Seniors have just 18 days of
school remaining and underclassmen have 22 days (including the 3 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. It is essential that you spend the remaining weeks taking care of your classes so that you do not jeopardize your future.
The truth is that this last month of the school year is
essential for many WKHS students.
For seniors, I realize that there is a rampant
case of senioritis running through the school, but I must remind you that next
year most of you will be heading to college. You have already received your
acceptance letters and decided where you will be attending school next year so
it seems like your grades this last semester don't really matter... except
they do! You must submit a final transcript to your college. If you go
back and read the acceptance letters that the colleges sent to you, you will
notice the fine print that points out that they can turn you down if you don't
maintain the level of grades that they expect from you and your past
performance. Last year schools did turn away hundreds of students and I can't
even imagine how hard it was for a student to believe they knew where they
would be attending to suddenly find out that they could no longer attend there because
they blew off school during their final semester. The other comment I
hear from seniors often is that school doesn't matter now, but that next year,
in college, when it matters they will turn it around and try. Well, while I
would love to believe you (and I hope you are right), the reality is that it
isn't always that easy. Bad
habits are hard to break. Next year there won't be anyone bugging you about turning in
homework or reminding you that a paper or project is due next week. They won't
accept late papers. Most teachers won't check attendance and they don't care if
you want to throw your money away by not attending class. It is your
introduction to the real world. At WKHS if you show up late to class and get a
tardy or two you end up with a detention. In the real world, if you show up
late for work you get fired. At WKHS if you can't manage to turn in a paper or
project on time teachers take points off and it might hurt your grade, but in
the real world the devastation of not following through and meeting
the expectations of your boss are much more serious. I know, you think I am
just nagging and I promise that I am not trying to lecture you, but I am
worried. The last few weeks of high school need to be a time to practice
developing some good habits. For many of you, you have taken a long enough
break at the beginning of this quarter. Spend time studying. Work on your
organization skills. Practice taking better notes. All of those things will
help you in college and in the future.
For the underclassmen... it is far too early for
you to be claiming senioritis (although I heard that from quite a few students
recently). The classes that you are taking now will impact
your grades and grade point average. Having
a higher grade point average doesn't guarantee you admission to the school of
your dreams, but it does provide you with more options. For most of your
classes - you need it to meet graduation requirements. (Even your elective
classes as you need multiple credits of electives to graduate.) It always
surprises me when students give up at this point in the year. I don't
understand it. If I was faced with the option of working really hard for the
last 4 weeks of school and kicking butt on the exams or taking the class for an
entire semester (or year) again over the summer or next year there is no
question that I would apply myself now. That is what so many of you need to do.
Stop and think about it for a moment. Your 3rd quarter grade was worth 40% of
your semester grade. This quarter's grade is worth another 40% of your semester
grade and your final exam makes up the remaining 20%. That means that with your
exam and this quarter you are dealing with 60% of your total points for the
semester. Hopefully you realize that this also means that you can still pass,
but you must commit yourself now and not let a single point
slip by without trying to earn it. Every
point matters! Talk to your teachers, get input from
them on what you need to do differently in order to turn things around in your
classes. Please, don't wait until it is too late. If you have already realized
that there is no way to pass the class and your teacher agrees that there is no
hope, please come and see me so that we can talk about what your plan is to
make up the class. Are you going to take it during the summer? Are you going to
take it next year? If you are taking it next year does that bump out any of
your other classes because you are now missing the requirements? There is a
great deal to consider. If you aren't going to be able to pass one class,
please work hard to make sure that you pass all of the others. As soon as you
realize that one class is a lost cause it doesn't mean that all of the others
are gone too. Try to use your time wisely and put more effort into the ones
that still have hope. Feel free to stop in and talk to me if you need help
developing a plan on how to focus your energy and effort to passing your
classes.
Believe me, I do understand that it is hard to focus right
now. And yes, I admit that I don't always want to get up and come to school
when there are other things that sound more appealing for the day. But we only
have one today and the decisions we make today have a much bigger influence
than we can imagine. Make the most of today!
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