Grief Awareness

Today is National Children's Grief Awareness Day.  In the United States, 1 in 14 students will experience the death of a parent or sibling by the time they reach 18 years of age and about 90% of children will experience the death of a close family member or friend.

Those are sobering statistics.

I think what stands out to me the most when I see and think about those numbers is how common it is and yet, when living through losses within your own life, nothing feels common.  Your grief is uniquely personal to you.  This often leaves grieving students feeling lonely and as if no one can understand what they are experiencing... but, look at those numbers.  Clearly you're not the only one feeling the hurt and sadness that comes when someone you love and care about has died.  

I wish none of you had to say good-bye to a loved one who has died.  There are no words that can take away the pain or make life return to the way it was, but I can promise you never have to walk through this experience alone.  I am here to listen and care and to support you as you learn to live life with grief.

As we head into the holiday season, for those students who have experienced the death of someone important to them, the holidays combined with grief can be incredibly challenging.  In recognition of the difficulties that grief during the holidays can create, we will be hosting a Holiday & Grief Workshop on December 5th for students to join in to learn more about what to expect when grieving during the holidays and ways to honor the memory of a loved one during the holidays.  If you are a student who is living with grief this holiday season, please reach out to me so that I can add you to the holiday & grief workshop list.  I'd love for you to participate with us!

Countdown to Exams

The countdown is on... we have just 19 days of school left before semester exams. I *know* some (or maybe all) of you don't want to hear this, but it is REALLY important that you start studying now for exams. 

With exams taking place again this year, it is important that you take a critical look at where you stand in each of your classes and what you need to do to fully prepare for exams.  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. Please don't neglect this opportunity to make the most of the remaining time as a chance to start reviewing for exams.

College Decision Terms

We are in the earliest stages of college application decisions to start coming back.  I wanted to make sure you knew some of the terms you might see in your decision notifications.  If you receive an email or letter and are uncertain what it means, 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.  We will talk more about wait lists later in the spring because this is a common response students will receive a bit later in the application season.

One of the realities of the college admission process is that not every student will be accepted to every college. The waiting game can often be one of the more frustrating aspects. With family members and friends consistently asking, "Where are you going to college?" the uncertainty present with each "I don't know" response can be overwhelming.  Remember, I am here to help support you in managing the stress related to admissions decisions.

4-year Colleges

How long will it take you to make it through college? Most people will quickly think to themselves "4 years" because most WKHS students are looking at 4-year colleges.

Unfortunately, that is not always the reality. While a college is a 4-year school, for many students 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 high school, 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.

Socratic Society

On the morning of November 4th, 30 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.

Unfortunately, I was at a conference all day and so I didn't get to attend the ceremony.  I had 13 students in my part of the alphabet who were honored.  A special congratulations to "my" students who were among those recognized this month! (Alphabetically): Khalida Abdul Qadir, Nael Abuasi, Chelsea Afrivie, Joey Ahmed, Aya Aktarab, Evelyn Ambler, Alissa Azevado Aires Santana, Leela Bhowmik, Tori Blumer, Graham Brown, Sitara Courtney, Kate Dougherty, and Kyle Earhart. I am proud of each of you!

Honors Diploma

Every year we have questions from students and parents about the Honors Diploma and what is involved for students who are trying to earn this designation on their diploma at graduation.  Tomorrow, November 11th at noon, the WKHS Counselors will be hosting the next session in our Lunch & Learn Series to talk all about the Honors Diploma.  

This brief, 30-minute session, will take place over zoom so that parents can grab their lunch, hop on the session, learn about the Honors Diploma, and continue on with your day.  The zoom link will be emailed to all parents tomorrow morning and it will also be posted on the Counselor website.  I hope to see you online tomorrow to learn all about the Honors Diploma!

Pre-ACT Reminders

If you are taking the Pre-ACT tomorrow, you will report directly to the gymnasium when you arrive to school in the morning. You will need to bring your student id with you in order to check in. You will also need a number 2 pencil (no mechanical pencils allowed), a calculator, and I would recommend a watch. 

The test will begin promptly by 8:40 and you will most likely finish testing during 5th period.  (If you have lunch 4th period we will be sure you have time to eat and give you pass to go to 5th period.)

I was very happy to see so many of my students signed up to be taking practice test for the ACT and I wish you all good luck!  I hope it will be a meaningful practice opportunity for you in preparation for when you take the actual ACT in the future.

Good luck on the test!