Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

All of you who know me or have ever stepped in my office and looked at all the pictures are aware that my family means the world to me, especially my niece and nephew. New Year's Eve is particularly important to me - not because it marks the end another (hopefully) productive year, but because it is my niece's birthday. Today Carly turned 9 years old! She is such a special little girl and she has a gift for brightening my day. Last month, for my birthday, Carly surprised me by wearing a shirt that read "My Aunt is my BFF" as you can see in this picture. I think the fact that I am able to spend so much time with my sister's family is why I love winter break so much.

As 2011 comes to a close, I hope you will look back with pride over your accomplishments from the past year and look forward to the future with hope and possibility. Tonight, as you are celebrating the new year, please remember to stay safe and be smart!

Twitter

WKHS now has a twitter account! This will be used as a way to communicate with students and families. The hope is that we will be able to celebrate the successes of students and share current updates in a timely manner. Please follow @WKHSWolves for the latest news and information from WKHS!

For the record, no, it does not mean that I will no longer be updating my blog - it is just another format to share information and updates with all of you!

Break Check-In

Are you enjoying your break? It is hard to believe we are half way through! I have been having a great time so far and it feels like time is moving so fast and there are still a million things on my “to do” list that I had hoped to accomplish before we start back to school.

Yet, I know that many times people get through the first part of break and then feel like time moves too slow. If you are a student who isn’t feeling productive and you are wondering what you could consider doing to be productive with the remainder of your break, I have a few ideas for you.

Study! I know, you don’t want to hear that, but with just 5 school days remaining before exams, you really should be using your time now to better prepare for your exams. Review key concepts, figure out what you don’t know so that you can seek help from your teachers for clarification, and develop a study plan to make sure you are prepared for each exam.

Sleep! You like seeing this idea much better than the last one, right?!? :-) Don’t worry, I do too. Studying is work and sleep is restful. You need sleep and so many of you don’t get enough sleep that now is an ideal time to try to get into a good sleep routine. Unfortunately, I suspect that many of you are like me in that you are sleeping more, but necessarily on a good sleep schedule. It will be important before we start back to school that you try to get the sleep schedule closer to a more realistic time so that you aren’t hurting quite as bad as you will be when you have spent all day sleeping until 12 or 1 (or later) in the afternoon and suddenly have to be sitting in class and paying attention at 7:45 in the morning.

Help others. Volunteering your time to make a positive impact is a great way to use your time during the break. There are many organizations in need of willing hands and hearts to make a difference. You might even be able to convince your friends to join you in the community service outreach which will make it more fun to spend time with your friends while also helping others.

Be productive. Use this time wisely to check a few items off your own to do list. How organized are you? Do you need to go through your bookbag (that thing sitting in the corner that you haven’t touched since you tossed it there last Wednesday) and sort through your papers? Do you need new folders? Do you need to hole-punch your papers to put them into your binders? What else can you accomplish that will make your life a little easier down the road? Clean your room? Explore colleges? Organize your closet? Apply for scholarships? Write thank you notes? Investigate career options? Read the book you have been wanting to read? Finally finish your college applications? You get the idea – basically think about the things you know that you should do and try to knock a few of the items off your list.

Celebrate family. There is so much hustle and bustle leading up to the holidays that everyone tends to be running in a million different directions. It is a nice idea to try to slow down and enjoy being with your family and finding joy in the small moments. Surprise your mom and ask her to watch a movie with you (without an ulterior motive). Shock your sibling by inviting him/ her to play a game with you. Impress your dad by doing something unexpected that will help him out without being asked. You get the idea, but those simple moments can make a big difference and are the moments we will remember years from now rather than what the gifts that you unwrapped this year.

Here are two other articles with ideas for winter break: (and for the record, the first included sleep on their list too!) :-)
How I hope we spend our holiday break


Celebrate Holidays through Community Service

News and Notes

A variety of different quick updates for you...

Those students involved in the choir program at WKHS are probably aware that Mr. Griffin's wife has been very ill as she battled cancer. Sadly, she passed away on Friday and her family including Mr. Griffin, Emma (a junior at WKHS) and Calvin (a 2007 WKHS graduate) will be joining together with extended family and friends to celebrate her life during a special memorial service tomorrow afternoon. The service will be at 1:00 in the WKHS Auditorium on Wednesday, December 28th. Students and families who would like to pay their respects to the Griffin family are invited to attend. Here is a link to Mrs. Griffin's obituary from the Columbus Dispatch.

The school e-mail is down this week, but will hopfully be back up by Thursday or Friday. I wanted to make sure that you were aware of the fact that I am unable to read e-mails sent to me at school this week until the e-mail system is back up.

ACT scores are now available! For those students who took the December 10th ACT, your scores are available to see online today. I hope you did well!

And finally, an article that might interest you - New Tools for Predicting Success in College

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I hope you had a wonderful day surrounded by your family and friends. I am fortunate enough to be able to celebrate with my sister's family and my niece and nephew are on cloud 9! Last night at church the message was so powerful and meaningful - to remember what is truly precious and to cherish those moments and memories. Today I have been focused on those special moments - my nephew waking up and telling me that I make a very good stuffed animal, my niece making me a potholder, and the hugs, giggles, and love that have filled the day. I have also been thinking about the other precious gifts in my life and I want you to know that in addition to my family and friends, I am grateful for being able to work with each of you on a daily basis. You will never know how much it means to me that I am able to walk through this journey with you and how much joy you bring to my days. Thank you!

Winter Break

Hooray! We reached winter break! I don't know about you, but it seems like the last few weeks have been a major sprint. I hope you have plans to relax and enjoy the upcoming days off.

I hope you enjoy the holidays with your family and that you stay safe with any travels that you have planned throughout the break. Also, I wanted to let you know that I will not be blogging as consistently over break as this is a vacation for me too. :-)

I'm looking forward to hearing all about your holiday fun after we get back to school. Again, have a great break!

Tomorrow's Schedule

I also wanted to make sure that everyone is aware that we are on a modified bell schedule tomorrow for the Holiday Assembly. You will go to the assembly with your 3rd period class.


Below is the breakdown for each period:

1st Period: 7:45 - 8:30
2nd Period: 8:35 - 9:20
3rd Period: 9:25 - 11:00
4th Period: 11:05 - 11:49
5th Period: 11:54 - 12:38
6th Period: 12:43 - 1:27
7th Period: 1:32 - 2:16
8th Period: 2:21 - 3:05

And last but not least, I also wanted to wish a Happy Hanukkah to all those students and families whose holiday started tonight!

Cap and Gown Orders

Seniors, did you order your cap and gown? Commencement is just over 5 months away and the list of students who have not yet ordered their cap and gown is unbelievable. Initially, the deadline to order your cap and gown was this Wednesday, but the list is so long that they decided to extend the deadline. You now have until mid-January to be able to order your cap and gown before the late fees ($50!) will be added to the regular fees. If you are among the many students who haven't placed your order, please visit Herff Jones to order your cap and gown online today!

Things To Do

I admit it... I am a list maker. I have lists for just about everything you could imagine. I just finished creating a list of things I *MUST* accomplish before we leave on break (only 2 more days!) - not to mention the list I already have at school of the "other" things I need to do. I also have a list of things to do while in Kentucky visiting my sister's family over Christmas, a list of "to do's" for the remainder of break when I am back at home, lists for other upcoming school related projects, and even a list for "when I have time." So, as you can see, I could probably benefit from having a list of all of my lists. :-)

The reason that I am mentioning it, is that lists work for me, but everyone needs some sort of a system to help keep your thoughts organized. It is much more difficult and demanding to try to hold something in your head than it is to refer back to it on paper. I heard once that your head is a good place to have ideas not to hold them and I believe that makes sense. It doesn't require a lot of time, but the payoffs are large as long as you stick with it. Personally, I love being able to cross something off my list knowing that I had achieved a goal - no matter how small.

As you start thinking about the end of the semester, please work on staying focused and organized. What do you need to do to make sure you end this quarter successfuly? What about preparing for exams? There is still time left to make improvements, but you need to start now. If lists are not your way to stay organized, that is OK, but find a system that works and use it.

Financial Aid

As seniors are finishing up their college applications, many are now turning their eyes toward their financial aid options.

Most students will need to fill out the FAFSA form (FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and it is essential to meet the deadlines established by your colleges of choice to determine what amount of aid they can offer. (For example, many deadlines will be February 15th.) So this is definitely not something you can put off once we hit the first of the year. There are some people who will automatically assume that they do not qualify for financial aid and it is important not to make assumptions and to read the fine print from the colleges carefully as there are some colleges that won't offer any financial packages (including merit scholarships) without having a FAFSA on file. Additionally, there are some colleges that will require students to complete the CSS Profile. Specific questions about each college's requirements and deadlines should be addressed to the financial aid offices at each respective college.

The way financial need is determined is taking the “Cost of Attendance” (which includes tuition, fees, room, board, books, and other miscellaneous expenses) and then subtracting from that the “Expected Family Contribution” and the remaining difference is what is known as your “Financial Need.”

The financial aid administrators remind us that usually people do not agree with their Estimated Family Contribution, but it is the same for everyone so it is fair across the board.

For what it is worth, it is also important to know that it depends upon each school as to whether they guarantee to meet your entire financial need with a financial aid offer. You can usually find this information on the college financial aid website.

If you are a freshman, sophomore, junior, or the parent of a student in one of these grades, you may be interested in using the FAFSA4caster which provides an estimated Expected Family Contribution to give you an idea of what you might qualify for regarding federal aid including grants.

When you are completing the FAFSA application, please remember that this is a FREE application – do not pay to have someone help you fill it out as there are plenty of opportunities to get free assistance to complete it if you need it. You will also want to make sure that you are using the correct website – http://www.fafsa.gov/ – (do not use .com as that is a site that has a fee.)

You can request your PIN number now, but please make sure you save it and keep it in a safe place for future use as this will be your permanent PIN number. Parents, you will also need your own PIN number unless you have one that you have utilized with older students as it is the same PIN number for all of your children.

When you are filling out the FAFSA form please pay attention to who they are asking for information about – the beginning of the form is all about the student and later it is about the parents. This can be confusing if your parents are helping you fill out the form because it says “you and your” so sometimes parents will accidentally put their information in rather than putting in the student information.

If your parents are divorced, you will use the parent with whom you live with the majority of the time. You fill out the form based upon your “household” so anyone living in that household and under that roof are included in your FAFSA. So, for example, if your parents are divorced and you live with your mom who is remarried then your FAFSA application will include the information from your mom and your step-dad.

Please remember that you cannot fill out your FAFSA forms until after January 1st. You will need your tax information as well as your parents tax information. If you cannot get the tax information completed early enough to meet the deadlines from the colleges, then be sure to use estimated numbers and then go back and revise the information once you have the actual data.

To help you with the college financial aid process we will have a financial aid meeting for students and parents at 7:00pm at WKHS on Thursday, January 5th.There is also an event known as “College Goal Sunday” which is Sunday, February 12th where financial aid administrators will provide free expert help in completing the FAFSA forms. To find locations and to register you can visit http://www.ohiocollegegoalsunday.org/.

PSAT and PLAN Test Results

Your scores have arrived! Any students who took the PSAT and PLAN tests in October can pick up your score reports from the Counseling Center beginning tomorrow. You can pick up your score sheets during your lunch periods from either of the secretaries at the front of the counseling center. If you have questions about your scores, feel free to come and see me and we can take a look together, but I will say that the score sheets have a lot of useful information and tips as well as information that we have available on the counselor website - http://www.wkhscounselors.com/.

Don't forget, these are just practice tests so they are giving you a general indication of where you might expect to score if you were taking the ACT or SAT with no additional preparation or review.

Interim Reports

Interim grades were released on Friday. Have you been on e-Sembler to see the most updated information about where you stand in your classes? It is hard to believe that we have just 13 days of school left before semester exams!

I randomly checked some grades this weekend and was sad to see how many students are struggling. If your grades are not where they should be at this point in time, please make use of the resources available to you - the academic assistants in room 209 and, most importantly, your teachers. I am also here to help you with study strategies and tips if needed. For many students, your final grade for the semester will come down to how you finish out this quarter and how well you do on semester exams.

Don't forget, it is the semester grade (and not the quarter grade) which appears on your transcript and impacts your grade point average. That being said, it is your quarter grades which will determine eligibility for the winter and spring sports seasons. Please be sure that you are doing everything possible to put yourself in the best situation for getting the grades you want for the quarter and semester!

Arsenic & Old Lace

Last night I attended the WKHS production of Arsenic and Old Lace. I was so impressed! Everyone involved in the play did a fantastic job. It was funny and at one point I was laughing so hard that I had tears rolling down my face. Many of "my" students were a part of this show including Jimmy Barbin and Josh Cook who had leading roles. Jey Bukkapatnam was the stage manager and also had a role in the show. Jordan Birch was another actor in the show. Additionally, behind the scenes, many individuals were a part of building the set and helping with various aspects that make the play a success. My students who participated in these aspects included Robyn Du, Zoie Banes, Dustin Black, Adele Buchbinder and Rosalyn Chen. Congratulations to everyone involved in the play - it was truly outstanding!

I had intended to post earlier in the day and remind everyone to try to attend tonight's final show, but somehow the day got away from me. We are very fortunate to have such talented students who put together such outstanding shows, so if you have never seen a play or the musical, I strongly encourage you to make plans to attend the next show (which I think is the musical).

On a separate note, I hope that everyone who took the ACT today felt like it went well!

Guaranteed

Yesterday Ashland University announced that they would guarantee that students who attend their school and meet specific requirements WILL graduate in 4 years or else they are able to continue until it is completed free of charge. This is a similiar plan that Baldwin Wallace had announced earlier this year. As I had talked about in a previous blog, knowing how long it will probably take to graduate from college is an important factor when determining college costs that can be detected.

This article from the Dispatch talks about Ashland's new guarantee.

College Admissions Decisions

College admissions decisions are already starting to come in for some students. Every senior looks forward to receiving their college acceptance letters. It is an exciting time and reassures that there is more ahead. Depending upon the schools where you are applying, it is possible that you will hear back quickly or you may be waiting until sometime in March to find out if you have been accepted. I do ask that as you begin receiving your acceptance or, sadly, even rejection letters, to please keep me informed about the decisions. For the vast majority of the colleges, the only way I know about your admissions decision is if you share the information with me.

Remember, the only way to receive an acceptance letter is to actually APPLY to the college! (Just a friendly little reminder for those of you who are struggling to get your applications finished.) :-)

DACC Open House

Just a quick heads up that tonight, Thursday, December 8th is the Open House at the Delaware Area Career Center. The open house will run from 5:00 - 8:00pm. Any students (and their parents) that are interested in learning more about the range of opportunities available at the career center should consider the opportunity to visit the career center. Being able to see the labs first hand, talk to the instructors, and meet students who are currently attending the Delaware Area Career Center, is truly the best way to decide if earning your elective credits at the career center is a good option for your future. I hope you will take advantage of this open house opportunity if you are interested!

Socratic Society

Last Friday morning 36 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): Mariah Minichello, Hannah Vincent, Emily Cantrell, Tori Eger, Nia Brown and Alex Allison. Also, I had several students who are not pictured, but were inducted on Friday: Janae' Calhoun, Michael Dillow and Kevin Doerr. I am proud of each of you!

Patience...

Let me start off by acknowledging that I am *NOT* the most patient person on the planet!
I know that it can be frustrating waiting for something to happen. Waiting to hear news. Waiting for the next phase of your life. Waiting... waiting... and still more waiting. But the reality is you need to be patient.

Right now colleges are completely overwhelmed and back-logged with applications that they have been receiving. After you have submitted your application and all of the required paperwork it takes the college time to get everything processed and updated in their computer. To make things even more confusing, many colleges are also automatically generating letters that they are sending home to students to remind you that you need to send your transcript and test scores and a recommendation letter. People tend to panic when they see that notice and want to send the materials again. Colleges do not want that happening as it will simply back up their system even more. This is a very common occurance at this time of year, but it does create a lot of panic in homes of seniors across the country!

Try to be patient and do not panic. If you get one of these letters (from any college) take a moment and double check - did you mail your official transcript to this particular school? Did you request to have your official test results sent to the college from the ACT/ SAT websites? Did your teachers complete their recommendation letters?

If your transcript was mailed within the last 2-3 weeks, then take a deep breath and relax knowing that it is likely just because their system is backed up. Continue double checking on the college website (most will give you access to see your application status) and see if they have everything. If you are nearing the end of the 3rd week and they still don't have all of your items, then you should give them a call to double check. Chances are they just haven't made it there and into their system yet, but there are times where things get lost in the mail or filed in the wrong area. If items need to be sent again then we can work together to take care of that, but first make sure that they really are missing it.

As always, swing by my office to see me if you have any questions.

Application Reality Check

December 1st was a major college application deadline, but it is certainly not the last deadline. Many students arrived in my office in a panic at the end of last week fearing that they had missed their only opportunity to apply to college. I want to assure you that there is still plenty of time to apply to college, but you definitely need to be working on the applications now. So, let's do a quick reality check on where you should be for the application process (if you are a senior)...

- Your need to request your transcript for any colleges with application deadlines before January 1st by December 15th and don't forget to pick up your transcript and mail it to the college.

- If your college forms required a recommendation letter then you should have turned in the parent brag sheet and counselor recommendation supplement forms to me by now. (I have the rec letters written for everyone who had submitted their paperwork prior to this week.)

- If your college applications require a teacher recommendation letter then you should have asked your teacher for a rec letter and provided them a resume or the recommendation request form with information sheet completed.

- If you are still working with January or February deadlines then you should be working on editing the drafts of your essays to perfect them before the deadline.

Hopefully that falls in line with where you are in the application process... and it is even better if you are ahead of the game and have submitted your paperwork in advance or already submitted your applications! Some of you have started hearing back from your colleges, don't forget that we are tracking that information, so please keep me posted as you receive the college admissions decisions from each school.

Planning Ahead

I hope you had a nice weekend! It's hard to believe that we have just 2 and a half weeks left before winter break. As you are busy in your classes trying to get everything wrapped up before the quarter ends, I wanted to give you a heads up about my schedule because there are several days when I will not be available.

I assume you already recall that you have a late start day tomorrow. (I'm jealous that you get to sleep in!) I will be around all day, so even though you have shortened periods, if you need anything, please stop by. Late start days always tend to be slower days as far as students stopping in to visit.

The days that I will be out of the building start on Friday. I have a financial aid conference to attend on Friday so I will not be available. And then next week I will be out on both Monday and Tuesday for a meeting at central office.

Remember, if you ever have an emergency and I am not available, you can always see one of the other counselors. If it is not an emergency, then please try to either plan ahead and stop in to see me this week before Friday or else wait until next Wednesday to check in with me.

College Admissions Interviews

Some colleges offer the opportunity for prospective students to participate in an interview with an admissions counselor or an alumni representative as a component of the application process. If you are looking at a school which requires an interview – don’t panic!

It is important to relax and be yourself. This is your opportunity to shine. Display your personality and allow your interests and passions to be expressed.

In addition to answering their questions, don’t be afraid to ask any questions you have about the school. Be sure to complete some research ahead of time so that you are not asking questions you easily could have found by visiting their website.

If there is anything about yourself that you want to be sure that the admissions representatives understand – unique circumstances, experiences, or special traits that they might not ask about don’t hesitate to offer up this information. This is your one opportunity to actually discuss these areas with a real person. By bringing up these topics, it may spur them to ask additional questions that you will be able to answer. If you want to talk more before your interview, don't hesitate to stop by and see me.

And, hopefully it goes without saying, but remember that first impressions are important – so be polite, smile, dress appropriately and arrive on time for your interview!

Here are some additional articles about college interviews that I found that I thought you might appreciate:

Do college admissions interviews matter?


College Interviews – Start practicing early


Nine tips for mastering alumni interviews

Application Details

Tomorrow is December 1st! This is one of the significant deadlines for many colleges and so over the last few days seniors have been scrambling to try to get their applications finished up. As you get ready to hit submit, I'd like to remind you to double check every aspect of your application before you turn in your application!

Make sure you didn't skip over an area planning to come back to it later. Many students leave activities or honors lists empty intending to return to update that information later. Also, be sure that you have provided accurate information about yourself and your parents. For example, when you mess up your social security number, it can be difficult for the college to match your information together and it takes a lot longer to get everything straightened out with your application.

If your application required an essay, make sure that you put the right essay with the appropriate application. (In other words, don't submit an essay to Dayton answering OSU's question and vice versa.) Also, be sure that your essay is within the specified word count. Hopefully it goes without saying, but since it is all about details, please make sure that you upload the final version of your college essay rather than a draft version.

For those students who are applying to schools which utilize the Common Application, you have some additional details to pay attention to with your applications. It is essential that you print preview your application before you submit it to be certain that everything looks exactly like you want it to appear. The way it looks when you hit print preview is the way it will look for your college. A hint of what you should be looking for when you print preview the page would include making sure that nothing is being cut off. For example, double check the short and long essay as well as the general application text boxes to make sure your information isn't being cut off. If your application isn't appearing exactly how you wanted it to look, then you need to make changes to your application so that it does look how you wanted it to appear. Also, when using the Common Application, double check that you have truly submitted your application. This includes submitting the main application, paying the fee for the application (if the college charges an application fee) and submitting any supplements that the college requires. You will also want to verify that all of your school forms have been submitted. (You will be able to see this on the school forms tab of the Common Application.) The school forms area will include the transcript being submitted by me and, when applicable, the teacher or counselor recommendation letters. If you notice that one of your school forms/ recommendation letters has not been submitted, but you had previously asked a teacher for a rec letter, please go and see the teacher and ask nicely what the status of your recommendation letter is and ask if they need you to resend them the common application recommendation link. Try to keep in mind that they are helping you by writing your recommendation letter, so be sure to approach the contact with gratitude and kindness rather than being upset about the fact that you have to ask them again about your recommendation letter.

For those college applications that are not on the Common Application, don't forget that you need to make sure that you have mailed in your transcript in it's sealed envelope. Many students still have transcripts in the Counseling Center that you need to pick up, address, and mail before the deadline.

If you need any last minute help with your applications, feel free to stop down and see me tomorrow.

Procrastination

Procrastination is one of the more common problem areas that students battle. Every year I meet some students who are "master procrastinators." The reality is that some people don't mind putting everything off until the last possible second and then working like crazy to get everything accomplished before the deadline, but this can result in a lot of unnecessary stress. Procrastination certainly doesn’t mean that you are lazy or incapable, but it is often a sign that something is getting in your way of completing your tasks and responsibilities. If you are interested in learning strategies for gaining control over your tendencies to procrastinate, it is important to remember that there are no quick fixes. As with most things in life, what works for one person will not necessarily work for someone else so it is important to find a strategy that will work effectively for you. I doubt that any of these suggestions will be ideas that you have never heard of before, but it comes down to deciding that you want to try to make a change. So, reward yourself for progress made because it does take time to improve.

Some ideas to help combat procrastination:

Plan ahead.

Break your big projects, assignments, or responsibilities down into smaller, more manageable tasks.

Commit to spending at least 15 minutes working on something that you have been avoiding.

Remind yourself that there is not going to be a better time – not tomorrow, not next weekend, or next month – something else will always come up that continues to contribute to the procrastination.

Ask for help.

Focus on the desired outcome – rather than your fear or inaction.

Be realistic – most tasks take far longer than you expect.

Minimize Distractions… and take care of whatever is distracting you.

Let go of perfectionism. (And, for those of you who are perfectionists, I know that this is a hard one, but the reality is that many things aren’t worth doing perfectly, so just start and do your best – it will still be better than not doing it at all.)

Recruit a friend to help keep you accountable. (If you tell someone else about your goal or plan to battle your typical procrastination blocks, you may be more likely to follow through, but please make sure it is a friend who will help you stay accountable not convince you that it is OK to put off starting your paper for a few more days.)

Do the hard part first… or… do the easy part first. (Whichever is more motivating to you is the one you should choose.)

Keep track of your progress so you don't lose sight of how much you've accomplished.

The bottom line is that if you get it done when you need to instead of procrastinating, you’ll feel better about yourself and have less stress… so get to work. :-)

If you are wanting to procrastinate a little longer from doing the work you should be accomplishing right now, perhaps these articles about procrastination will be of interest:

What is procrastination?


7 Ways to Get Started


How to Cure Deep Procrastination


The Procrastinating Caveman: What Human Evolution Teaches Us About Why We Put Off Work and How to Stop


7 Symptoms of procrastination and how to stop them


10 ways to give procrastination a bypass

Number of Years in College

How long will it take you to make it through college? Most people will automatically think to themselves "4 years" because most WKHS students are planning on attending 4-year colleges after graduation.

Unfortunately, graduating from college in 4 years is not always the reality. While a traditional college is a 4-year school, it is not always realistic that their students will, in fact, graduate in 4-years. You may wonder why this matters now, but it is very important for you to look at the 4-year graduation rates when you are considering colleges for your future because the longer it takes you to graduate from college, the more you will be taking on in costs for college as well as the longer it will take you to graduate and get out into the working world or to move on to grad school.

You can usually find the 4-year graduation rates on college websites, but it isn't always easily accessible. This is a link to a US Department of Education website called College Navigator where you can search for schools and then by looking at the retention/ graduation rate area you will be able to see the statistics for each school in an easily accessible way.

Each school's 4-year graduation rates should not be your sole factor in making a decision, but it is another piece of the puzzle to help you. You should use the information to help you ask more questions about why their graduation rates are so low. Is it because it is too difficult to schedule classes when you need, is it because the costs are too expensive, is it because students change majors too many times so they end up with a lot of classes that do not help them toward their major, etc.

Happy Searching as you look for the school that is the best fit for you and your future.

A "Black Weekend"

The day after Thanksgiving is known as “Black Friday” for all of the people who plan out their day and shop til they drop, but for high school seniors across the country the entire weekend has been called a “Black Weekend.” NOT because of shopping, but because the push to finish applications is down to the wire so parents are forcing their senior students to spend all weekend working on college applications in an effort to try to get them completed. I keep wondering how many of you are really spending the weekend locked away in your rooms stressed out as you try to finish your college applications. Hopefully many of you were ahead of the game and didn't end up procrastinating to try to get everything done over the holiday weekend. If a significant part of your holiday weekend has been "black" due to non-stop college application work, I hope you finish soon so you can enjoy some of the break.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wanted to take a moment and wish each of you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy spending time with your family, eating turkey, watching the parade, watching football, and taking a nap... or whatever your own traditions include.

I am fortunate to be spending the holiday with my family and am cherishing the opportunity to be with the people who mean the most to me. I have so much to be thankful for today and every day. I hope you know that all of you are part of what I am grateful for and that I am thankful that you are in my life!

Have a great day and a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Stressed?

How are your stress levels?

Stress comes from a range of events and life circumstances. When positive things happen such as getting a new job, dating someone new, or graduating from high school, stress levels increase. And, obviously, stress levels are higher when negative things take place like failing a test, fighting with family or friends, or having a lot to do in a limited amount of time. Quite simply, the reality is that stress is a part of life and it cannot be escaped, but it is important to learn strategies for dealing with stress.

Hopefully having 5 days off school is helping to decrease your stress levels, but I am also very aware of the fact that holidays can also create stress. Expectations tend to be higher during holidays. Families are often together and sometimes that means lots of questions about your college plans or it could mean that siblings who are off to college are home and the change in routine can cause challenges. Students whose parents are divorced are often juggling multiple holidays and trying to be in several places at once which is never easy. Whatever the circumstances are for your family, try to remember that even though the holiday may not be the picture of perfection that you might see portrayed on movies or TV shows, it can still be enjoyable - even if it is stressful.

Finding the stress relievers that are effective in your own life is important not only during the holidays, but throughout the year. Talking to friends, journaling, drawing, reading, listening to music, running, coloring, playing sports, spending time with your pets, taking a walk, dancing, exercising, watching a funny movie, or helping someone less fortunate are all examples of some simple stress relievers that might be ideas you can consider utilizing. Remember, once we are back at school if you are needing someone to talk to about some additional strategies for learning to manage the stress in your life that I am always around and willing to listen.

Also, below are some articles related to stress that might interest you:

Stress among teens is real and parents can help


Are your kids stressed?


What to do if your child is stressed


45 Second De-Stress Tips


5 stress busting techniques from my household


How to avoid burn out: 10 symptoms of severe stress

(And we can handle that!) :-)

Delaware Area Career Center

Today was a field trip to the Delaware Area Career Center. As a reminder, don't forget that even if attending the career center, WKHS students are always WKHS students. With most programs you will have the option of attending the career center for full days (where you would take your lab coursework which counts as elective credits and your academic courses all at the career center) or for half days (where you only take the lab coursework at the career center and then return to WKHS for the other half of the day for your academic classes). You will graduate from Worthington Kilbourne and continue to participate on our athletic teams - even if you decide that you want to attend the career center for the full day. I strongly encourage you to check out the programs because the hands on opportunities to learn something new while also gaining your required elective credits can be a very appealing option! If you didn't have the chance to participate in today's field trip there is a second look day trip on December 8th. Any students interested in making this visit should stop by the WKHS Counseling & Career Center to pick up a permission slip from the secretaries. Permission slips must be submitted in advance in order to make arrangements for your visit.

A Short Week

Are you excited about the fact that we only have 2 days of school this week? I am definitely looking forward to the short week and the Thanksgiving holiday!

It is important to remember that the shortened week will mean that there are only 5 school days remaining between now and December 1st. For those of you who are planning on applying to schools with a December 1st deadline, you must pay attention to completing all of the steps on time!

Colleges typically want your complete application package in their office by the date of the deadline. That means that your transcript, recommendation letters, official test scores, and application including the essay are all in the college's hands by December 1st. The application is generally the easiest part to make sure it arrives before the deadline because it is an online submission, but don't forget to give yourself time to get the other aspects mailed to the college in time. That means that if you are in the group of students who still plan to hit this December 1st date, then please verify that you have completed your transcript release form and that you remember to stop back and pick it up (with $1.00 per transcript) so that you can get it in the mail this week or at least by the Monday after we return from Thanksgiving break.

Links Fixed

Thank you to the people who let me know that the links to all of the articles from the November 14th blog post were all going to one site instead of to the appropriate articles. I looked up all of the articles again and was able to find them and so I was able to go back and fix the links. I anticipate that by tomorrow evening I will also have updated the links to the November 13th blog post. Sorry about that! I obviously need to add more space between articles... definitely a lesson learned! Thanks again for the feedback from those who pointed it out to me - I am happy to know that people are, in fact, reading the blog.

Demonstrating Interest

It is interesting to stop and think about all of the different factors that play into a college admission decision. When colleges are evaluating all of their applications, one of the aspects that may help set one student apart from another is the level of interest that they have demonstrated. The reason that demonstrating interest is important to a college is that they have a limited number of spots that they can offer for admission. They are trying to find a way to maximize the number of students who they accept that will actually attend their college in the future and they still want to find a way to get the most competitive, involved group of students that they can find.

So what are some of the ways that you can demonstrate your interest in a college?

Meeting with the college admissions reps when they come to WKHS is a great first step. I'll be honest, for this year, admissions officers visiting Kilbourne has come to an end, but for the younger students, this is something you should keep in mind for next fall. The reason that this is such a significant way to demonstrate your interest is because a lot of kids don’t take advantage of this opportunity so when you do take the time to come and meet with them, you will stand out.

Attend their community nights – many colleges will offer presentations at area hotels or community centers that students and parents can attend. We have been listing these upcoming nights on the WKHS Counselors website. These events tend to be more common in the fall and spring months so you can always check our website and also the college's website for opportunities to meet with them.

Visit their campus! Visiting their school is probably the best way to demonstrate your interest in their college. Because the college visit is such a strong indicator of your interest and because there are many things to consider when you are making a campus visit, I am including a few articles below - many of which deal with the college visits. (Hopefully I will be able to get the links to work better this time. I am very sorry that they haven't worked recently!)

I know it isn't always feasible to visit every single school that you are interested in applying to so find other ways to familiarize yourself if you can't make it to their campus. Visit their website. Read the admissions blogs. Don’t be a pest, but if you have questions, seek the answers by contacting admissions representatives. (And, for the record, you should make those contacts rather than having one of your parents call on your behalf!)

Some schools will offer alumni interviews in the area and if the school you are considering is among them, it would be wise to take advantage of this opportunity as it, again, demonstrates the sincerity of your interest in their college.

Here are a few articles you might want to read regarding demonstrating interest and campus visits.


Campus Visits Top the List


More Ways to ‘Demonstrate Interest’ in a College


Want to see just how much attention colleges are paying to interest and your responses to them – look at this article: Not replying, yet still applying


When the college tour takes a detour to a keg party


6 Campus tour to-do’s for students and parents

Letter of Intent

Yesterday afternoon Charlie Bassani signed his national letter of intent to play lacrosse at Robert Morris University. Charlie was joined in the “signing” ceremony by one of his WKHS teammates, Tae Young Kim, who was also signing his letter of intent. Family members, friends, teammates, and coaches attended the signing ceremony to show their support of Charlie and to celebrate this great accomplishment with him. Charlie shared some kind remarks and signed the form representing his commitment to play lacrosse for Robert Morris, but this day was more of a celebration of the years of hard work and dedication that he has invested in lacrosse to maximize his abilities. Congratulations Charlie! I am so proud of you and wish you nothing but the best at Robert Morris!
In the photo above, Charlie is pictured with his parents and sister, Miriam. Charlie's brother, Harrison, wasn't able to attend Charlie's signing ceremony as he is in college and is currently studying abroad.

College Articles

Did you enjoy the long weekend we just had? One of my "accomplishments" for the weekend was catching up on reading some articles related to college and these are a range of articles that I thought might appeal to you. Pick and choose which ones you want to read based upon what you think will help you most because I know there are a lot here.

The ideal high school graduate


Disclose disciplinary infractions


Insight into admissions at the University of California


4 tips for approaching your college application activities list


4 tips for finding the right college arts program


10 tips for staying organized in the college application process


How to keep your college bound teen from burning out


Small tips that have big impact for college admission


Is it “easier” to get in if you apply early decision?


College search made easy with college navigator


20 very scary online application mistakes to avoid


The many myths about college admissions


10 ways to improve your chances


10th grade college preparation


Foreign language requirement for college admissions


How to match the college to the student


How to measure one college against another


Talking to your teen about college


Top 10 myths of college admissions


Weeding through your college mail


How to choose the perfect college – 15 points to ponder


To how many colleges should I apply?


In selecting a college, academic major remains top factor for students


15 key factors in admissions decisions

Happy Reading! :-)

More on Essay Writing

Seniors, how are you doing on your college application essays? Have you made good progress or are you feeling stuck? With December 1st deadlines rapidly approaching it is important to focus on drafting, editing, revising, editing, and perhaps editing some more until you end up with the best essay possible.

Some students have been having a difficult time coming up with topics that answer the OSU essay question about what you will do in the next four years that will surprise your family and friends. They recently provided clarification to remind students that the purpose of their essay, and quite honestly, the purpose of every college essay, is to share insight about yourself and how you anticipate making the most of the opportunities ahead of you in college. You want to be certain that you allow the college to learn something about you through your essay.

For the essays that give you the choice about what question to answer, pick the question that allows you to tell a story and show what it is that makes you uniquely you.

Here are some additional articles about college essays that might help you:

Getting started on your personal college essay statement
Crafting an application essay that “pops”
6 Tips for a College Admissions Essay on an Influential Person
Short Answer Mistakes
11 guaranteed ways to ruin a college essay
Mistakes to avoid when writing college applications essays
7 golden rules for writing and editing: A non-grammar focused guide to irresistible writing
Advice on whittling your college essay
The college essay: What (not) to write about

Enjoy sleeping in tomorrow! (I'm jealous!) :-)

Letter of Intent

Congratulations to Hunter Atha who signed his national letter of intent to dive next year at the University of Wisconsin. Hunter had his "signing" ceremony after school on Thursday and the swim and dive coaches shared a few comments before he “signed” and thanked everyone in attendance. Hunter was joined by his parents for this recognition and was surrounded by other supporters including his brother, Tanner, his extended family members such as aunts, uncles and grandparents, his current and past coaches, teammates, friends, and teachers. Congratulations Hunter! I am proud of you and wish you the best at Wisconsin!

Veterans Day

Today, Veterans Day, we remember and honor the men and women who have served the United States in our military to protect our freedom.

As I reflected on how much I appreciate the service, dedication and sacrifice so many men and women have given to our country, I couldn't help but have my mind wander specifically to a few different groups of people. My mind went first to my grandfather and his friends, then I thought of all the Marines that I met while at the Parris Island for the Educator's Conference (what all the pictures and newspaper article in my office are from), and then I couldn't help but think of all of my former students who have served (or are currently serving) in the military.

I'll be honest, there is a part of me that is worried to put up this list because I am scared that I am missing people, but this is the list I could come up with tonight in alphabetical order... Vinnie Aebi, Adam Bardelang, Alex Blake, Josh Burton, Taylor Castelli, Eric Castoe, Austin Clouse, Tom Collier, Drew Cox, Dorothy Dibble, Joda Dotson, Stephen Downard, Michael Frizzi, and Zach Ellifritz.

There are no words to adequately express my gratitude and respect for your courage, strength and dedication to country. To all Veterans, thank you for your service and for those of you still in the military, thank you and please, stay safe!

Also, for those of you who might be thinking that you'd like to find ways to honor our nation's military men and women, I thought this article had some great ideas:

15 great ways for students to support our military

Oh The Places You'll Go

We made it through the week! I don't know if it was just me, but this felt like a really long week. I hope you are looking forward to the long weekend. Not only do you have the day off tomorrow, but you also have a late start on Monday!

My guess is that some of you will be using the long weekend to make college visits. Don't forget to take a picture on every college campus that you step foot on - even if it is a school you are not seriously considering for your future. We would love to see the pictures, plus, every interaction you have with a college shapes your views on what you are looking for in the future.

I am thrilled with the pictures I have received already, but I also know that many of you have recently taken or are soon planning college visits and we'd like to continue to build on our picture display. As a reminder, the picture can be of you anywhere at the college - a pretty place, in front of a cool building or an area where you expect to spend a lot of time, or, as seems to be the biggest hit - in front of a sign featuring the name of the college.

Charlie Bassani gets the recognition for giving me the first picture for the class of 2012.
Jonathan Black gets the recognition for giving me the picture from the college that is the greatest distance from WKHS. (Arizona State University)
Mariah Minichello gets the recognition for giving me the most pictures to date. (8 colleges) - FYI, this was a close one as two students have 7 college pictures displayed and one has assured me that more pictures are coming soon.
So far it appears that Northwestern is the "most visited" school with 4 pictures provided by Josh Cook, Matthew Cooperman, Cole Doran and Rosalyn Chen.

Thanks again to everyone that has helped with this project by taking pictures! Please continue taking pictures - I love seeing them when you bring them back and hearing more about your visit to the school!

November Students of the Month

Last Friday morning a ceremony was held honoring the group of students selected as November's Students of the Month. 6 of these outstanding individuals were “my” students. Hunter Atha, Shane Bennett, Jillisa Blake, Jeyenth Bukkapatnam, Brittany Bunn, and Lydia DeWeese were all nominated by staff for their academic achievement, good citizenship and/ or service. This is an honor that students can only receive once during their high school career. Congratulations on your well-deserved recognition! I am proud of you.

(Unfortunately, since I had to be out of the building for a conference, I was not able to be there to get a picture of just "my" students, but Ms. Schwartz helped me out by taking this full group picture of all the students who were honored at the event.)

Studying Strategies

Do you know how to study? I ask students that question a lot and, quite honestly, the most common response is "no." It really isn't a surprise though. The reality is that until high school gets hard enough that you hit the wall and it no longer comes easy to you, studying isn't something you typically have to worry about and spend a lot of time focusing on.

The challenging part of studying is that what works best for one person may not be what works best for someone else. And, even if you figure out what works best for you in one particular subject area, that still doesn't mean that this particular strategy will be most effective for a different subject.

The best news is that there are lots of different ideas and strategies that you can use to develop a study strategy that works best for you! For what it is worth, think of learning to study like you think of learning to run. You already know some skills that have helped you to know how to study and to be successful - just like you already know how to run, but if you practice and really train at running, you can improve significantly and studying will work just the same. Keep working at your study strategies, practice and continue refining your technique until you find the perfect combination that works for you.

Here are some articles with study strategies and tips that might interest you:

Common Study Mistakes

Surefire Tips for Earning Grades Colleges will Notice

Shrinking Outline Method:

How to Cram for a Final:

5 Ways Poor Attendance Hurts

One Minute Paper

Smart Study Habits

Wired Studying Isn’t Always Best Strategy

9 Evidenced Based Study Tips

Using Checklists

Always check what you’re being asked to do

Facebook's impact on student's grades

Career Related

As you are aware, I was out of the building Thursday and Friday. The reason that I wasn't there is because I was attending the All Ohio Counselor Conference, a gathering of counselors from across the state. During the conference, I presented a session about the Career Fair that we held in 2008 and 2010. All the time spent thinking about the Career Fair made me want to take a moment again to express my gratitude for all of the students, parents, staff and community members who worked hard and dedicated their time, energy and effort to help make the event a success!

I also wanted to remind you that although we only hold the career fair every other year, exploring potential future career interests is something that doesn't take time off.

If you are interested, you can complete a career resource inventory on OCIS, the Ohio Career Information System. Here are directions for using OCIS:
1. Log in http://www.ocis.org/. User name: Kilbourne. Password: ohiocis03
2. In the top right side of the page, click on “Create my Portfolio” to set up a personal account
3. On the top left side of the page, click on “Individual Academic and Career Plan.”
4. Read the screen.
5. Students in grade 9 should click on “Getting Started.” Follow the directions and complete each activity.
6. Students in grades 10-12, should click on “Looking Deeper.”

You can navigate through the OCIS pages by using the Quick Links button on the top right of the page for quicker navigation.

Additionally, here are some articles that pertain to careers which might interest you:

Five jobs with high salary, low education

What can I do with a major in…

Helping teens develop marketable job skills

Credit Flexibility

On Monday night, November 7th, at 7:30pm we will hold a meeting to share information about the new options available to students through credit flexibility.

The State of Ohio passed legislation that changes how students can earn units of high school credit. Students are now able to earn credit based on a demonstration of subject area competency, instead of or in combination with completing hours of classroom instruction. Students will be 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.

I hope that all students and parents interested in learning more about credit flexibility will join us Monday night in the auditorium.

University of Toledo Scholarship

Today I learned that Worthington Schools has joined in a program offered by the University of Toledo to provide up to $10,000 in scholarships per student who spends 4 years of high school in the district and earns a 3.0 GPA or higher each year. With the costs of college being so overwhelming, this is a great opportunity for our students!

Here is the Dispatch article that highlights the news that Worthington has joined in on the scholarship program. Here is an article that the Columbus Dispatch ran several weeks ago when Dublin joined in on the program as this article gives additional information about the scholarship.