Lexi & Exams

1 more day of exams!! Are you excited that you only have 2 exams remaining in your year? Most students have said their exams haven't been as bad as they had expected which is always encouraging news.

Do you know who is NOT excited that there is just 1 day of school remaining?  Lexi.  She is NOT ready for summer and NOT ready for everyone to leave her. In fact, this week has been quiet in the counseling center except for the breaks and lunch period and she has been acting so sad. It is kind of comical to watch and several of the students and staff who have been around have noticed. 

So tomorrow, with very little break time between your exams and then everyone leaving for the summer, I anticipate Lexi will be very sad to see you all go, but we will be at the doors so she can see as many people as possible to say goodbye and get one last "belly rub" before you all leave. But if you do have a few extra moments or are stressing with your exams, please stop by and see Lexi... and us too of course.

Summer School

If you fail a class in high school, you have to repeat that course before you can move on to the next level.  So, for example, if you fail Algebra 1 then you have to take Algebra 1 again before you move on to Geometry.  This is particularly challenging for students who fail English or Math since those courses each require 4 credits to graduate. If this applies to you, PLEASE be sure to sign up for Worthington Summer School ASAP! It will be held at WKHS, it is free and transportation is available if you need it. The way summer school registration works for credit recovery is that students are required to use a personalized email link for signing up for Worthington Summer School. The counselors are working to send links to all students who failed a class. We have sent out registration links to kids who failed 1st semester classes and, for 2nd semester, as we begin getting confirmation that students have failed a class this semester, we will send them out for this semester as well. (Please be aware that these emails come from a "no reply" email address and are sent to both the parent and the student so either of you can use it to register.)

Additionally, back in February when we were looking at your intended courses for next year many of you reported that you would be taking classes during the summer to get-ahead in your classes/ credits. That is completely acceptable - you just need to make sure you are taking your classes through an accredited school and then transferring that credit back to us by bringing in a copy of your transcript. Many students have found TRECA to be a cost effective alternative, but again, it can be any accredited school.

If something has changed in your plans and you will not be taking a class that you had previously indicated you were going to complete via summer school, please stop to see us or send us an email to let us know so we can adjust your schedule for next year.  (This goes with advanced classes and for classes you have failed.) We want to try to get as many of these adjustments made as possible before the school year ends so that your courses will be right in August when you pick up your schedule.

Exams & Test Anxiety

How are you feeling about final exams starting tomorrow?  It’s normal to feel a little bit nervous before and during a test. What is important is to learn how to deal with those anxieties so they do not become overwhelming. Below are a few key strategies for managing test anxiety that might be helpful to you during exams. If this is something that you struggle with, please feel free to stop in and see us so we can discuss additional ways to help manage your test anxieties now and in the future.

o Study. Being prepared is the single most effective way to help manage test anxiety. If you are confident that you know the material and have put forth your best effort to be prepared for the test, then you can relax and do the best you can.

o Learn from past quizzes and tests

o Ask the teacher for suggestions on how to best prepare for the upcoming test

o Don’t cram – that only adds to the stress and pressure of trying to “squeeze” everything in

o There are lots of study strategies available that can help students and we have a variety of ideas, so if you are interested, stop by and see us and we can talk about different techniques you can try to implement for various classes. There are also tips featured on the WKHS Counselor website.

- Stay Positive. Being confident and entering the test with a positive attitude will help you to achieve success. There are lots of strategies people use to help maintain a positive outlook –visualization (imaging yourself doing well on the test) and positive self-talk (we all talk to ourselves so instead of thinking that you are going to fail the test replace that self-talk with positive comments such as “I am prepared” or “this test will allow me to show how much I have learned”). Sometimes it is important to stay away from other people who tend to express their negative outlooks and opinions going into a test… those people who will just stress you out more with their panic about the test.

- Take care of yourself. I *know* that you hate hearing things like this, but it is important to take care of yourself. Get plenty of sleep so that you are well rested and mentally alert for the test. Eat a healthy meal (breakfast/ lunch) because you don’t want to be sitting in class focusing on food or listening to your stomach growl and you also don’t want to be coming down off a sugar or caffeine high and be dragging the rest of the testing period. Allowing yourself time to exercise is also important as it is a physical release of stress and can reinvigorate you for studying as you prepare for the test.

- Be a “smart” test taker. Don’t panic! Read the directions carefully. Take a deep breath to relax. Answer the questions to the best of your ability and if you don’t know an answer, skip the question to return to it later and continue on to other questions that you are more confident in answering. Budget your time, but don’t rush to be the first finished – this is not a race. Stay focused. (Focus on answering the question – don’t allow yourself to get off track and worry about your grade or how others are doing – just continue to refocus on answering the next question.) If you start to become overwhelmed with anxiety during the test, take a few slow deep breaths, relax your muscles and remember that you are in control of dealing with these feelings so just take it one step at a time.

- After you are finished, give yourself a short break from thinking about the test, but also don’t forget to consider what worked well and what could have gone better and then make changes accordingly for the future. If you were able to manage your anxiety effectively then you can continue practicing these skills for future tests. If some of the strategies were not effective, then you can try to adjust and adopt new strategies to help manage the anxiety.

Remember, it is also important to keep the test in perspective. It is actually quite rare that a single test will make or break you. (And yes, this even includes the End of Course Exams/ SAT/ ACT tests because you can always repeat these tests again in the future.) Good luck on your exams!

Don't forget - tomorrow you have 1st, 4th, and 7th period exams.

Graduation Rehearsal Reminder

Tomorrow morning is graduation rehearsal for seniors. Don't forget, this is a mandatory requirement for all seniors who plan on attending the commencement ceremony. I'll be honest, it is a long and rather boring time - not at all like the excitement you will have during the actual ceremony on Sunday! The rehearsal is very important though and it will be worth it when everything goes well during the actual commencement ceremony. One of the most important details that seniors need to remember to pass along to their parents after the rehearsal is which side of the stage you will be on at the commencement ceremony. Trust me, your parents will be disappointed if they end up being on the "wrong" side and don't have a good view of you walking in and out during your special day. 

Rehearsal starts at 9:30am and you should be done around noon followed by a senior class sponsored fun day on the back fields. Don't forget, if you still have textbooks or your chromebook, you need to get them turned in before graduation rehearsal or else you have to pay for them to be able to walk in the commencement ceremony.

GPA Calculator

Many students are trying to guesstimate what they need to do in order to raise their grade point average. This link takes you to a GPA Calculator which will allow you to calculate what grades you would need to earn in order to achieve your desired GPA. (You will need to have your current GPA which you can find on your transcript in the documents area of Infinite Campus.) 

Sending AP Scores

Seniors, if you have taken an AP exam, you need to send your official scores to your intended college.

As you are likely aware, colleges each get to set their own protocol for what AP tests they will accept and what scores will result in earning credits at their school.  You can check out the AP Credit Policy using the search on CollegeBoard's website here: https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/getting-credit-placement/search-policies

One great aspect about sending the AP Scores is that they will send your current and past scores to the college with one report so if you have taken 5 AP tests, you don't have to pay to send 5 different scores. And, if you are taking an AP test this year, you can still request your scores to be sent to 1 school for free if you log into your account and select your intended college before June 20th.

Here is the page that explains everything you need to know about sending your AP Scores: https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/sending-scores

Senior Reminders

Seniors, Congratulations! Today was your LAST DAY of high school!  We have a few quick reminders about things you need to be sure that you take care of before graduation rehearsal on Monday.

Actually, I should probably start there. You have graduation rehearsal at WKHS on Monday, May 18th at 9:30am. You will be done around noon. This is mandatory if you plan on participating in the commencement ceremony on Sunday. You do not need to dress up or where your cap and gown to the rehearsal.  I will be honest, the rehearsal isn't anywhere near as exciting as the actual graduation ceremony will be, but it will be worth it when everything goes well during the real event Sunday.  Because the practice can get boring, I suggest bringing something to help keep you occupied in your seat.  (Fully charged phone, book to read, etc.) 

Other events this week include Senior Teas at your elementary schools on Thursday. Senior Recognition Night for those students who have earned awards/ scholarships/ recognitions. If you will not be attending, please be sure to let Mrs. McDaniel know by stopping to see her in the Counseling Center or sending her an email to kmcdaniel@wscloud.org so that she knows you will not be there to pick up your recognition materials and can make arrangements to get them to you separately. 

Next week will feature Baccalaureate on Friday night, May 22nd, at Worthington Christian Church and this is open to all seniors students and families and is always an awesome night each year.  And then, there is also this big event down at the Convention Center on Sunday, May 24th at 11am - GRADUATION!  :-)  It's going to be a busy and fun few days.

* Fees/ Fines: Some students still have outstanding fees and fines that you owe to the school. It may be a very small fee for an overdue library book or it could be a much larger fee for a lost textbook, but either way, please make sure that all of your debt is paid this week so that you will be able to participate in the commencement ceremony.

* Textbook/ Library Book Returns: You will need to turn in all of your textbooks as well as any library books that you still have. You can return your books to Mrs. Dominach in the Counseling Center.

* Scholarship Thank You's: If you received a scholarship, don't forget the importance of writing a thank you note to the individual, group or organization who is providing you with the scholarship.

* Iron your gown: Ok, this isn't a requirement, but I'm hoping you have at least taken your gown out of the package already so that some of the wrinkles have fallen away.  But I do strongly suggest you consider ironing your gown because you will look much nicer in pictures if you're not a wrinkled mess.  (And, I say that fully acknowledging that I pretty much iron once a year and that is for this exact event to iron my gown for the ceremony each year.)