Gown

Cap & Gown and Announcement Ordering Information

Seniors have already received information about ordering their cap and gowns and announcements.  It is often one of those moments that makes students realize how quickly graduation is approaching.

If you have lost your packet of information, extra copies of the packets which contain brochures and order forms are available in the Counseling Center.

You can place your order during lunch at school this Thursday or Friday (Nov 9 - 10), by mail or online.  For more information or to place your order online please visit www.NRPGradOhio.com

Choices & Consequences

Choices and consequences are package deals.  Perhaps this is the most obvious post I have ever written, but I'd like to have you pause for a moment and reflect on how your choices impact you every day.  If you make a good choice, most of the time, good things will happen.  If you make a poor choice, then frequently, bad things will happen.

Let me be clear, consequences are not always negative - in fact, they are just as often positive, but I think that the word consequence has a negative connotation and it is what we most often focus on.  Perhaps it would help if I gave a few examples to consider of both negative and positive choices and consequences...

If you do your homework (choice), then you will be prepared for class and prepared for the upcoming assessments (consequence).  On the flip side of that, if you do not do your homework (choice), then you will not be prepared for class and less prepared for the assessments (consequence).  Doing homework is a simple example, but the concept also applies when you think of more complex life issues.  Lying to your parents (choice) will typically lead to restricted privileges and a loss of their trust (consequence).  Volunteering your time with an organization that matters to you (choice) often leads to feeling good about helping others (consequence), but it may also mean that you have to sacrifice time with friends or juggle other responsibilities (also consequences).  Talking to multiple guys at the same time (choice) often creates drama with arguments, betrayal and hurt feelings (consequence).  Yelling at your brother (choice) may result in a strained relationship that includes less trust (consequence).  Clearly, some of the consequences from the choices you make will have an immediate outcome, but often those consequences will be longer term in nature.

No matter what choices you make, it is important to remember that you have the opportunity to make whatever choices you want, but they are directly tied to the consequences you will have as a result of that decision.  When you feel as if you have to hide your decisions, lie about them, or make excuses for your actions or words, then that is probably a sign that your choice is going to have a negative consequence.  If you want a different outcome, then you need to make a different choice!

It is hard when people feel as if they are just a victim of circumstances and don't recognize their role in the decisions they have made and how that is related to the situation they find themselves in today.  Obviously choices are what you do, but you also have choices in what you say, how you manage your emotions, and how you process the things that happen in your life.  I know that this is a learning experience, but I hope you will try to think about your choices and if they are leading you closer to the life you want for yourself or if the consequences are taking you away from what you had envisioned.  It's important to ask yourself - is what you're doing today getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow?  As always, if you are struggling with your choices and the connected consequences, please don't hesitate to stop and see me so that we can talk about it in more depth.

Socratic Society

Yesterday morning 40 students were inducted into the Socratic Society. Staff members are given the opportunity to recognize students for excellence in one or more of the core Socratic values of Scholarship, Integrity, Personal Effort, Compassion, or Lifelong Learning. Students are only eligible to be selected for this honor one time during their high school career.

I was relieved that the timing of the ceremony allowed me to be there to see everyone receive their recognition before I had to head off to my conference.  I had 10 students in my part of the alphabet who were honored.  A special congratulations to "my" students who were among those recognized this month! (Alphabetically): Ranyah Abou-Chahine, Melissa Allen, Blair Andrews, Sophie Baker, Johnny Berardi, Alec Bickell, Chase Brown, Megan Burton, Tre' Caesar, and Kinsley Capuano. I am proud of each of you!

Graduation Points

All students have the goal of earning a certain number of graduation points in addition to passing designated classes to graduate.  Students will earn these points based on the End of Course exams that you have to take each year.

There are 7 tests that contribute to the total graduation points.  Every student will take tests in:
- English 1
- English 2
- Math 1
- Math 2
- Biology (current seniors took Physical Science and Biology and the higher score will be used)
- US History
- Government

Students must earn a total of 18 points in all of these tests.  This is complicated a bit in that 4 of the points must come from English, 4 points from Math, and 6 points from the Science and Social Studies areas.  This allows the other 4 points to come from any of the tests together.

Most juniors have taken 6 of the 7 tests - leaving just the Government test.  You can look up on Infinite Campus where you currently stand toward reaching your goal points.  Let me assure you, I am watching these points closely!  Most students don't need to worry about the points - and for those who have retaken a test, they have typically improved their scores.  So, I don't want you to stress or be anxious about these tests, but I do want you to do your best on every end of course test.  If you have not done well in the tests in the past and are short of the points you will need to achieve your goal points, then I do recommend that you take the test(s) again and see if you could improve your score.  (For example, some students have earned a 2 on a Math 1 test and a 1 on the Math 2 test resulting in a total of just 3 points for Math - this would be the perfect situation for the student to repeat the Math 2 test to try to earn 2 points as that would result in the student earning 4 points for Math as needed for graduation.)  I have been meeting with students and talking to parents if you or your son/ daughter needs to be retaking a test in December.

Additionally, please know that even if you are not able to reach the point goals on the End of Course assessments, there are still other options to successfully fulfill the testing requirement for graduation.  For example, students can achieve college readiness scores on the ACT or SAT exams.  Earning a certificate for specific in-demand careers and a designated score on the Work Keys test is also an option for completing this requirement.  

For current seniors, the state has even adopted additional alternate options to help you reach graduation by earning 2 of 9 state approved options if you are going to fall short of earning the End of Course graduation points or one of the alternatives that applies to students in all grades.  

I don't tell you all of this to overwhelm you or to stress you out, but I just want to be sure that you are aware that there are options for graduation and we will work together to make sure that you WILL graduate!

As always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to stop in and let me know.

Hopeful College Recruited Athletes

Last week I shared information about the opportunities available for students to continue their athletic careers in a range of ways at college.  For those of you who might be planning or hoping to be recruited as varsity athletes in college, there are things you need to know about how your academics will influence your college options.

If you are hoping to be a recruited athlete, it is important to be aware of the restrictions on when athletes can be contacted by coaches as well as when it is acceptable for you to reach out to college coaches.  Additionally, the emphasis on academics is critical and so the NCAA and the NAIA both require student athletes to register to determine their academic/ athletic eligibility.

The website for NCAA Eligibility is: www.eligibilitycenter.org

The website for NAIA Eligibility is: http://www.playnaia.org/

NAIA Requirements:

•           Must meet 2 out of 3 requirements in addition to graduating from high school

o   Minimum GPA of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale

o   Minimum test score of 18 composite score on the ACT or 860 on the SAT (excluding writing section) – They do not superscore

o   Graduation in the top 50% of your high school class

•           You must submit test scores directly from the testing agencies.  Their number is 9876.
•           Students must submit a transcript after graduation.  Only 1 transcript is needed and should be sent after graduation unless you qualify for an “Early Decision.”  To be eligible for an early decision students must have the minimum test scores and have earned at least a 3.0 GPA after junior year or at least a 2.5 GPA after first semester of senior year.  If you will qualify for an early decision, you may send your transcript early and you will receive an eligibility determination before you graduate from high school.
•           Registration fee: $80

NCAA Requirements:

•           The NCAA requirements are a bit more complex because there are different requirements depending upon which division a student hopes to play in during college.
•           Please look carefully at what your requirements will be depending on your anticipated division of play.  (Division 3 does not require eligibility approval for participation.)
•           ACT scores used to determine eligibility are the sum of the individual scores (English, math, reading and science – not composite) and the SAT is the sum of the critical reading and math sections.  Writing scores are not used.  They do superscore (taking highest scores from each area added together rather than just using the highest from 1 testing date.)
•           You must submit test scores directly from the testing agencies.  Their number is 9999.
•           One of the key components to understand with NCAA requirements is that they compute your Core GPA instead of looking at your Kilbourne GPA.  Core GPA is made up of just your core classes – English, Math, Science, Social Studies and Foreign Language classes.  Please double check the list of NCAA approved courses on the NCAA website as not all Kilbourne classes in the core areas are NCAA approved.
•           Registration fee: $80
•           They will require that you submit your transcript after your junior year and again after you graduate from high school.
•           Online classes (such as credit recovery) cannot count for core classes.

Attached is the worksheet you can use to calculate your core GPA.  

                Division 1:

o   16 core classes

-  4 English

-  3 Math

-  2 Science

-  1 additional credit in either English, Math or Science

-  2 Social Studies

-  4 Additional years of Core Classes (English, Math, Science, Social Studies, or Foreign Language)

o   10 of the 16 core classes must be completed prior to the start of the senior year and 7 of these 10 must be in English, Math and Science.

o   The 10 classes completed before the start of senior year are locked in for GPA calculation of core GPA.

o   Minimum GPA and minimum test scores based upon sliding scale

-  Lowest GPA is 2.3 to fully qualify

-  Students with a 2.0 GPA may qualify for an academic redshirt

Division 2:

o   16 core classes

-  3 English

-  2 Math

-  2 Science

-  3 additional credit in either English, Math or Science

-  2 Social Studies

-  4 Additional years of Core Classes (English, Math, Science, Social Studies, or Foreign Language)

o   Minimum GPA is 2.0

o   Minimum test scores is ACT sum score of 68 or SAT sum score of 820.

If you have questions about college athletic participation, please feel free to see me, your coaches, or Mr. Todd in the athletic office.

Digital Footprint & College Admissions

As a school community we have spent a significant amount of time and emphasis encouraging students to be smart about your digital footprint - the information that you are posting and sharing through various social media outlets.  As a component of that we have often mentioned that the internet and social media can impact your college admissions or scholarship offerings as well as your mental health and stress levels.

Below are a few articles related to social media that may interest you:

The secret social media lives of teenagers

At least 10 who got into Harvard lose admission over offensive memes

Instagram worst social media app for young people’s mental health

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!  I hope that you are helping your parents by handing out candy to the little kids in your neighborhood as they come through for trick-or-treating.  (And enjoying a few bites of candy for yourself too.)

I am biased, but this is the cutest little devil I have ever seen...

This is my 5-year-old nephew, Brady, who saw a devil costume in one of his Disney Halloween shows and ran excitedly to tell my sister that he "wanted to dress up like the red duck."  So, a devil he is.

I also wanted to mention (especially after talking about volunteering yesterday) that I am proud of all of you who volunteered your time this evening to go trick-or-canning to help gather food for the Worthington Food Bank.  You made a difference to many people because of your efforts tonight!