Earning Credit

This week a large part of my time has been trying to explain to students about how you earn credits in high school.  It is a valuable reminder for everyone.

High school is different than elementary and middle school.  In middle school, you take classes and each year you move on to the next grade and take all the classes for that grade.  In high school, you must earn credits for specified classes and the way you earn credit is by passing each semester of the class. 

So, for example, all students must earn 4 credits of English to graduate.  When you pass both semesters of English 1 during your freshman year, you move on to English 2 during your sophomore year.  If, unfortunately, you failed one of the semesters of English 1 then you are going to have to make that particular semester up before you can progress on to English 2.  Students who failed a semester will be able to make up the course either by repeating the class in summer school, repeating the class through credit recovery or repeating the class by retaking it during your sophomore year.  The bottom line is that you must REPEAT the class in some format.

Some classes (like English) have pre-requisites that students must meet in order to move on to the next level.  Other classes, like Science and Social Studies, do not have pre-requisites to move on to the next level so we will potentially allow you to move from Physical Science to Biology or from World History to US History without first repeating the freshman year class.  Don’t misunderstand though, you will still have to repeat the class at some point, but if you are not making it up during summer school, then you will likely be taking a freshman year class during your junior year.

In order to earn sophomore status, students must have earned at least 5 credits.  To become a junior you will need 10 credits.  To be classified as a senior, you must have earned at least 15 credits.

If you have any questions about where you stand with the credits you have earned or what still remains, please don’t hesitate to stop by and see me.

ASVAB

The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is a test that serves as a qualifying exam for students interested in a military career and is also a helpful career based assessment to help students identify personal strengths and areas of interest for the future.  Information about the ASVAB is available at: https://www.asvabprogram.com/.

While many people know the ASVAB is a test used for military enlistment and classification, the ASVAB Career Exploration Program (CEP) is much more than a military test. The ASVAB CEP can be taken by all students in 10th grade and above, regardless of their future career plans. Students can have no intention of entering the military and still take the ASVAB as a career exploration tool!

The ASVAB will be administered to interested students next Friday, January 17, 2025 at WKHS.  If you are interested in signing up to take the ASVAB, please see me or complete the interest form that is linked on the counselor website.

College Credit Plus Information Night

In addition to the wide range of traditional high school courses we have available at WKHS, there are other academic options available to our students.

The College Credit Plus (CC+) program is an opportunity for high school students to take college courses while still enrolled in high school. Students have the option of completing courses on a college campus, online, or at WKHS.  College classes at WKHS include both classes that are taught by WKHS teachers who are eligible to serve as adjunct faculty at colleges and classes where CSCC instructors are coming to Kilbourne to teach our students.

Classes that we anticipate being taught at WKHS (dependent on enough students enrolling in them) include: Pre-Calculus, Calculus 1, English Composition 1, English Composition 2, Intro to Psychology, Intro to Sociology, Intro to American Government, and Ethics.

There are a lot of details involved in participating in the CC+ program and students must complete and submit the paperwork before April 1st to indicate their intent to participate in the CC+ program in the following school year.  CC+ is also available for students to take classes during the summer in addition to during the 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 must plan to attend the Academic Options night which will be held 2 weeks from tonight on Wednesday, January 22nd at 7:00pm in the WKHS auditorium.  This will be a joint meeting for all of the students and parents in Worthington.  Every college in a 30 mile radius was invited to participate in the meeting.  

One thing that is important for students and parents to realize is that we are now back to the post-COVID requirements for CC+ and so this is a state requirement that you must participate in an information session.  As a result, please see me if you are unable to attend this meeting so we can explore other options for sessions being provided at local colleges which you can attend if you can't make it to the Worthington meeting.  Let me stress this again - this is a mandatory meeting for any students who want to participate in CC+ next year!

Credit Flexibility is another program we will highlight during the Academic Options night.  Credit flexibility allows students to earn credit based on a demonstration of subject area competency, instead of, or in combination with, completing hours of classroom instruction. Students are able to customize aspects of their learning around their interests and needs. It encourages student self-direction and motivates learners to develop new skills and fulfill their potential. Examples of credit flexibility opportunities include, but are not limited to, independent study, online learning, and demonstration of course proficiency.

If you have any interest in learning more about College Credit Plus and Credit Flexibility, please plan to join us January 22nd!

Lunch & Learn: Registration Process

The WKHS Counselors will be hosting our next Lunch and Learn Series for parents this Friday, January 10th.  This session will provide information about the upcoming Course Registration/ Selection Process.

As a reminder, the lunch and learns are brief presentations on a particular topic over zoom during lunch time so that parents/ guardians can join and listen in from home or work while eating their lunch.  The goal is that the presentation will take about 15 minutes and then that will give about 15 minutes for any other questions that families might have that we could address as a whole group.  We are excited about this opportunity to leverage technology and to meet families where they are so that you can get the most up to date information that we can share with you.

The session will begin at noon on Friday, January 10th.  The zoom link will be emailed to all parents and we will also post it on the Counselor Website on Friday morning.

We know that the idea of making sure that your son/ daughter is selecting the right courses for next year can feel overwhelming, so I hope you will make plans to join us online over zoom so we can help introduce you to the process as well as review the requirements your son/ daughter must meet in order to graduate as that is always the fundamental core of course selection.

Snow Day Joy

Did you enjoy having the snow day today?!? It was definitely a nice bonus day following the holiday break and hopefully just having a 4 day week will make the transition back to school a little easier.

Another reminder, as we start this new semester, please take a moment and make sure that you are ready to hit the ground running.  Spend a little bit of time tonight to clean out your bookbag, organize your notes, get new supplies if needed, find your planner and start filling it out, and make the most out of each day in front of you.  I am excited to see what you will accomplish in the classroom and beyond over the next few months.  As always, if you need help in your classes, please reach out to your teachers, utilize the support from the Academic Assistants, and see me for additional resources.

I am excited to see you tomorrow.  For the record, Lexi is even more excited than anyone can imagine as she has desperately missed being around all of you!  I hope you will stop by and see me to check in and let me know how your break went... it feels like it has been so long since I have had the chance to talk with all of you and to hear about your lives.

And, for tonight... get some sleep!  It is going to seem REALLY EARLY tomorrow when the alarms start going off!  (That is the only thing I am not looking forward to about being back at school tomorrow.)

Time for 2nd Semester

How was your winter break?  I hope that you are feeling relaxed, refreshed, and... ready for a snow day?!?  :-)  I know, we just had 2 weeks off, but a snow day is always fun to hope for at any time.  I share that feeling.  I love the added bonus of a day off that is unexpected.  My favorite snow day tradition is drinking hot chocolate with a good book, cuddled under a blanket with the fireplace on.  No matter what happens tomorrow I will take it as a win/ win.  I miss seeing all of you and am excited to hear about your breaks, but I also would love to have the bonus of a snow day.

The start of 2nd semester is a fresh start for you academically.  Everyone is back to a clean slate academically and you can make this semester whatever you want it to be... and hopefully it will be a great one!  Just 90 days of school left until summer break... it will go faster than you think.

One of the questions I always receive as we start the new semester is "can I change my schedule?" and the answer depends.  If you have semester long classes and there is another semester long course that is offered and available that fits in your schedule then sure, I am happy to make that adjustment for you.  But if you want to drop a year long class or change a year long course to a semester long class, then those changes will require your parent's signature as well as the acknowledgement signature of your teacher on the add/ drop forms.  Those forms are located in the counseling center office on the bookshelf.  I will need the form signed and submitted no later than Wednesday to make any other schedule changes for you other than semester long elective class switches.

Looking forward to seeing you soon...

Winter Break

One of the downsides of ending the semester with exams is that it impacts my ability to see as many of you before break as I would like.  I hope your final few exams went well and that you are ready to head into break with the chance to relax and enjoy some time with your family and friends.  Most of all, I hope that you will be safe over break and have fun!  

For what it is worth, I will also be off and not checking emails and rarely (if at all) updating the blog as I will also be trying to enjoy the time with my family and enjoying some down time.

Congratulations again on successfully completing exams and your first semester!