Homecoming Dance

Are you looking forward to tonight's homecoming dance?  I know that having the dance out on the football field is a lot of fun each year and I'm looking forward to seeing you.  As you get all dressed up ahead of the dance, I hope you enjoy the time with your friends taking pictures and going out for dinner.  Most of all, please stay safe and make good choices!  

I will be at the dance so if you have any problems or need anything, don't hesitate to let me know.  I can't wait to see everyone all dressed up tonight!  Please stop and say hi.

Why THIS College?

Some of your college essay questions will be asking you to help explain why you're a good fit for their college.  It's important to pause and think about questions such as: 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 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.  Some colleges will ask applicants to answer supplemental essay questions and often one of these questions relates 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, 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 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.

College Fair

The Columbus Suburban College Fair is coming up on Sunday, October 8th from 1:00 - 3:30pm at Otterbein University in the Clements Center (180 Center St., Westerville, OH 43081).  This is the largest local fall college fair and a great opportunity for our students.

College fairs give you a chance to meet with admissions representatives in person. They are all gathered together in one place in order to meet you and to answer your questions. Many schools also keep track of the number of interactions/ meetings you have with their admissions representatives during your search and application process so that they can gauge your interest level in their school.

Be prepared before you get to the college fair. Know that there will be far more schools than you are interested in or can even truly take in during one afternoon, so it is useful to come up with a list of colleges that you would be interested in learning more about by doing a search that looks for different criteria that seems to be a good fit for you. With that list in hand you now have a starting point for the colleges that you would like to talk to during the fair.

All students are asked to register with Strive Scan by visiting www.strivefair.com because this will allow for you to have a bar code specific to you.  Then, when you are at the college fair next weekend and you talk to a college that interests you, they can simply scan your barcode and that will allow the college to know of your interest. I promise you, this is a MAJOR improvement over 5-10 years ago when students had to hand write out interest cards at each college table.

I encourage you to check out the Columbus Suburban College Fair information on the front page of the WKHS Counselor website for more information about colleges who will attend and parking.

It can be useful to ask the same questions of each college so that you can compare them and their responses appropriately and I encourage you to consider thinking about the things you most want to know about the school and can’t find in a brochure or website. Everyone is different so your questions are going to be different depending upon your interests, but if you are really interested in playing a club sport in college, you might want to ask about their club/ intramural program and the numbers of students that participate. You may want to ask what the top 2 or 3 majors are on campus as that will give you an idea of what most of the students are interested in studying. If you are undecided about what you would like to study, it would be a great idea to ask them what support and services are available to help students in exploring different majors.

Take something with you to be able to jot some notes on and also a pen or pencil. It is a crazy event with so much happening that if you don’t write it down as you go you won’t remember much after the fact. The admissions representatives are giving you a small look of the college – what do you think following each glimpse?

When you are walking through the college fair with the list of schools that you want to talk to don’t forget to leave some time for browsing – you may realize that a school you had not previously considered has just what you are looking for in a college. It can be easy for us to get caught in the cycle of only looking at specific schools because that is what “everyone” else is considering.

Ideally, you will be able to avoid getting caught up in the crowds and confusion so that you don’t walk away from the college fair with a lot of brochures, but no real ideas or impressions about which colleges most interest you. At the end of the college fair you will likely have a bag filled with information about colleges. As the “Faring Well at College Fairs” article says, “Don’t succumb to the temptation of just piling all those brochures in some obscure corner of your bedroom. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, take a day or two away from the college search. Then get out all of those brochures, along with the notes you took at the fair, and read through them. You may find that some colleges aren’t as interesting as you first thought. Others only look better the more you research them.”

If you have never been to a college fair before, I admit that it often feels like mass chaos.  But it is also the opportunity for you to gain a lot of useful information from a large number of schools in a short period of time.  Good luck and happy college searching… I can’t wait to hear about the schools that spark your interest!

Welcome to Kilbourne

Last week we hosted a breakfast to welcome the students who are new to the district and the Worthington Kilbourne High School community.  We wanted to take the opportunity to check in on how the new students are adjusting to life at WKHS and hear more about where they moved here from as well as what they like or dislike.  It was a great way to start the day!

There are more than 70 students who are new to the district this year.  Many of them are from within Ohio, but we also have new students from across the world.  Each of these students brings knowledge of their past communities that will strengthen and enrich our school.

As I talked with these newest Kilbourne Wolves, I was excited that they are a part of our school because they have so much to contribute.  Be sure to take a moment and find one of them in your classes, lunch, sports, or clubs and welcome them to WKHS.

College Planning Information Night

Save the date!  Next week, on Wednesday, October 4th the WKHS Counseling department will be hosting a Student and Parent College Planning Information Night. It has been a long time since we have held this program in person, but when we were, it had 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 . 

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.

Returning to School

How are you feeling about returning to school tomorrow? 

I suspect there are lots of mixed emotions and I want to remind you that I am here to listen to all of those thoughts and feelings.  It is normal to feel anxious.  Being nervous, worried, and unsettled is a normal reaction to the abnormal situation we are dealing with right now.  It is normal to feel angry.  Our school has been threatened.  Our friends, classmates and teammates are being targeted because of the color of their skin.  There is a feeling of safety that has been shattered and a sense of innocence that this couldn’t and wouldn’t ever happen here that has been lost.  These are HARD emotions and DIFFICULT thoughts to wrestle with.

I don’t know why WKHS has been the target of these threats, but there are things that I DO KNOW.  I know that hate and discrimination are not welcome in our school.  I know that Kilbourne is a great school with incredible students.  I know that focusing on safety is important – not just at times when a threat is shared, but every day.  And I know how we will get through this… TOGETHER!

I, along with the rest of the School Counselors and Mental Health Specialists, will be available to listen and talk with anyone who is struggling to try to make sense of the threats and keeping Kilbourne safe.  Please remember to bring your school ID’s with you to school tomorrow (or download the digital version).  If you haven’t picked up the actual, physical ID card, stop by the counseling center to see one of the secretaries to get your ID card.  Please remember that using your own coping strategies for stress management is essential and that support is available for you!

Worthington Industries Partnership

Worthington schools has established a partnership with Worthington Industries to help meet the needs of students looking for a strong work option and to help students get an advantage with a great local company.

As a district, we wanted to give all of our students and parents every opportunity to learn more directly from the Worthington Industries staff.  There will be an information meeting coming up next week on Thursday, September 28th at 6:30pm in the WKHS Auditorium to give you a chance to learn more about the internship experience that Worthington Industries will provide to interested students.  

Working at Worthington Industries is a great opportunity for students to have a solid, well paying job after high school.  And the 2 WKHS students who participated in the Workforce Experience Partnership last year were both hired on full time for this fall.  If you are not sure if going straight to college is your plan, please consider exploring this opportunity.