Automotive Pre-Apprenticeship

Performance Columbus and the Automotive Maintenance PreApprenticeship Program (AMPP) will be hosting open houses for students and parents to come and learn about the opportunities available at their facility.

The Automotive PreApprenticeship is for students who will be juniors and seniors in the fall of the 24-25 school year.  This program is designed for those who want to learn how to diagnose and repair cars and learn more about careers in the automotive industry.  Participants will engage in hands-on learning, and earn high school credit while gaining career based skills.

The Open House sessions will be held on the second floor of Drive Direct at 2361 Morse Rd. Columbus 43229

Session 1: March 7th, 6:00-7:30PM

Session 2: March 12th, 6:00-7:30PM

 

If this sounds like something you would be interested in doing as a part of your scheduled school day next year, I hope you will go (with a parent) to one of the Open House sessions to learn more about this exciting opportunity.

ASVAB Opportunity

The ASVAB is a career assessment tool that is used by the military to help determine what careers a student would be eligible to pursue in the future.  But it is also a resource with lots of general career based information for ALL students - even those with no interest in joining the military.

We had provided the ASVAB to interested WKHS students last month and last week the students who participated received the summary of their results and the career access information.  The career information that is not specific to the military was actually much more expansive than I had anticipated.

There have been a group of students who had missed the chance to take the ASVAB in January and so we are working to provide a second opportunity to take the test for students who might be interested.  The test date is to be determined based on how many students indicate that they want to take the test.  So, if you are interested in taking the ASVAB in March, please stop by and let me know so that I can add your name to the list.

ACT Pre-Registration Reminder

Juniors, don't forget, you need to be sure that you have taken the time to log into the ACT website and completed the Pre-Registration paperwork including creating your account, giving information about your grades, and selecting where you want your free test scores to be sent following your test.  

This was covered during the PACK period when you were filling out your answer document bubbles.  If you are having any trouble with getting this completed, please bring your directions and code with you (that you were given during PACK period) and we can work on figuring it out together.  This is a really important step that you don't want to mess up so please get it taken care of ASAP.  

Also, one other reminder, when you create your ACT account information, please be sure to save the information such as your username and password somewhere.  It has become so common for people to think "I'll remember it" and then later when students need to request for their scores to be sent to a college and they can't remember their ACT account information it is a major problem.  None of the information they ask for is too challenging, you just need to pause and be sure to get it done because you will be taking the ACT two weeks from today!

Parent Lunch & Learn

We will host our next Lunch & Learn for parents this coming Friday, March 1st.  (Can you believe we are almost to March?!)  This month's Lunch & Learn topic is Stress Management.

Stress is a part of ALL of our lives.  Some people have developed strong skills to help manage the stress which comes up each day and others can benefit from learning some new skills in this area.  Parents are often the first ones seeing those stressed out behaviors at home and so we have a Lunch & Learn session designed to help support parents in learning and understanding some stress management approaches to help teens.

The Lunch & Learn's take place from 12-12:30 over zoom.  The link to the zoom session will be emailed to all parents the morning of the event and it will also be posted on the Counselor Website.  I hope that we will see parents online on Friday.

Bye Bye Birdie

Did your class get to see the teaser for this year's musical, Bye Bye Birdie, today during 8th period?  I know that there were many students hoping their class would attend that weren't able to participate in seeing part of the show.  

Mr. Robey, Mr. Jones and the whole cast and crew of the Bye Bye Birdie have been working so hard to put together an incredible show.  I encourage you to get tickets for one of the 3 shows (1 Friday & 2 on Saturday) to support your fellow students and to see the talent on display at WKHS.

There is a large cast and crew involved with this production.  I want to send extra good luck wishes to "my" students who are part of the production including:

On stage performers:  Jamey Chimbidis and Ivan Chivington.

There are countless hours of time spent behind the scenes without the applause and recognition that the actors/ actresses will receive and so I want to acknowledge: Ethan Bevington, Alliyah Ahmed, Charlotte Andon, and Kenzo Burgher.

And last, but certainly not least.  A musical is only a musical if there is music and so I also want to recognize my students in the pit orchestra: John Battle, Claire Bentley, Maela Best, Mira Bixler, and Abby Comp.

Good luck and I can't wait to see the whole show!

Progress

One of the most common challenges I see and hear about from students is connected to the frustration of wanting to achieve your goals while also struggling to stay motivated for those same goals.  Some of you will talk about that in relation to your grades saying things like, "I want to do better and get good grades, but I just don't have the motivation for it."  Others talk about it with personal goals such as with sports.  In this situation it might sound like, "I want to start on the team next fall, but it's so far away it's hard to make myself run on my own right now."  Or it could be in relation to a personal challenge you're facing such as navigating difficult situations with friends.

No matter what the dynamic or situation you are facing it is easy to get sucked into believing that there will be a better time in the future to do whatever it is that you're contemplating.  And, it is also easy to think that motivation will carry you through.  Sadly, neither of those things are effective in helping when the distractions and temptation to procrastinate are strong.

So what can you do?  You can set the bar low to start and raise it once you get going.

What do I mean and what would that look like?  I might think I "should" run a certain distance every day.  But instead I end up not running all week.  So if I shift my thinking and set the bar low to start then I am going to tell myself I will run for 5 minutes and then decide from there if I am going to keep going or not.  If I quit after 5 minutes, ok, I stopped.  But at least I got 5 minutes of work in towards my goal which is better than not starting at all.  And, many times, I will be able to raise the bar for myself and do more than 5 minutes of running.  Maybe I will run for 10 minutes or maybe I will go my whole desired length of time or distance, but no matter what, I am doing better than if I had never started.

If you expect yourself to be perfect then it is easy to fall short of that goal and therefore give up on even trying before you really get started.  But by setting the bar low, you know that you can achieve that simple goal and then you can keep raising it so that step by step you will end up making progress.

If you are needing help with making progress towards any of your goals, I hope you will stop and see me.  We can work together to help identify some realistic low bar goals that you could start with and then ways that you can gradually increase those goals towards supporting your desire to make progress.  Remember, I believe in you and know that you can achieve anything you desire and work for in the future.

Your Future & Careers

Throughout junior registration meetings I spent time talking about what students think they might want to be when you all grow up.  Not a fair question, but it's still interesting to me to hear your thoughts and what you picture for yourself in the future.

Sometimes students will talk about being stressed, overwhelmed or worried when thinking about the future and trying to decide what they want to be when they grow up.  I get it, but I have to admit – this kind of makes me sad.  I think that the process of exploring potential careers for your future should be fun and exciting.  It should provide you with the chance to learn more about yourself – what you like, what you don’t like, what you are interested in learning more about, and how you can contribute to make the world a better place in big or small ways.

Yes, I realize that this all sounds like pressure and that is not what I intend.  Let me be clear – I am not asking you to decide today what you will do for the rest of your life.  I’m just hoping that you take a big deep breath, relax and do some career exploration.  Even a little bit now while you are in high school can help give you insights into possible fields to investigate.

Some students have done a Myers Briggs personality test and the codes of your personality can be connected with potential career fields.  If you have never taken a Myers Briggs type test, today is the day!  This website provides a free version of the test.  It takes about 12 minutes to complete… what are you waiting for?  In case it entices you to complete the test, the results will not only tell you about potential career paths you might like it will also highlight some of your strengths and weaknesses, styles of interactions and needs with others, and work habits.  Plus, once you have your Myers Briggs code type (it will be 4 letters) you can do a Google search to find information about top careers for your personality type and that will result in much more detailed, specific career related information.  I also have a summary sheet that outlines lots of different career fields that often fit for people with that personality type, so if you come in to see me and let me know what your code is then I am more than happy to run that summary sheet for you!

Scholarships

As you are working on completing your financial aid paperwork and deal with the frustrations that is bringing, it is only natural that your thoughts will turn to the overwhelming costs associated with attending college. Many seniors are so relieved to finally be done with their college applications that it can be hard to get motivated to complete scholarship applications. Several years ago I remember one student who complained all the way through his scholarship application and he ended up getting it done and submitted within hours of the deadline. As it turned out, he ended up receiving the scholarship and it was a significant scholarship (although, for the record, I believe that any scholarship received is significant as it is money that you do not have to pay on your own). Looking back, this student shared that he couldn't imagine earning that amount of money for just a couple of hours of work to complete the scholarship application.

I tell you this story to try to remind you that while I understand it can be hard to stay motivated to complete scholarship applications when only one or perhaps a handful of students will receive the scholarship award, it will be worth it if you receive a scholarship.  Think about it... if you spend 10 hours applying to 30 scholarships and end up receiving one $500 scholarship, you just made $50/hour!

I also need to clarify that most money does end up coming directly from your colleges, but there are so many other places to look for scholarships and you should consider all of the options to try to help make your college experience even a little more affordable. For example, do your parent's employers (or if you work, your employer) offer scholarships for dependent children? What about your place of worship? If you volunteer for an organization, do they offer scholarships for their student volunteers? There are also countless scholarship search websites where you can complete personalized searches for other qualities and characteristics that would be ideal for you. If you want to see some of these sites, please check out financial aid section (under colleges) on the WKHS Counselors website.

Honors Diploma

For some students, earning an Honors Diploma is an important goal. I have to be honest, this is not a factor for the colleges because the honors diploma recognition isn't granted until you graduate so colleges are not considering it when making their admissions decisions. The requirements for the honors diploma are established by the state department of education.

One of the important things to know about the honors diploma requirements is that they are different for students in the Classes of 2024 and 2025 than the requirements for students in the Class of 2026 and beyond.

The interesting challenge is that kids have thought the honors diploma requirements were confusing at times, but for the Class of 2026 and beyond they are definitely more difficult to understand all of the nuances.  

Here is a link to the state's explanation of the Honors Diploma requirements.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope you are being reminded by family members and friends that you are important and that you matter.  

Valentine's Day is often a holiday that is dominated by commercials encouraging people to buy special cards, jewelry, flowers or candy, but really those items are not what love is all about.  Love is about caring for the people in your life and putting their needs above your own.  

Love is also about respecting one another!  February is Teen Dating Violence awareness month.  I hope that you all know and realize that you deserve to be in healthy and respectful relationships.  It is important to speak up and set healthy boundaries in your relationships and to seek help if that is not happening in your life or the lives of those you care about.  Want to learn more about teen dating violence?  Check out this website - http://www.loveisrespect.org/ - they have tons of great resources and information.

FAFSA Nightmare

At this point, seniors, I am guessing that you are aware of at least some of the challenges with the new simplified FAFSA.  From the opening of the FAFSA to go live for students and families to complete being delayed to the struggles to actually be able to successfully log in and navigate the new FAFSA forms, it has been challenging for students and families.

But do you know who the process has been even worse for?  Colleges.  The colleges still don't have any of the FAFSA forms that have been completed and the recently learned that they wouldn't receive the FAFSA data that families submitted until sometime in early to mid-March.  With the way things have been going, colleges aren't anticipating that they will receive the information they need to make financial aid offers to students until mid-March.

As a result, this is going to be VERY difficult for families to make informed decisions about the financial fit of colleges because you will most likely not receive those financial aid offers from colleges until some time in April.

Colleges across the country are trying to figure out how to support families as they understand the extreme stress that these FAFSA delays are causing for students.  One of the things that I believe you will likely hear from a solid number of colleges is to delay their date that they require students to commit to attending their school.  Nationally, on normal years, this deadline is always May 1st for all colleges.  But now schools are saying that they will be delaying this deadline.  You will have to look at the information from your particular colleges to see what they are saying about their commitment deadlines.  For example, Ohio State announced last week that they are extending this delay to May 15th.

I know that this isn't the news you wanted if you are anxiously awaiting for information on financial aid to determine if you'll be able to attend a school, but know that this will work our and the colleges are trying to work with you.

Pass/ Fail & Drop Deadline

I wanted to make sure that all of you are aware that Wednesday is the last day to drop a class without it appearing on your transcript!  Wednesday is also the deadline for students to be able to switch their schedules from traditional grading to pass/ fail grading.  

So, if this was something you were considering, please be sure to pick up the form on the bookshelf in the front of the Counseling Center or download the form from the Counselor website, get them signed and be sure to submit them by the end of the day Wednesday!

Super Bowl

Are you getting ready to watch the Super Bowl?  There will be a lot of attention on the 53 players on each team.  (And probably on Taylor Swift too.)  The athletes are the stars of the game, but there are so many other people who are involved in making sure that each individual and each team is ready to excel at the highest levels.  This is how it works with lots of different career fields.  Even school.  

You, as students, are the stars!  Your opportunity to show off all that you know in class every day takes perseverance, dedication, focus, and daily work beyond just showing up hoping to excel on the day of a test or exam.  The athletes who will be on the field have to put in lots of time outside of Sunday game-days just like you need to do every day.  

Hopefully you also recognize that there are lots of people who surround you to help support and encourage you to achieve at your highest possible levels.  Your teachers, parents, and coaches are at the fore-front of that list, but remember that there are others, including me, who are here to help you, cheer you on and believe in you too.  

And, it's true, you won't get a Super Bowl trophy, but your work will end with a high school diploma and lots of opportunities for the future so that's certainly just as rewarding.

So, as you watch the Super Bowl tonight - it doesn't matter if you are watching for the football, the commercials, the halftime show, or with hopes of seeing glimpses of Taylor Swift, try to remember that this is only part of the story and there is always so much more happening behind the scenes just like there is in your life too.

PE Waiver

The PE waiver provides the opportunity for students to waive having PE as a required class for graduation.  This option is available to students participating in high school athletics including cheerleading and marching band.  (For ease of explaining and writing this, when I refer to sports or athletics throughout this post, please know that it also includes marching band.)  All students must still earn the full 20 credits to graduate from high school, this waiver would simply mean that what has typically been required (1/2 credit of Physical Education) would not need to be included in the 20 credits earned and an additional 1/2 credit of Elective would be required instead.

The option to utilize a PE waiver is open to all students.  Please be aware that athletic participation during your senior year does NOT count toward the waiver.

In order to utilize the waiver, students must successfully complete two full seasons of athletics.  This can be 2 different sports in one year, it could be 1 sport over two years, or even 1 sport one year and another sport the other year.  So, for example, if I participate in both football and basketball in the same year, I could apply for the waiver.  If I participate in football as a sophomore and again as a junior, I could apply for the waiver.  If I participate in football as a sophomore and track as a junior, I could apply for the waiver.

In order to have your sport counted as one which can be used for the waiver, it must be an approved high school sport.  This means that your club sport participation, like club soccer or club volleyball, is not included in the waiver eligibility.  Also, dance team and the competition cheer team are all club teams and not high school sponsored athletics and so they are not eligible for the waiver option.  Additionally, team managers and statisticians cannot count their involvement as a season toward the waiver.

Students must complete a "full season" in order to have the sport count which is considered from the first practice through the last event or banquet.  If a student is "cut" from a team, quits, or has an athletic/ activity code violation which requires them to forfeit 50% or more of the season, then that season would not be able to be used to meet the two-season requirement.  If you were to get hurt, the injury will not eliminate the option of having the season count if the principal, coach and athletic director determine that the student actively participated and made contributions in spite of the injury.

Many students ask if it can be a partial waiver because they had already completed one of the PE required courses and would only have 1 season of sport eligibility and the answer is no, there is no ability to mix and match.  If you have already completed a PE course, you can still utilize the waiver to eliminate PE as a required course, but you must complete 2 seasons of sports in order to apply for the waiver.  The bottom line is that 0 seasons of sports = needs PE/ doesn't meet the waiver eligibility requirement, 1 season of sport = needs PE/ doesn't meet the waiver eligibility requirement, and 2 seasons of sports = meets the waiver eligibility requirement and therefore doesn't need PE classes.

The district has developed a system to track your athletic participation automatically and that happens at the end of each school year.  Even though it should catch your sports automatically, it never hurts to double check at the end of the year to make sure your waiver appears on your transcript.

Students of the Month

Last Friday morning was the ceremony to honor our February Students of the Month.  Students are only eligible to receive this recognition once during their high school years.  Students are nominated by staff in recognition for their outstanding dedication to the school and community.  

A special congratulations to my students who were among those recognized as Students of the Month (pictured from left to right): Gray Beckett, Jimmy Alvarado Dominguez, Thalia Weis and (not pictured) Jamal Addison.  I am proud of you!

Meeting Day CC+ Reminders

Tomorrow I will start meeting with sophomore students before transitioning back to juniors later this week and next week.  One quick reminder to all students who are hoping to participate in CC+ classes at any time next year, you need to bring your completed CC+ forms with you to our 1:1 meeting.

That means you need to have:

- Watched the videos

- Applied to the college(s): Columbus State for English, Psychology, Ethics, Government, or Sociology and Central Ohio Technical College for Math (there are detailed directions to complete this step on the Counselor Website)

- Filled out the Intent to Participate form and full packet (for the CSCC packet, that will include having your Cougar ID number which will come to you via email sometime between 2 days and a week after you have applied.

If you don't have those steps completed by the time we have your 1:1 meeting that is ok.  I will put your desired CC+ classes in as alternates and change your schedule once you have turned your forms in to me.

Earning Credit

Today was a great day of meetings with my freshmen students.  I continue with the second half of my 9th graders tomorrow before taking on the sophomores on Wednesday and Thursday.  One of the most common conversation topics I had during today's meetings was about earning credits.

High school is different than elementary and middle school.  In middle school, you take classes and each year you move on to the next grade and take all the classes for that grade.  In high school, you must earn credits for specified classes and the way you earn credit is by passing each semester of the class. 

So, for example, all students must earn 4 credits of English to graduate.  When you pass both semesters of English 1 during your freshman year, you move on to English 2 during your sophomore year.  If, unfortunately, you failed one of the semesters of English 1 then you are going to have to make that up before you can progress on to English 2.  Students who failed a semester will be able to make up the course either by repeating the class in summer school, repeating the class through credit recovery or repeating the class by retaking it during your sophomore year.  The bottom line is that you must REPEAT the class in some format.

Some classes (like English) have pre-requisites that students must meet in order to move on to the next level.  Other classes, like Science and Social Studies, do not have pre-requisites to move on to the next level so we will allow you to move from Physical Science to Biology or from World History to US History without first repeating the freshman year class.  Don’t misunderstand though, you will have to repeat the class at some point, but if you are not making it up during summer school, then you will likely be taking a freshman year class during your junior year.

In order to earn sophomore status, students must have earned at least 5 credits.  To become a junior you will need 10 credits.  To be classified as a senior, you must have earned at least 15 credits.  And graduation, of course, includes a minimum of 20 credits in all the right categories.

DACC/ Academy/ Linworth

When we are talking about registration for next year, it often leads students to think about some of the other learning program partnerships that are options available to you as Kilbourne students.  I am specifically thinking of the Delaware Area Career Center (DACC), Linworth, and the Worthington Academy.

It is important to remember that the Delaware Area Career Center requires students to apply and even though the priority deadline has passed, they assure us that they still welcome your application.  So, if you are interested in applying to DACC, please get your application completed and submitted online ASAP.  

For current juniors who are already enrolled as students at DACC, as long as you are in good standing with your program then you are automatically eligible to continue in your program next year.  So, when you register online you will select the 1/2 day or Full day option that you prefer and register only for the classes at WKHS that you plan on taking.

If you are a sophomore or junior who has applied to the career center, then when you are completing the online course registration, you will fill out the request as if you are taking a full day at WKHS.  Later, when you find out that you have been accepted to the program of your choice, then I will go back in and adjust your classes to reflect your half day or full day DACC preference.

Linworth is another incredible option for some of our WKHS students.  While most students who attend Linworth start there as freshmen, there are limited opportunities for older students to apply and attend.  If you are interested, we need to set up a time for you to visit and interview.  For current Linworth students, please register online for just the classes you will take at WKHS.  As always, you will set up your Linworth schedule at Linworth on the first day.  

Worthington Academy is another application based program available to WKHS students.  The Academy is housed on the west end of Perry/ Phoenix Middle School and it provides students with the opportunity to blend their learning with a mix of teacher instructed and online courses.

Much like the DACC and Linworth, students who are already attending the Academy and are in good academic standing can register for the Academy as a part of their registration process and then select only the classes you plan on taking at WKHS.  Those students who are applying for the Academy for the first time will register as if you were going to be attending classes at WKHS for the full day.  Once you are accepted, the Academy staff and I will go in and update your course requests so that you have the Academy and only the classes you plan on taking at WKHS in your schedule.

Please know that there are limited seats available at the Academy, so if you are interested in applying you want to get your application in as soon as possible.

If you have questions about the Worthington Academy, feel free to stop and see me or you can also contact the Academy Principal, Dr. Flynn, via e-mail at sflynn@wscloud.org.

Financial Literacy

One of the graduation requirements is for all students to complete a Financial Literacy Course.  There are a lot of different classes that can fulfill that requirement, but this tends to make the requirement a bit confusing.

All students grades 9-12 can take:

Economics and Financial Literacy - this class is a Social Studies elective course that will give you a SS elective credit and meet the financial literacy requirement.

Personal Financial Management - this class is a Business elective course that will give students an elective credit and fulfill the financial literacy requirement.

Independent Living - this is one of the Family & Consumer Science classes and it will give you an elective credit and fulfill the financial literacy requirement.

The cool thing about these classes is that they are all covering the same financial literacy standards, but the additional content and approach in the classes are different so that you can select the course which appeals most to you.

The state has changed the guidelines for students in the class of 2026 and beyond related to financial literacy so the following classes cannot be counted on to meet the Financial Literacy requirement for current 9th graders  and 10th and beyond, but do count for our current juniors through seniors:

Financial Algebra - this is a year long math class that meets the financial literacy requirements.

IB History SL or HL - Mr. Jordan currently addresses the financial literacy components within both the SL and HL versions of IB history. 

IB Business HL - Mrs. Kucharek currently addresses the financial literacy components in the HL version of the IB Business class.

As of this moment, there are a lot of questions on if the Financial Algebra or IB classes will be able to fulfill the requirements for Financial Literacy for the Class of 2026 and beyond, but if you are trying to plan now for what you will be taking in the future, the safest way to plan would be to anticipate taking one of the 3 classes identified that definitely can meet the Financial Literacy requirement.

CC+ Classes

On Tuesday night I wrote about AP and IB classes and how they might be able to result in you earning college credits for the high school work you complete.  College Credit Plus (CC+) is another avenue students can pursue to earn both high school and college credit.  The big difference is that CC+ classes are available to students for free and don't require you to take a test to try to earn the college credit.  The credit is earned by how you do in the classes.

The College Credit Plus (CC+) information for next year was released for students in Worthington at the same time as the registration information was rolled out last week.  The state helps to facilitate the costs of this program so they have established very specific requirements for students to complete in order to participate.  One of those requirements is that students have to attend a mandatory meeting every year - even if you have taken CC+ classes in the past.  Fortunately, this meeting requirement is still able to be fulfilled by watching a 2 part video series that is posted on the WKHS Counselor website.

With CC+ classes, there are some classes that will have WKHS teachers teaching the classes all year just like normal, but you get college credit for it.  This includes the PreCalculus and Calculus courses taught by Kilbourne's math teachers.

There are also classes taught by CSCC instructors who will come to Kilbourne and teach their courses.  These courses are different from traditional WKHS classes in that they will be taught 2 days a week for 2 periods a day.  The extra time available on the other 3 days can either be filled with another CC+ class or as time for you to work on studying and completing the work for your college class.  Below is a list of the classes that are going to be offered (depending on level of interest) and when they will run:

First Semester:
- English Composition 1: M/W
- Psychology: T/R
- Ethics: T/R

Second Semester:
- English Composition 2: M/W
- Sociology: T/R
- Government: T/R

If you are currently in AP Lang, when you take the AP Test at the end of the year, if you earn a 3 or higher then you will have earned the equivalency of the English Composition 1 class.  This would make you eligible to go straight to Comp 2.

One of the keys to understand about the CC+ classes is that this is guaranteed college credit IF you pass the class.  (So, unlike AP classes, no test to take on one specific day to try to earn the college credit.)  The credit is guaranteed for every public college in the state of Ohio.  Private colleges and out-of-state colleges all have the option of accepting or rejecting the credit just like they do with AP courses.

If you need me to help you map out how this would look for the classes you are considering, we can do this during your individual meeting or you can drop by and see me to discuss the choices.  This is a great, free opportunity and with the cost of college being so expensive, every free class can help so I don't want you to miss out on the chance.  If you are even remotely considering CC+ classes next year, please be sure to watch the videos with your parents, apply to the college(s), and complete and return the intent to participate packet to the Counseling Center!