Enjoy Winter Break

We made it through exams and are you are now officially half-way through the school year! 

I hope you and your families have a wonderful, relaxing, and enjoyable winter break. I hope that the time spent with your family and friends will be uplifting and help to recharge you for the new year ahead. 

I also want to remind you that it is ok if the holiday season is not actually "the most wonderful time of the year." The stress is real and it is important that you are taking care of yourself and those closest to you.

If you will travel - be safe. If you stay home - enjoy the extra down time. And above all, remember that you are valued and appreciated and needed.

Joy, peace and love is my wish for you and your families this holiday and in the year ahead. Have a great break and I will look forward to hearing all about it when we return.

Pressure

There is a LOT of pressure on high school students today. I am seeing and hearing that stress from many of my students and it is definitely more pronounced during exam week. 

The big reminder that I have for you is that your family members might be trying to talk to you about all these different aspects of your life - GPA, College, Career, etc - not because they are trying to add pressure to your life, but because they believe in you, they know what you're capable of, and they want the best for you. And yet, that can feel like pressure.

You cannot tackle all of the big life goals at once, but you can take care of the steps in front of you today. One day at a time. And repeat it consistently. In the end, you will reach the goals you have set for yourself. 

I'm here if you want to talk about the pressures you're feeling. For now though, remember that you only have 2 exams left. You can do this. Don't give up. Don't put too much stress on yourself to be perfect. Just do the best that you can for today and know that after 1 more day of school winter break and 2 weeks of down-time is ahead of you!

Caring Makes a Difference

Lately on the news and as I scroll on Social Media I have been caught between two different extremes... reading and watching stories of unbelievable tragedy and heartbreak or seeing and hearing stories about extraordinary compassion, generosity and kindness. (I suspect you are also seeing all of the tragic stories of late, but just to give a reference, the other stories I am seeing have been incredible "secret santa" stories or people displaying "random acts of kindness" for those around them in need.)

As I have wrestled to try to understand all of the scary, horrible things in our world, I also cling to these good stories. To remember that everything isn't all bad and that there absolutely is incredible love, grace and beauty in our world too. AND... it is up to each of us to make it that way!

That had me thinking about the "Charles Schulz Life Philosophy" that I believe isn't actually from Charles Schultz, the creator of the 'Peanuts' comic strip, but it is a series of questions that is often attributed to him and is a concept that (regardless of who really came up with it) I love.

You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just think about them and you'll get the point.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress...

How did you do?

The point is that none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money or the most awards. They simply are the ones who care the most!

As we finish out this week, semester, and calendar year, I hope that you will try to shift your attention to how you can show care and compassion for the people around you. It makes a difference and our world needs more of that right now!

Good Luck in Exams

I just wanted to wish all of you good luck on your exams tomorrow (and the rest of the week.) Good luck with your last minute studying, get a good night's sleep and then tomorrow, relax, eat a good breakfast, take a deep breath and do your best on each exam!  

Remember, you don't have to be THE best, as long as you do YOUR best!

As always, I will be anxious to hear how things go for you on your exams - so stop in, visit Lexi and say hi to share an update (and, of course, you can pick up a piece of candy too.)

What do I say to that?

Since returning from Thanksgiving break, I have talked with several students and heard about the random questions from extended family members or friends which were brought up over the holiday.  Many more of you will likely come into contact with people who could ask lots of questions over winter break.

The types of questions I am referring to include:

- What colleges are you applying to?

- Where are you going to go to college?

- What are you going to study?

- What do you want to do when you grow up?

So what can you say to these questions? Well, the truth is a great place to start. But, I acknowledge that for some of you these questions create a great deal of anxiety because you aren't sure about what those answers might be yet.

The good news is that "yet" is a key part of the answer. There are lots of ways that you can respond if you are not sure or are not comfortable in sharing your answer. You can say, "I am not sure yet." Or "I am still trying to decide." But be aware that sometimes those answers can feel like permission to well-meaning relatives or friends who suggest that you do whatever they want at whichever colleges they feel would be a good fit and I know that sometimes that can become overwhelming or uncomfortable.

Most of all, I want to remind you that you do not owe answers to anyone, but the people who are asking you these questions care about you and want the best for you. So when it feels comfortable, please listen to their ideas and input and if it feels awkward or unhelpful, feel free to say, things such as "I am still trying to decide, but I am enjoying taking a few weeks off from the stress of thinking about all of this so let's change the topic for tonight." (And you might want to have a great other topic in mind as well.)

Recently Forbes ran 2 articles that dealt with the same concept...

The first is aimed at the adults who might be interacting with teens over the holidays to remind them that well-intentioned questions although aimed at trying to get to know the teens better and hear about their plans can feel like pressure. This article is College Admissions Leaders Share Tips for Talking to Teens at the Holidays.

The second article is aimed at the teens who might be dealing with the family member questions. It gives lots of examples of other ways you can pivot the conversation to learn more about the adult's perspective and experience rather than feeling on the spot to answer about your own thoughts. This article is The College Applicant's Guide to Holiday Season Serenity.

Good luck in figuring out what you want to say to those who ask you about the future. Feel free to come and see me if you want to brainstorm more for your specific situation!

Steady Study Progress

How are you feeling about your progress with studying? I am hoping that you had a productive weekend getting work accomplished and reviewing your materials... the bitter cold definitely helped make staying inside more desirable.

The reality is that your academic success isn't just about exams, but right now I know a lot of your time and attention has been on exam preparation and that is certainly valuable. Remember, you have been preparing for your exams every day since the start of the semester back in August. So while studying to review the content and make sure that you are confident and prepared is important, it isn't like you are trying to learn information for the first time.

One of the keys for achieving academic success is trying to pace yourself while eliminating distractions so that you can maintain your focus. There are lots of strategies that can be effective to help decrease distractions to help you sustain focus on studying. Turning off the tv, music or your cell phone can be great ideas to start. For many students the distraction is on the computer itself with notifications, messages, and more tempting you to shift to anything other than studying because, sadly, everything else is going to seem more exciting and interesting than studying.

Be patient with yourself if you realize that you got off track and immediately switch back to what you were aiming to be doing in the time given. Don't hesitate to set up blocks or use other tools (including your parents) to help you focus on what you need to be accomplishing. And, of course, remember that 20 minutes of truly focused study time is going to be WAY more valuable than an hour of distracted, half-hearted studying.

Although I fear giving you one more opportunity to distract yourself from actually studying, here is an article on: Training your brain- how to focus better and avoid distractions.

Good luck with studying! Remember, this week is it and then you get a long winter break! You can do this!

**Just a reminder, this post is also being shared on the NEW WKHS Counselor blog. This blog site will no longer be active beyond 2025 so you can transition to receive all blog posts emailed directly to you by subscribing to the new blog site.**

4 A's of Stress Management

Last night I wrote about test anxiety. But the reality is that you all have a lot more stress in your lives than just exams. You have stress of the holidays. Stress of a change in routine coming with winter break. You may be feeling stressed about upcoming class changes for 2nd semester. Plus, just being a teenager today is very stressful!

The Mayo Clinic promotes a stress management strategy known as the 4 A's: avoid, alter, accept, and adapt.  The goal is that in every stressful situation we can look at it from the mindset of how we can apply at least one of these principles.

Avoid: Believe it or not, a lot of stress can simply be avoided. Plan ahead, learn to say no, and ditch parts of your to-do list (low priority items).

Alter: Take inventory of whatever stressful situation you find yourself in, then consider ways you change or modify it for the better.

Accept: Sometimes we have no other option than to accept things the way they are. When this is the case, it is important to talk to someone, to forgive, to practice positive self-talk, and to learn from our mistakes.

Adapt: There are times when we need to adjust or revise the standards and expectations we set upon ourselves, which many times are unreasonable. What can help to change one’s perspective is to ask yourself, “Will this matter in a year or in five years?”

Stress is a part of life. It doesn't need to control your whole life though! Try to think about ways that you can apply the 4 A's to get an A+ in Stress Management.

Test Anxiety

How are you feeling about the upcoming exams? Are you feeling anxious? Test Anxiety can be common for students - especially with bigger tests like exams since they have such a significant influence on your semester grades or other tests like End of Course state assessments since they impact graduation or ACT/ SAT since they impact college acceptance. The best strategy to prevent test anxiety is being prepared. It is much more likely that you will be anxious and struggle with feeling overwhelmed if you have not adequately studied and prepared for the test. Unfortunately, for some students, you can be well-prepared, but still struggle with anxiety.

There are a wide range of strategies you can use to help deal with anxiety:

- Research has indicated that spending several minutes before a test to write about your feelings will help decrease test anxiety and improve test scores. The University of Chicago researchers “believe worrying competes for computing power in the brain’s ‘working,’ or short-term memory.”  So if you get those worries out of your brain and out onto paper then your brain will have the space to remember your actual class content.

- Practice putting yourself in testing situations when studying. The more you get used to the experience and feelings of testing the less anxious you will feel when in the actual test.

- Just before the test, avoid talking about the test material with your friends. Chances are fixating on the test material and talking about it with your friends right before the test will only make you more anxious.

- Approach the test with a positive attitude. Don’t go into the test expecting the worst to happen. You can remind yourself that you have studied and know the material.

- Avoid distractions so that you can focus on the test and not on what other students are doing. Do not compare yourself with others and how they are doing on the test or how quicklly they might be finishing.

- Take a deep breath, relax, and do the best you can.  Truly, that is all you can ask of yourself!

For exams as well as future testing purposes (like ACT/ SAT), I should also mention that smart testing strategies like getting a good night of sleep, eating breakfast, having all of your required materials (pen, pencil, calculator, scratch paper, etc), getting regular exercise, and giving yourself plenty of time to get to your test on time will also benefit you as a whole and in testing situations.

Don't forget, tomorrow all of the juniors enrolled in Government will be taking the End of Course test. Good luck on that test! And, in general, good luck with all of your test prep so that test anxiety won't get the best of you.

Thank you WEF

The Worthington Education Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing support to projects in the Worthington school district that will benefit students. We wrote a grant application that was awarded to us last night during the Board of Education meeting.

The WEF has generously funded our grant application to start creating a Stress Management And Resiliency Training - "SMART" Lab. This new space in the counseling center will be a place where students can work to build the skills to help manage their feelings and emotions. Having new opportunities to practice regulating emotions is an opportunity we are really excited about having at Kilbourne.

Our goal is to start getting the SMART Lab set up early in 2026 so that all students can have the chance to start using it during the 2nd semester. More information about this new space will be forthcoming as we get it launched.

Senior Application Deadline Reminder

Seniors, I know many of you are still working on college applications.  I wanted to remind you to please, watch your deadlines!  

If you are looking at an early January deadline, you need to make sure that you have completed your transcript release form and invited me through Common App to submit your transcript. This should be done no later than this Friday, December 13th, in order to make sure I can get it taken care of before break.  Like you and your teachers, I will not be here during winter break to get a transcript for you, so you must plan ahead.  

Remember, you can have me upload your transcript to Common App without you being ready to submit your application so please, go ahead and invite me on Common App now!  And don't forget that you must also go to the Counselor Website to request your transcript in order to authorize it's release to the colleges.  It's a quick process, so just go ahead and knock that piece out now.

If you have any questions, please stop and see me!

Pre-ACT Results

Your Pre-ACT scores are back!  Your scores are available for pick up in the Counseling Center.  You can pick up your score sheets during your lunch periods or before or after school from any of the secretaries at the front of the counseling center. 

One nice feature of the PreACT is that you will get your test booklet and the score summary written report.  You can use this information to help you determine what you did well on and what you want to improve on in the future.

Don't forget, these are just practice tests so they are giving you an indication of where you might expect to score on the actual ACT and you can use your results to help guide you in preparing to achieve college readiness.

I hope your scores were what you were expecting (or perhaps even better).  If you have any questions don't hesitate to stop by and see me.

**Just a reminder, this post is also being shared on the NEW WKHS Counselor blog. This blog site will no longer be active beyond 2025 so you can transition to receive all blog posts emailed directly to you by subscribing to the new blog site.**

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 still struggling to get your applications finished.)

Exam Schedule

I wanted to give all students and parents a summary of the semester exam schedule with some additional frequently asked questions...

Day One - Wednesday, December 17th:

8:40 - 10:35: 1st period exam

10:45 - 12:40: 4th period exam

12:40 - 1:20: Lunch

1:25 - 3:20: 7th period exam

Day Two - Thursday, December 18th:

8:40 - 10:35: 2nd period exam

10:45 - 12:40: 5th period exam

12:40 - 1:20: Lunch

1:25 - 3:20: 8th period exam

Day Three - Friday, December 19th:

8:40 - 10:35: 3rd period exam

10:45 - 12:40: 6th period exam

12:40 - 120: NO Lunch Provided! 

1:25 - 3:20: Make-Up Exams

A couple of questions that tend to come up at exam time...

Yes, you are REQUIRED and EXPECTED to be in all of your classes during an exam. (Even if you don't have an actual exam, the teachers are going to be working with you on projects, papers, or other learning related to their course.)

No, you do NOT need to be in school during your scheduled lunch period or during your Options or Prep periods. (Which means, for example, that if you have 3rd period prep and 6th period lunch that you do not have to come to school at all on the 19th.)

Yes, there will be two bus runs on Friday - so you can leave after your 6th period exam, but if you need to stay for a make-up exam period then there will be another bus run to take you home then too.

Hope that helps clarify and I hope your studying efforts are going well.

Snow Day!

I absolutely LOVE a snow day! There is something that feels extra magical about them. Perhaps they make me feel like a kid again, but I love the simple joys that having a snow day brings. The hope that we can have a bonus day off grows into the anticipation as the snow starts to fall and then the surprise and excitement as the news about school being cancelled is all fun. Add in the enjoyment of some hot chocolate, the beautiful look of the snow, the warmth of a fire and my Christmas tree lights, relaxing while reading, and counting shoveling snow as my exercise for the day - all of it equals a pretty great day as far as I am concerned!

Tomorrow as we return to school, we will also have a return to End of Course testing for some of our students. Please check your school email for information on who will be testing on which days. The Holiday & Grief workshop that was scheduled for today will move to later in the week. We will be sending out details to students who have expressed interest in participating. (If you feel like this is something that could be helpful for you this year, we still invite you to join us - please talk to your school counselor for more information.)

I hope you had a great snow day and used it to rest, relax and recharge... and I guess maybe to study too. Just 10 days of classes left before exams!

Study 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 doesn't mean this particular strategy will be most effective for a different subject.

The best news is that there are TONS 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.

Freshmen, the upperclass LINK Leaders are focused on helping you prepare for your exams. On Wednesday during the PACK period you will meet with your LINK leaders from the first day to talk more about preparing for exams. Be sure to check your school email to find out where you are going to go to meet with your designated LINK leaders.

And for all students, if you are struggling to find strategies to try out, I encourage you to visit the WKHS Counselor website as their are lots of examples there. You can also work with the Academic Assistant's in the Teaching and Learning Center (Room 205) as they have a wealth of knowledge and helpful tips for study strategies that can help you in their particular subject areas as well as studying overall. And, last, but not least, you can also stop in and see me and I can help brainstorm ideas that you could try.