2nd Semester Schedules

Today probably came close for a record number of students stopping by my office... and while I would love to think it is because you all thoroughly enjoy my company - the reality is everyone wanted changes to their 2nd semester schedules. (I should have known that would happen after you received the printout of your schedules during homeroom.) With the computers being down AGAIN, it was hard to make all of the adjustments as requested. If you want to change a course for next semester, stop in and see me - I can't guarantee anything, but I am willing to see what I can do to help you. Speaking of schedules - just a quick heads up - at the end of this month we will start with course registrations for NEXT year. My how time flies!

Anxious about Future

Now that we have had a few days back at school I have realized how many of the seniors are struggling with mixed emotions about the future. Sure, many of you are excited to graduate and be done with high school, but that also means the future, starting college, getting jobs, and being "adults" is just around the corner. I know that this is a time of high anxiety and remember, I am here to help support you. Please, do NOT sabotage yourself and your grades in your classes as a *solution* to not feeling ready to leave high school. Stop in and see me - let me know how you are feeling about high school coming to an end. I look forward to chatting with you soon!

Go Bucks!

Well, just a quick post tonight before the National Championship game. Good luck to the Buckeyes as they take on LSU. I'm sure many of you will be up late tonight watching the game... so I hope you are able to get some rest before school tomorrow. :-)

Since I am posting about Ohio State I will include a picture of me on OSU's campus as a part of my "Oh the Places You'll Go Display" - which by the way I only have 2 student pictures of OSU campus visits. This picture is in front of the R-PAC (Recreation and Physical Activity Center). It is a new and very impressive building.

(Please don't forget - I am still collecting pictures from your college visits, so if you still have your picture please bring it in - and if you head out to make visits after you receive your college admissions letters, please remember to take a picture and bring it in. Thanks!)

Another reminder - tomorrow night at 7pm is the Financial Aid meeting. Let your parents know that we will be meeting in Room 207.

January Students of the Month

Congratulations to the 22 students who were honored Friday morning as Students of the Month. Kilbourne students can only be selected to receive this recognition once in their high school career.

A special congratulations to "my" students who were honored. This includes (Left to Right) Zach DeAndreo, Amin Benzegala, Brian Blum, Haley Blanton, and Brittany Hammond. Other students were honored that were not present at the ceremony including Aurura Braig, Josh Burton, and Daron DiSabato.

College Admissions Decisions

As more and more students begin hearing from colleges I thought it might be helpful to know some of the most common terms you will see in response letters from colleges. Below are some of the more common college related terms/ phrases for admissions decisions. If your son/ daughter receives a letter and you are uncertain what they mean, please feel free to let me know or to contact the college directly.

- Accepted: Congratulations - they are inviting you to join and be a part of their college/ university

- Declined/ Rejected/ Not Accepted: For whatever reason the college did not feel that you would be a good fit. While it is understandably disappointing, please remember that there are lots of colleges and universities out there so don’t give up on finding a good match.

- Decision Deferred: The college is not sure yet… usually they will tell you what additional data/ information they are interested in receiving to help them make their decision. The most common piece of data they will look for are senior year grades at the semester time.

- Wait List: The wait list is not a denial, but it is not an acceptance either. Colleges use wait lists as insurance to make sure that their freshman class will be the appropriate size. If enough students decide to attend, the college will not accept anyone off of their wait-list.

Back to School

Well, tomorrow is the big day - we are back to school. No more sleeping in and hanging out relaxing all day. I am looking forward to seeing you, but, to be honest, I am not really ready to be back at work yet. So, help me out and stop down to say hi. Let me know how your time off was and what you did to occupy your time. Get some sleep tonight - it will seem really early tomorrow when the alarms start going off. :-)

Happy New Year!

I hope you had a safe and enjoyable New Year's eve. Now that we are in 2008 it is time to start planning ahead. For the seniors, I am sure that I do not need to point out that 6 months from today you will graduate! That also means that there is a lot left for you to do in preparation for college. One of the big components of this college process is the financial side - applying for financial aid and scholarships.

You can now officially complete your FAFSA form. (Don't forget the meeting on January 8th to help answer questions about this process.) You and your parents will need a pin number - it is a number that you will NEED and you must keep this for the future as it is the same number for all of your future FAFSA applications (which happens every year of college). To apply for a pin visit this website.

Also, be sure that you are researching and applying for any outside scholarships that you qualify for as this can be a helpful financial resource. And yes, I know that the scholarship applications are often a lot of work and include essays, but if you end up earning one of the scholarships it would be worth it. You can visit the scholarship section on PrepHQ for scholarships that we are aware of at WKHS and you can also do general internet searches using lots of scholarship search engines. Good luck!

Once again, Happy New Year!