Teacher Rec Letters

Juniors, remember when we talked in our junior meetings about the fact that I'd remind you when it was time to start asking teachers about possibly writing a recommendation letter on your behalf?  Now is the time.  :-) And we have a Junior Seminar Presentation tomorrow morning (Thursday, April 3rd from 8:15-8:35am in Room 201) to address Rec Letters specifically.

Recommendation letters are a time consuming process requiring a great deal of thought and time. Juniors, as you finalize the list of schools where you will be applying next fall, it is important to determine if you are going to need a recommendation letter from a teacher (or two). Many of the Ohio schools - Ohio State University, OU, BGSU, Kent State, etc. do not require teacher recommendations.  Because rec letters are a time consuming process, if the colleges where you are applying do not require recommendations, then please do not waste your teacher's time by requesting letters that won't be needed or used!

If you are applying to schools that require teacher recommendation letters, it is very helpful and beneficial to the teachers if you can give them as much time as possible to write your recommendation letters. That means, if you know now that you are going to be applying to a school which needs a teacher rec letter, then I would like for you to ask the teachers this spring allowing them to have the entire summer to write your letter. (These next few weeks are a great time to ask!)  After you ask your teacher(s), you will want to provide them with information that can help them as they write your letter. We have several handouts in the counseling and career center and on the WKHS Counselor website that you can use for this purpose. 

And yes juniors, this is also a reminder that you need to be working now toward finalizing a list of where you plan on applying to college. (And we will have a junior seminar presentation on May 1st to talk more about finalizing those college lists too.)

Caps & Gowns

The reality of high school coming to a close for seniors often starts to set in when caps and gowns are distributed and for the Class of 2025, that started today and will continue tomorrow during lunch periods.  I always love seeing the looks in my seniors eyes when they walk away from the tables carrying their cap and gown package.  This is such an exciting time in your lives and you have worked hard over the last 13 years to get to this point.  Don't forget to keep pushing academically, but also know that it's ok to pause as you pick up your cap and gown and realize that this is part of what your efforts have been for - to reach this milestone in your life!  I'm proud of you and excited for you.  

Also, one other hint from years of seeing seniors pick up their caps and gowns - when you get home, take the gown out of the bag and hang it up!  There will be TONS of creases in your gown and you'll still have to iron/ steam it to try to get them all out, but giving gravity a chance to help is always a plus as well.

Lunch & Learn for Parents

Every year we have questions from students and parents about the Honors Diploma and what is involved for students who are trying to earn this designation on their diploma at graduation.  On Friday, April 4th at noon, the WKHS Counselors will be hosting the next session in our Lunch & Learn Series to talk all about the Honors Diploma.  

This brief, 30-minute session, will take place over zoom so that parents can grab their lunch, hop on the session, learn about the Honors Diploma, and continue on with your day.  The zoom link will be emailed to all parents Friday morning and it will also be posted on the Counselor website.  I hope to see you online this week to learn all about the Honors Diploma!

Final CC+ Reminder

First, I hope you had a great spring break! I am looking forward to seeing you and hearing about your time off from school.

Next, for the purpose of this post... All students looking to earn free college credit in classes next year MUST turn in the College Credit Plus intent to participate form by Tuesday, April 1st!  This is a firm deadline established by the State of Ohio and we cannot extend it so please make sure you get your forms turned in to us!  

Just as a reminder, this includes college classes on the college campus, online college classes, college classes taught by college instructors at WKHS (English, Psychology, Government, Sociology, Ethics), and the regular WKHS classes taught by the WKHS teachers which can get you college credit for the exact same class you may have already signed up to take (Pre-Calculus, Honors Pre-Calculus, AP Calculus AB).  

If you have any questions about College Credit Plus - stop and see me or watch the videos on the counselor website.  (www.wkhscounselors.com).  The intent to participate form packets which includes the video sign-off forms are also available on the counselor website.

Spring Break!

We made it and are now officially on Spring Break! 

I hope that you have a wonderful and relaxing break. Good luck to all of the individuals, groups, and teams that are traveling this week. 

Have a great week and stay safe!

Impressive Students

This month we had the opportunity to celebrate students at two separate ceremonies. Unfortunately, due to some other circumstances in the district, I wasn't able to attend either event, but I wanted to still give a well-deserved shout-out and recognition to my students who were recognized.

On Friday, March 7th there were 31 WKHS students inducted into the Socratic Society. The Socratic Society recognizes students for dispalying Personal Effort, Compassion, Lifelong Learning, Integrity and Scholarship. Students can only be honored once during their high school career for inclusion into the Socratic Society. During the ceremony, 7 of "my" students were among those recognized. A huge congratulations to: Leen Abusalha, Mohamed-Saeed Aden, Brady Baringhaus, Ella Beymer, Mackenzie Cain, Kaleb Colegrove, and Eric Collier. 

And then on Tuesday, March 11th, approximately 360 Sophomores and Juniors were recognized as a part of the Academic Honors Celebration with bronze and silver keys. Students earn this recognition based upon their grades. 

Bronze Keys are awarded to students who have achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher at the end of 3 full semesters. Congratulations to "my" students who accomplished this: John Abbott, Ibrahim Ahmed, Amani Alash, Micah Anderson, Isatta Bah, Gus Baugh, John Beachy, Colin Beckstedt, Rylee Bindel, Adriana Black, Madison Bockrath, Dihan Bouhamidi, Gavin Brown, Alex Bussard, Caroline Campbell, Jose Cano Illescas, Isabell Chen, Vivian Cowan, Michael Dolciato, and Mahmoud Eldresi.

Silver Keys are awarded to students who have achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher at the end of 5 full semesters. Congratulations to "my" students who earned this recognition: Charlotte Aagenas, Lacey Abbott, Callen Acheampong, Joseph Adrian, Aya Ahmed, Sydney Allwood, Esad Alpay, Ama Ampem, Jake Arens, Cameron Armstrong, Gia Aschenbrand, Finn Barker, Emily Bartlett, John Battle, Grace Beattie, Ali Becht, Gray Beckett, Rowan Beckner-Evans, Elizabeth Bennett, Callie Best, Ella Beymer, Sophia Bollentino, Julia Borchers, Safaa Bouhamidi, Akira Boyd, Kaitlyn Bradshaw, Zach Brown, Ryan Burke, Ellie Buterbaugh, Tyra Butler, Kate Campbell, Brayden Capperes, Mallory Carlin, Palmer Cavicchia, Jacob Caviness, Camille Chabannes, Nora Cheslik, Nikos Chimbidis, Sa'Kiyah Coleman, Nathan Corn, Quention Cost, Eliose Cotterman, and Grace Glaros.

I am proud of you all!

AI & College Admissions

There is no area that is changing faster and growing more rapidly than the influence of AI in college admissions. It is the area where I find I am watching the most webinars, reading the most articles, and listening to the most podcasts about than any other aspect of college admissions. 

Can AI be a useful tool in supporting your college admissions process? Absolutely.

Can AI be mis-used and therefore hinder your college applications? Absolutely.

And that is why it is a tricky area. 

Tomorrow, all junior students are invited to attend the Junior Seminar on AI & Admissions where we will spend 20 minutes talking about appropriate use of AI in applications. Juniors, as a reminder, the seminars take place before school from 8:15-8:35 in Room 201. I hope to see you tomorrow morning for this workshop!

There are some colleges that say students must cite any AI resource used in any aspect of their application. There are others that know AI can be a helpful tool in researching, brainstorming, or giving feedback. And nearly all colleges would say that you should absolutely NOT use AI to write your essay or complete your application as a whole.

The best rule of thumb that I have seen and heard related to appropriate AI use in your applications is that if you would not ask a human such as your parent, teacher or counselor to do something for you then you should not be asking AI to do it for you! I think that is a key way to help reframe thinking about AI and your applications.

AI and applications is an exciting, interesting area of growth and we will all continue to learn together.