Feeling Sentimental

I had a wonderful day filled with typical end of year activities - lacrosse game, graduation party, and tonight I attended the Grove City High School commencement ceremony.

As you are aware, this is just my 3rd year at WKHS and prior to that I spent a year working as a counselor at Grove City High School. The way their counselors divide up the students is different than at Kilbourne in that they have one counselor assigned to an entire grade level of kids. So, in my first (and only) year at GCHS, I had the entire class of freshmen students who as of tonight are officially high school graduates. As my first group of students, they will always hold a special place in my heart. Tonight, as I sat in the auditorium at Vet's Memorial I could still vividly remember their schedule pick-up night, their first day of school, watching them at sporting events, seeing them in the halls, and eventually the day I told them that I would not be returning to GCHS the following year. So, to say that I am feeling a bit sentimental tonight is certainly an understatement.

It was great to see all of the kids walking across the stage and receiving their diplomas. The one heart-breaking part was with nearly every speaker who came up on stage they mentioned that this class had to overcome having 3 counselors. (After I left another counselor came in for just 1 year and then the last two years they were with one of my former colleagues.) Even though that sent my guilt into overload, for me personally, the best part of the night was in the midst of the chaos after the ceremony was over when I was standing out in the lobby area and had a chance to see some of the students. It was so crazy that I wasn't able to see all of them that I would have liked to have seen and personally congratulated, but hopefully somehow through the grapevine they will hear that I was there and know that I still care about them and wish them the best in the future.

In the picture I am with one of my friends/former colleagues Susan Galloway who is a counselor at GCHS and her daughter, Erin, who was one of "my" kids that graduated tonight.

On a totally different note, and neither of these two students are "mine," but I saw that today Kevin Metka and Johnny Price won the state doubles title in tennis! How awesome!

Taking the Test - At Any Age?

Somehow this 4-day school week seemed incredibly long for me and I am so thankful that it is finally the weekend! I spotted this article in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week and quickly thought to myself that this lady was crazy and there was NO way that I would agree to take the ACT or SAT now. I know, not very nice of me to say since you have to take the tests, but I admit that I am glad that my college admissions testing days are over. When a former student (thanks Andy) sent me a link to the article I decided it was time to share it with all of you. I think you (and your parents) will like to hear about this mother's preparation and her thoughts about taking the SAT. My guess is that it will make many of the students feel much better about your own approach to the tests and I'd guess that, after reading this article, even if you challenged your parents to sign up and take the tests they would refuse. :-)

Enjoy the weekend!

Student Highlights

Recently several of "my" students have been recognized with awards for achievements, reached the next level athletically, or been featured in some way.

- Congratulations and Good Luck to Weston Bridges who qualified for Regionals in track and field for the 300 Intermediate Hurdles.

- Sam Dixius finished 3rd with a lifetime personal best this past weekend in the 3200M run and also qualified for Regionals. Way to go!

- Tim Davis and Will Campbell were awarded Honorable Mention for the All-Region lacrosse team. Congratulations! Tim had also received Honorable Mention for the All-MSLCA tournament.

- This season Charlie Bassani broke the high school record for most points scored in lacrosse by a freshman!

- And today, there was a story in the Columbus Dispatch highlighting the tradition that schools (including WKHS) have which allows seniors to pick a staff member to present them with their diploma at graduation. Timi Ademodi is one of the students interviewed for the article. By the way, on Friday Mr. King mentioned that about 15% of all of the seniors have not selected someone to give them their diploma. This is certainly fine as long as you are content to have someone from central office or one of the high school administrators present you with your diploma. If you prefer to have someone you know, think back through your education (K-12) career to consider asking a staff member - teacher, custodian, coach, etc - who has been a positive presence in your life to give you your diploma. Trust me, it is an incredible honor to the staff member that you select and it will make the ceremony more meaningful to you so that some day when you look back at the picture of you receiving your diploma you will be able to say, "Oh that's me with ___" rather than think, I have no idea who that is giving me my diploma. :-) If you are among the 15% and want to request someone to give you your diploma, please see Mr. King right away! He needs to be able to ask the staff member if they can participate and add them to the graduation line-up.

Test Prep Courses

It's a common question in my office every year, "Should my son/ daughter take an ACT or SAT test prep course?" There are a wide range of options accessible to students from private tutors, small group instruction, larger group courses/ strategy sessions, online practice questions, and books that families can invest in to try to reach their desired score. The reality is, I cannot tell you if you should or should not participate in tutoring or test prep courses - it is an individual decision and you know what will work best for you and your family as well any potential financial constraints.

It may help you to know that the National Association of College Admissions Counselors released a report last week saying that the courses do tend to have an impact on a student's score, but it is very minimal. The Wall Street Journal ran this story regarding test prep courses. As I have told countless students, the key is knowing what test you are taking and reviewing the types of questions you will see on the test prior to the test day morning. Being familiar with what to expect can help eliminate stress and make you a more prepared and effective test-taker. It is important to relax and do your best on the tests - that is all you can ask of yourself.

And remember, there are plenty of schools that are test-optional meaning that they don't require the ACT or SAT for their admissions decisions.

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope that you had a relaxing Memorial Day spending time with your family and friends. I also hope that you had the chance to pause and reflect on the meaning behind this holiday. Today I am thinking not only of those who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom and for the families they left behind, but also for all who have proudly served to make us the home of the brave. God Bless America and all who have made the choice to serve! See you tomorrow for a 4-day week!

Good Luck!

Good luck to the WKHS Men's Volleyball team as they compete in today's Regional Finals! The game is at 2:00 this afternoon at Hilliard Davidson High School against Hilliard Darby High School (who shared the OCC title with WKHS this year). Good luck to the entire team, but especially to "my" three student-athletes, Chad Ellwood, John Barry, and Sam Johnson. (Pictured above are Volleyball Seniors John Barry and Sam Johnson).

A Friend of Education

Congratulations to Sue Bobson, who was honored tonight at the Worthington Education Association Friend of Education and Retirement Celebration. Each building is able to nominate one individual who will be recognized as their "Friend of Education." This year, Mrs. Bobson won this award and she certainly deserved it!

Unfortunately, when the programs were created they inadvertently left off the information celebrating Sue, so I wanted to share it with you...

Sue is the parent of a current sophomore and if it had not been for her encouragement, help, planning, time, and commitment, the Worthington Kilbourne High School Career Fair never would have happened. Sue was the first person WKHS Counselor Brianna Abbott approached with the idea of putting on a career fair, and her immediate response was to volunteer to do whatever was needed to pull off this huge school-wide program. After initially encouraging the idea, Sue then spent several months of volunteer time helping to plan and implement the career fair. While many parents served on the committee, no one else came close to matching the countless hours of time and devotion Sue put into this project. Dozens of community members from a wide variety of professions were on hand to provide over 1400 students with meaningful opportunities to explore their future career possibilities, and Sue’s leadership was pivotal to the program’s overwhelming success.

Beyond this project, Sue has been a committed parent volunteer for many years as her children have progressed from elementary to middle school to high school and beyond. We are deeply appreciative of her efforts.

I was lucky enough to have the honor of being able to attend the ceremony and present Mrs. Bobson with her award. The next time you see her at school or in the community, please take a moment to congratulate and thank her for all that she does for Worthington Kilbourne High School!

Tonight, after the banquet, I headed back to school for the Choir Concert. As always, I am amazed by how beautiful everyone sounded and by the level of talent within our school. A special congratulations to "my" seniors who performed in their final WKHS Choir Concert - Kelsey Adolph, Abel Araya, John Barry, Jon Carroll, Nicole Cason, and Michelle Dutton.

Senior Recognition Night

Tonight was the Senior Recognition Night - a time when graduating seniors are honored for the contributions and awards received over the last four years of high school. 63 of "my" kids were among those being honored tonight. I am proud of all of you and was honored to participate in your evening of well-deserved recognition. It is definitely a busy time of year so I am thankful that about half of you were able to make it to tonight's ceremony - especially to the guys volleyball players who dominated in their match to make it to the auditorium before the ceremony ended.
With so many of "my" students being recognized tonight there was no way that I could try to get the entire group together for a picture, but I was able to grab this group of 6 students who happened to be near one another during the post-ceremony reception. Left to Right: Josh Burton, Clay Hedges, Amy Davidson, Harrison Bassani, Sam Johnson, and David Bock

Writing the College Essay

There is no question that writing the essays for college applications is one of the most time consuming (and stressful) aspects of the entire application process. In fact, I have even had students who picked which colleges they would and wouldn't apply to based upon their willingness to write an essay. Coming up with a unique or creative way to express yourself in a positive light can be challenging at any age. This point was recently reinforced by the Wall Street Journal when they asked 10 College President's to answer an essay from their own school's application. The president's struggled just as students do and they didn't have the added pressure of worrying if they would be accepted by the school. I think you will enjoy reading the article and the president's essays.

Articles of Interest

Recently I have read several interesting articles and I wanted to share two of them with you tonight.

The first article, "Lessons from a Plagiarist" deals not only with the fact that you should NOT plagiarize, but also with the importance of learning from your mistakes. I would love to say that I have never been faced with any of my students plagiarizing, but that simply wouldn't be true - English papers, History papers, and even Teacher Recommendation Letters (falsified by the students not by the teachers) - and yet students continue to try to take this "shortcut." If you have ever plagiarized a paper or not, this is definitely worthwhile reading.

The second article addreses another ethical related issue and that is regarding the use (and misuse) of internet sites for academic help. While this New York Times article is addressing the use among college students, the points made are applicable at any age.

I know that when you are stressed, feeling overwhelmed, and have too much to do that cheating can seem like an easy way out, but in all sincerity, it is never the answer!

Time is Running Out

Seniors have just 13 days remaining and underclassmen have 18 days (including exam days) before summer break.

Obviously that means every moment counts if you are not doing well in your classes and you are trying to pull off a passing grade for the semester.

For the current juniors (soon to be seniors) don't forget that if you need a teacher recommendation letter this is the ideal time to ask a teacher to write a letter for you so that they have the entire summer to work on the letter. You will need to provide them with some basic information about yourself and I strongly encourage you to complete the "Teacher Recommendation Request" form which can be downloaded from the Shared Files area on PrepHQ if you do not have a resume to provide to your teacher. Please be respectful of the time required to write rec letters and if you are applying to schools that do not need recommendation letters, do not waste a teacher's time by asking one of them to write a letter for you. (If you are uncertain about which schools need letters, stop in and see me and I will help you determine if a letter is needed, but as a general rule of thumb, the public colleges in Ohio do not need letters.)

Even though the weather is improving and summer is approaching, please focus on making the most of each day and preparing for the future.

Arts in Action

Did you have fun yesterday during Arts in Action day? I enjoyed having a chance to wander around and see the artwork/ hear the music of many of my students. I never cease to be amazed at the level of talent you all display in all areas - academics, athletics, and arts! During the day I stopped in to watch some of the music videos and PSA's, viewed the artwork, listened to the musicians, and watched the pottery throw-down competition. Congratulations to the two pottery throw-down finalists - Amy Bluem (back to camera) and Jessica Barbarula (facing camera).

Amy (left) ended up winning with her creative design (above).

Congratulations also to Rachel Berg who placed 4th and Dino Bianco who won 5th place in the Ultimate Recipe Showdown competition. Both Rachel and Dino will have the opportunity to spend 7 days shadowing in the Cameron Mitchell Restaurant kitchens.

Congratulations to everyone who worked hard throughout the year to be able to showcase all of your talents and abilities during Arts in Action day.

Academic Signing Day

This morning over 60 WKHS seniors participated in the academic signing day ceremony. Students are given the opportunity to participate in this ceremony if they have been awarded $4,000 in academic, merit or fine art scholarships. ($4,000 one time or $1,000 renewable for 4 years) Each student came onto the stage and announced the scholarship they had received, where they would be attending college and offered their thanks to people who have helped them during their high school career. This group of students was awarded over 4 million dollars! Congratulations on your accomplishments!

20 of "my" students were among those honored today. A special congratulations to: (L to R) Front Row - Sachi Oshima, Tim Deagle, Alyssa Block, EB Brennan, Emily Bright, Kelsey Adolph, Katherine Hyatt Hawkins, Alyssa Boudinot and Back Row - Abel Araya, Clay Hedges, Brandon Best, Tori Besser, Matt Ambrogi, John Barry, Joe Donovan, Alex Butler, Vivian Chang and David Bock. Not pictured: KT Broker and Natalie Brehm. Congratulations to each of you!

WKHS Volleyball

Congratulations to the WKHS Men's Volleyball team who were co-OCC Champions with Hilliard Darby. Tonight, at an OCC Challenge event, individual OCC honors were announced. Several Kilbourne volleyball players earned special recognition including two of "my" students - Sam Johnson who was recognized as an OCC Scholar Athlete and 2nd Team-All OCC and John Barry who was recognized with 1st Team-All OCC honors. I am proud of you both!

(In the picture Sam is standing on the left and John is on right leaning with his hands on his knees.)

Serious Senioritis

Senioritis - it's a term I hear often around my office and while I understand that it can be a challenge to continue motivating yourself to finish your high school career strong, it is important!

Interim grades were due on Friday and today I received a printout of the PAGES of students that have either a D or an F on their interims. This is particularly a concern for seniors as it can jeopardize graduation (a very real fear for many) and it can also jeopardize your college future. For example, remember, that the colleges reserve the right to revoke your acceptance if the grades you are earning are not on pace with what they expected at the time of your application. They can also place you on academic probation and take back scholarship offers. Obviously, these would not be good scenarios, but it does happen. For example, in the past OSU has requested students whose grades dropped off in the 2nd semester to provide written documentation about why there was a change. USA Today recently featured an article that addresses senioritis and why there is a concern that this year colleges could rescind more applications than in the past.

So, while the improved weather, senior tag, and "fun" days like Arts in Action and the upcoming field trip to Cedar Point may make it hard to focus on the day to day responsibilities of meeting your classroom expectations it is very important!

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope you did something sweet for your mom's today and took a moment to make sure that she knows how much you appreciate everything she does for you. I was lucky enough to be able to have lunch with my mom and my grandma, but all I could do was call my sister who is also an amazing mom. To all the mom's who read this blog - I hope you had a wonderful mother's day!

Prom

Tonight is prom night for WKHS juniors and seniors. This is an exciting and memorable night for students and I hope you have a great evening. Let's be honest, I also hope that it is a safe evening! You want prom to be memorable because it was a positive experience...

Congratulations and Good Luck to Cory Arnold and Tim Deagle who are on the Prom Court!

Hopefully you have finalized all of your plans and are looking forward to a great night both at prom and at After-Hours. I am looking forward to being a chaperone at prom again this year because I love seeing "my" students dressed up and enjoying themselves. It should be fun.

One last reminder about safety - please remember to talk with your parents before you leave tonight about what you will do if you end up in an unexpected situation and need help. If, for any reason, you need help tonight while at prom - you know that you can find me. Have a good time - be smart and be safe!

Cost at Miami

The Columbus Dispatch Education section has a blog and they recently posted the following entry regarding the cost of attending school at Miami. Since Miami University is one of the top schools where Kilbourne students apply each year I thought you would be like to know about their tuition news. The interesting point is that the actual cost doesn't vary, but the "sticker shock" that families might have when reviewing the cost before seeing their financial aid package will (hopefully) be diminished.

Here's the full text of their article:

Miami drops 'Public Ivy' tuition pricing

Miami University's tuition the past five years has been a lot like car pricing: A high sticker price that ends up being a much lower discounted cost.

Miami adopted the so-called "private-college pricing model with a public twist" as way to stem the flow of Ohio students going to private schools and to make the university more affordable for middle-income families. (What happens is students from high-income Ohio families pay somewhat more so that those from poor and working-class families can pay less.)
But university officials say the experiment ended up confusing people. As a result, they're going back to a more traditional public-college approach.

Instead of featuring a sticker price well over $20,000 the school is telling students to expect to pay about $11,443. But even then, there's a caveat: This is the maximum cost for Ohio residents. Nearly 60 percent of entering Ohio students will likely receive a Miami Grant, with amounts ranging from $1,000 to $2,750, which could drop the cost as low as $8,693.

Not to confuse you, but the Miami Grant is also new, at least in name. Previously, students were eligible for an Ohio Resident Scholarship and Ohio Leader Scholarships. To make things easier, the university has combined the awards into one -- and are calling it the "Miami Grant."
President David Hodge and his staff said the change is the right thing to do.

"After talking with our students and many high school guidance counselors across the state, we realized in order to have our students understand their total financial aid package we needed to simplify our process," spokeswoman Claire Wagner said.

Undergraduate students admitted prior to fall 2008, who are enrolled at the Oxford and Luxembourg campuses, will continue to be eligible for the Ohio Resident and Ohio Leader scholarships, Wagner said.

The Ohio Resident Scholarship is guaranteed to equal or exceed the state-funded appropriation per student. The Ohio Leader Scholarship will vary according to financial need.
People who have opposed the inflated sticker costs have argued that the school could remain the state's "elite public school" without pretending to be a private Ivy League university. Miami has the highest entrance standards and the highest tuition of any public institution in the state.
Hodge said the university is student-success centered, and it's students graduate in a median 3.7 years.

"We're over-achievers," he joked.

Reminders

I have a variety of different reminders and comments for you:

- Friday is the deadline for seniors to submit their information to participate in Academic Signing Day. Any senior who has received an academic, merit or fine art scholarship worth at least $4,000 for one year or $1,000 for four years is invited (and encouraged) to participate in the academic signing day ceremony. The ceremony will be held next week (May 15th). Please complete your form and turn it into the counseling center!

- Thank you to all of my students who completed their senior survey on PrepHQ! Unfortunately, there were less than 1/4 of the entire senior class who successfully filled out the survey and since it is information needed for commencement, I believe you may have to write out your answers again tomorrow during homeroom. (Don't forget that we are on an administrative homeroom schedule tomorrow.) Remember, we have to provide a report about the total amount of money that you have been awarded through scholarships as well as the amount that you are actually going to be accepting. (And yes, these are different numbers as many students will receive scholarship offers at schools where they do not plan on attending.)

- I still want to hear where you plan on attending college and there are quite a few students that I haven't heard from so I would love it if you would stop by and let me know where you plan to attend school next year!

- A reminder to my juniors, the next few weeks are your ideal time to ask a teacher (or teachers) for a recommendation letter. Asking now allows your teachers to have the entire summer to write your letter. Please, be sensitive to the fact that rec letters take a great deal of time to write, so if you are applying to a school that does not require a letter, do not make your teachers write one. If you are uncertain, feel free to stop in and we can look at the schools you are considering and determine if you will need one or more teacher recommendations. (FYI - most of the public colleges in Ohio do not need teacher rec's.)

- And last, but not least, Interim grades are due from your teachers on Friday! This means you should be able to see your updated grades on eSembler as of Friday and the interim reports will be mailed home next week. Please remember that school is not out yet, so it is important to finish the year strong!

ACT/ SAT Admissions Tests

I hope that all of my junior students have registered to take at least one of the college admissions tests (ACT or SAT) this spring. If you haven't signed up for one of the tests yet, it isn't too late, but the deadlines are here so it is important to register now!

The remaining test dates for this spring are:

SAT - June 6, 2009

Registration Deadline: Tuesday, May 5th (Tomorrow!)
Late Registration Deadline: May 15th
Register online at http://www.collegeboard.com/

ACT - June 13, 2009
Registration Deadline: Friday, May 8th
Late Registration Deadline: May 22nd
Register online at http://www.act.org/
(Don't forget to sign up for the ACT plus Writing!)

To answer some of the more frequent questions I have had lately about the test dates -

- Yes, I know that the tests are right at the same time as exams and school ending. Sorry, I can't control that for you.

- Yes, there are test dates in the fall so that you can take or repeat a test at that time.

- No, there are not any dates over the summer.

- Yes, if you need to take the SAT II (Subject Tests) it is ideal to take those tests during the June test date. Double check with your individual colleges to see if they are going to require subject tests and, if so, in which particular subjects.

If you have any other questions about the ACT or SAT visit the "Test Info" page on PrepHQ, the actual ACT and SAT websites, or stop in my office and see me.

AP Exams

Over the next two weeks many WKHS students will be putting the knowledge learned over the course of the school year in their classes to the test with the Advanced Placement Exams. The tests are held at the WEC on designated days and I know that many of you have been spending an extraordinary amount of time studying to prepare for the exams. Good Luck! Stop by sometime and let me know how you felt after the tests.

May Socratic Society

On Friday morning 32 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.

A special congratulations to "my" students who were among those recognized this month! (Left to Right): Molly Burton, Roy Greim, Jordan Ellwood, Mary Kate Blackmon, Kristin Cellentani, Katelyn Cassidy, and Zach Ellifritz. I am proud of each of you!