PSAT message for parents

The School Counseling Department will meet English 9, 10, and 11 classes in the library between February 8 and 16 to distribute the PSAT 8/9, PSAT, and PSAT/NMSQT to our students. Please ask your child to show you his or her score report. If you don't see the score report by February 16, then something is amiss.
When you review the score report, we ask that you not focus solely on the individual score, since students are not judged on their PSAT scores.
However, we ask that you pay particular attention to the skills insight that is provided on the report, and work with your child to improve the skills that have the greatest room for growth.
If, in the coming weeks (for juniors until the April 12 SAT) and months (until the next PSAT for sophomores and freshmen), the students focus on a particular skill set (like words in context or problem solving and data analysis), then they will see concrete improvement for the next time around.
Please know that the College Board has partnered with the Khan Academy to provide FREE SAT prep that is customized for students' own performance, and can be linked to their www.collegeboard.org account. As I indicated in an earlier email, please don't create multiple collegeboard.org accounts for students, as that will cause problems in 12th grade.



Lastly, the school counseling office would like to reinforce two ideas: while the PSAT provides good prediction for SAT performance, and SAT is one measure of college readiness, it is certainly not the only way to measure a students' readiness for college or career. There is no disputing that a student's performance in rigorous (within reason) coursework (such as Advanced Placement) provides a much more thorough insight into a student's readiness for college than any one test. Second, the ACT (www.actstudent.org) is an equal, if not more preferred by many, college admissions test, and students are encouraged to consider both tests in 11th and 12th grades. More colleges move to test-optional admissions every year, and every college accepts the ACT as willingly as they accept the SAT.

As always, don't hesitate to reach out to your child's school counselor if you would like to discuss post-secondary planning.

Make a Strong Finish

The fourth quarter just started.
As a quick reminder, here is a tool to predict your final grades.
Even though each quarter carries equal weight, many subjects involve scaffolding, or what you learn fourth quarter depends on your mastery of what was covered third quarter, which was built on second quarter's concepts, all dependent upon a strong foundation first quarter.
Further, because your final exams will likely be cumulative, it will be imperative for you to work to firm up those fundamental skills that you've learned throughout the year. In many cases, your performance on the final exam can mean the difference between a letter grade. And, just so you know, one letter grade by the time you are applying to college is a matter of 0.04 on your GPA. So, if you only get that C in honors Chemistry but you were hoping for As and Bs like every other course, that single C is not going to destroy your chances at having college choices.
However, you can do your best to prepare. With 8 weeks before (anticipated) final exams (four for seniors), you have time to pace yourself so you aren't cramming at the end of the quarter. And you never really understand anything you cram. Commit to an extra hour each day or five hours per week of studying and preparation. Your fourth quarter grade carries more weight than the final exam, after all - and for those who hope to be eligible for fall sports like soccer and football, your eligibility counts on your fourth quarter grades.
This is also a time of many events.
We just finished the School Day SAT for juniors. Between random absences and our representation at the VEX Robotics competition, 184 of our juniors took the SAT today.
Tomorrow is the BCPS Student Town Hall, from 11 to 12:30. Be sure to tweet your questions to Dr. Dance by mentioning @BaltCoPS, and the school district will even relax the firewall to allow access twitter from student accounts in the computer labs.
On April 23, 24, and 25, we will conduct AP Preadministration after school in the cafeteria. This allows you to bubble in your name and other identifying information without having to take precious time out of your testing experience and test practice in AP classes. If you have registered for any AP exams, be sure to attend one of these sessions.
The junior prom will be held next weekend. Juniors, be sure to buy your tickets during your lunch shift. See Ms. Bauer for information.
AP exams will take place between May 6 and 17. With the exception of World History and those students approved for accommodations, these exams will be given at the Pikesville National Guard Armory. Be sure to arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the published start time. You are responsible for your own transportation since the Armory is so close to school. Like any other school day, when you are not engaged in testing (or in transit), you are expected to be in your classes. Like any other school day, if you arrive late to school or leave early from school, you must have a note from a parent/guardian to request for your tardiness or early dismissal to be considered for being excused. You can't just skip class before or after an exam and expect things to be fine.
The senior awards program is scheduled for May 21 at 5pm. All are invited, but those who will be honored will receive notification by mail at least a week in advance.
Lastly, due to Dr. Dance's aim to attend every high school's commencement ceremony, our May 29 graduation ceremony at the Towson Center will be held at 2pm. Ticket information is available from Mrs. Adess.

The College Secret

Shh, don't tell anyone, but here is the secret to going to college:

The colleges that will admit you, and even offer you some merit-based aid, are out there, and looking for you. There is a college out there that is looking for someone who earned your grades in high school. There is a college out there that is just the right fit for your ACT or SAT scores, or may even disregard scores altogether. You'll find a college that is looking for someone who was involved in exactly the quality and quantity of activities, volunteerism, and leadership that you pursued during your high school years. There is even a college that will admit - lo, value - you, despite or even because of the setbacks you've experienced.

All you need to do is make decisions.
If you choose to spend 7-15 hours per week outside of school working on homework and studying, you're likely to earn grades better than Cs. If you choose to spend your time away from school on Facebook and watching TV, Ds will be acceptable and Cs will feel amazing. Earning As will get you into one group of colleges, Bs will get you admitted to another group, and Cs would be a good fit at some colleges. Accepting Ds will not prevent you from going to a four-year college, it will just mean taking a slight detour of 1-2 years if you're successful at community college.

Do your best on standardized tests.
We can't avoid the inevitability of standardized tests, and it is common knowledge that some of us score higher on them than others. Practice and some coaching may have a slight impact on your score, but these interventions are unlikely to raise your SAT by more than 300 or your ACT by more than 5 points. The reality is that the larger the college you apply to, the more emphasis they place on these tests. Many colleges will consider your test scores, but not nearly with as much emphasis as your essays and letters of recommendation.

Get as involved as you want to be.
The larger schools really just concern themselves with your grades and test scores. However, the goal is more about college completion than college admission, and you are more apt to be successful in the long-term if you can demonstrate academic proficiency while balancing numerous responsibilities. Consider this as the colleges doing you a favor by ensuring that you are ready to handle the multitasking that is so necessary in the professional and adult world.
The most competitive colleges assume that you have the best scores and grades in your school, and any of the 90% of applicants who are rejected could probably be successful, but there is a greater chance of admission (and definitely a great chance at a scholarship anywhere) if you have done something remarkable with your time outside the classroom, like founding your own philanthropy, single-handedly raising your own siblings, or have a recording on the Billboard top 200.

Take your pick.
As unique (based on your socio-economic, racial, sexuality, parents' education, ethnic, religious, academic, geographic, or even political background!) an individual as you are, there are quite a few options available to you, many of which you may not have even heard of... yet. The trap is falling prey to societal pressure to pursue a college that is a brand name, either because of US News & World Report's or Newsweek's college rankings, the BCS Top 25, or the NCAA basketball tournament. In reality, there are hundreds of colleges (at least one in every state) where you could be successful, many of which may even offer you financial incentives to bring your unique perspective  background to their classrooms and campus cultures.

Meet with your school counselor early and often.
It is very important to come to your school counselor's office when scheduled to do so, and to schedule your own appointments proactively. This helps us get to know you in good times and bad. In ninth grade, this will give us a chance to hear your goals and advise you in ways to achieve those goals. In tenth grade, we'll give you feedback on your ninth grade performance and push you to advance your own agenda through challenge and rigor. In eleventh grade, we'll give you a copy of your transcript, listen to your priorities for college, and offer you a starter list of schools that might offer a good fit. In twelfth grade, we'll help you keep your sanity amid the chaos that is inevitable among applying to colleges and scholarships. We can't get you into a college that is not interested in offering you admission, but we can help connect you with one that is.

What are you doing this summer?

It is definitely NOT too early to ask what you are doing this summer.

Some students are showing great responsibility by coming to the school counseling office to ask about references for a summer volunteer experience, or leads for a summer job, or recommendations for SAT prep programs. This is definitely the time to plan how you will spend those two months in the summer.

Let's discuss.

It should be clear by now that regardless of what grade you are in, you are expected to increase the level of rigor in your high school program from each year to the next. That said, you certainly deserve a break this summer, to recharge your mind, soul, and body. Nothing feels better to most of us than hanging out by (or in) the the nearest large body of water that we can find. Going out with your friends to get a snowball, Italian Ice, or ice cream is the stuff of many memories, so by all means, plan to enjoy your youth while you still can.

Realistically speaking, daily treats can get expensive and that much sugar probably isn't such a great idea, no matter how much exercise you get, unless you are Michael Phelps. So what else can you do with your time to keep your life moving toward your eventual college and career goals?

You can find examples of these and other summer opportunities at http://tinyurl.com/PHSSummerPrograms

GET A JOB

For those who are at least 16 years old, welcome to the world of the potentially employed. There really is no trick to getting a job. Ask everyone you can find about if they know of anyone who is hiring (these tips are called "leads") and pursue those opportunities. Use your spring break and walk everywhere within a reasonable distance from your home and/or your parent/guardian's place of employment. When you enter a potential place of employment, politely and respectfully ask for the manager, assertively introduce yourself by first and last name, and ask the manager (or owner) if they are hiring. Whether they are or not, you should ask for an application, just in case things change. By presenting yourself in a mature manner, and introducing yourself, you make a lasting positive impression that they will hopefully remember. Take the job application home to complete. Complete it accurately and thoroughly with your (not your parent's) best handwriting, then promptly return the application to the business, ideally to the same person you met the first time. It may help to take a pencil with you to lightly write the name of the business on the job application so you don't get them confused. 

If you are not yet 16, don't expect much from the business world. Even though you are legally employable, most companies have rules about hiring under 16 (or even 18!). Don't lose hope, however, Teens at 14 or 15 can sometimes get jobs as a mother's helper or as an apprentice for a small and locally owned business.

It will help (or be necessary) if you aspire to babysit, lifeguard, or have any contact with children, to be certified in CPR and First Aid. You can find a certification class at area community centers by checking with the Red Cross or American Heart Association.

Unless you are paid by a family, you will need to obtain a work permit for your employer to keep on file. The process for completing this is to 1.) Download the form from the Maryland State Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation. 2.) Complete your portion, your employer will need to complete their portion, and then ask your parent/guardian to sign it. 3.) Enter the required information at the website listed on the form and print the online receipt. 4.) Bring the completed form and the printed receipt to one of the secretaries at school. 5.) Take the completed form back to your employer to keep on file.

VOLUNTEER

Money is nice to have, but you will have the rest of your life to work. Giving back to your community is an excellent way to pursue your values and support a cause that you believe in. In addition, you are required to complete 75 pre-approved student service learning hours as part of the requirements for a high school diploma. Ms. Slingland in room 209 hears about service learning opportunities every week and posts them on the bulletin board outside Room 120. You can also search the Baltimore County Volunteer website for other leads on service projects. Remember, in order for a service project to count on your school record, you need to have Ms. Slingland's preapproval, since he has to ensure that it meets MSDE guidelines.

Aside from thinking about graduation, volunteerism is a great way to show engagement in your surroundings with the eventual hope of admission to college or earning scholarships. Whatever service project you pursue, the most rewarding (both intrinsically and extrinsically) ones will be the ones that are meaningful to you, either due to your political or social values, or because they help you heal some earlier wound in your past, or help you "pay it forward."

Just watch for deadlines, since some volunteer programs have application and interview processes.

INTERN

In addition to volunteering, having so much time during the work day allows you the chance to shadow a professional in a field you are considering for a career. This does not need to be a season-long event. Sometimes just a week will give you enough of an idea of how much (or how little!) you would enjoy a particular job. Some internships are paid, some require applications and interviews, so be sure you call ahead and make arrangements well in advance to ensure that this idea is permitted at any given work site.

READ FOR PLEASURE

All school year, you are assigned reading on a weekly basis, and the summer is the perfect opportunity to find literature that you really enjoy. Your comprehension skills will stay strong (or even grow), your vocabulary will strengthen, and your world will expand. All we suggest is that you choose books that are appropriate for your grade or reading level. High School students are not likely to be challenged by re-reading Harry Potter. Ask a librarian for suggestions, or use some suggestions from a simple web search.

VISIT COLLEGE CAMPUSES

Even though college campuses will be quite empty, if summer is the only time you can get on the road with your families, it is best to take advantage of an opportunity when one presents itself. You can use Smart College Visit to help you plan, but even a simple google map search will show you colleges in the area of any destination and you can schedule campus tours from the schools' websites. Take plenty of pictures and notes along your way, so that you can reflect upon your experience with your family and your school counselor to help you make informed decisions about a good college fit.

In addition to low-key visits, you can also pay for week-long and extended college programs that incorporate social opportunities and college tours, such as Summer Discovery. 

TAKE COLLEGE COURSES

In fact, you can even incorporate your campus exploration into the chance to earn college credits. Most colleges have summer programs for high school students. The hard part is deciding which college you want to try and which summer program you want to pursue. This option is of particular benefit for the aspiring student athlete, since you have the chance to be mentored by college coaches in your chosen sport.

PREPARE FOR THE SAT & ACT

This is most beneficial for rising juniors and seniors, but it is an important task for college planning. Preparing for these tests can be achieved through any number of avenues, and the key is to find the method that makes sense for your own motivation and budget. You can use the free online access granted from your PSAT Score Report. You can pay $30-$50 for a book (or borrow one from the library) with practice tests and questions with some tutorials.  You can enroll in a course at the community college. You can take a course through (for example) Kaplan, Kumon, Sylvan, Huntington, or Princeton Review, or even find someone to tutor you individually.

JUST DO SOMETHING

However you spend your summer, after you get over that initial period of sleeping until noon, you will be looking for constructive and productive ways to spend your time. With as many as ten weeks away from school, this is a tremendous opportunity to create lasting memories. Make it a summer you won't regret.

This Too Shall Pass

What is your perspective on control? Do you believe that everything in life is what we make of it; we each have control over our own destiny? Do you believe that there is a supernatural (divine, fate, predetermined, or random) force that exists, and that we are simply going through the motions or reacting to challenges that are placed before us? Have you considered that perhaps our lives are somewhere in the middle?

In school as in life, there are stressors. We get injured, either due to freak accident or to miscalculation. We find ourselves in scary social situations, either due to poor judgment or unfortunate timing. We experience setbacks. It happens. Some believe that if you walk the straight and narrow path, you are sure to succeed. Some believe that challenges are inevitable, and we are ultimately being judged by how we handle those dilemmas.

There is only so much control that we have in our lives. You can choose to do your homework or troll Facebook.  Every day, or several days a week, or never. You can choose to limit your studies to exactly what you teachers assign daily, or you can be more proactive... or do less than what it takes to be successful - by whatever measure of success you choose to use. When misfortune occurs, you can work to overcome the adversity, or you can globalize the problem and get overwhelmed, responding with denial or worse.

In any case, there are some things that you can do to improve your situation, and there are some situations about which you have no external control. In those cases, you do have control over you how you internally respond. When you implement behaviors to prevent or react to problems, it usually helps ease your mind to believe, "Well, at least I tried." You may also sometimes choose to approach the problem with uncompromising standards, resolute that your position is the right one. However, when you don't get your way - in your family, your social life, your experience in school - you don't have to completely give up. You can choose to take a step back and consider that maybe this is a chance for you to try a new approach to a new (or even familiar) problem. Does ignoring the problem help? How about blaming others? At the very least, take a minute to slow down and process the situation.

Just keep trying new ways of dealing with unforeseen setbacks. Even if a strategy worked once, it may not work every time. Learning how to overcome adversity is a major part of growing up, and adults can tell you, the learning never stops. Even Socrates said, "The more I learn, the more I learn how little I know." It's incredibly important that we all remember the centuries-old adage This Too Shall Pass. Ultimately, whatever is bothering you will either go away or be replaced by the next thing. There will be another problem to tackle tomorrow. You will always have new and different accomplishments and challenges. The wonder in life is understanding and remembering that nothing is ever so big that it's worth derailing everything else.

Please, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, feel proud that you tried, and keep trying. As the famous college basketball coach Jim Valvano said, "Don't give up. Don't ever give up."

Be SMART in 2013

As we head into the new year, this is a time that many of us make resolutions to improve ourselves. Some people vow to lose weight or stop smoking, or make other changes to improve their health. Let's discuss some strategies and examples related to age appropriate New Years resolutions in high school.
There is a widely accepted principle to goal setting that you have already learned about in school counseling lessons since elementary school. We are more likely to find success with our goals if they are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. It would also give us some focus if we relate these goals to the three domains of student development that school counselors support, namely, academic, career, and personal/social.
When goals are specific, we give them focus. "I'd like to lose weight" is not as specific as "I will lose 10 pounds." "I will improve my grades" is quite broad when compared to a long-term goal like "My quarter GPAs will be 1 grade point higher than the previous one" or a short-term goal like "I will spend 30 more minutes reviewing and rewriting my class notes, and start studying for exams two weeks before the tests are scheduled." A specific social goal would be to sit down and eat dinner with your parents at least three nights a week, or to not touch your phone while eating said dinner.
When we talk about goals being measurable, we add accountability. It is sensible to know how we did at meeting (or setting) our goals if we write them down (like a contract) and revisit our progress periodically. Such accountability will inevitably involve the use of data, like reducing your class tardies or increasing the number of homework assignments you turn in complete and on time. However, please don't punish yourself harshly if you come short of your goals. Nobody is perfect, especially not teenagers. Allow yourself the flexibility to make mistakes. Simply revise your goals over time to make them more attainable as measured by the data that makes sense for your situation.
Making goals attainable is a challenge for many teenagers, evidenced by popular plans to improve their cumulative GPAs from below 2.0 to above 3.0 in one year or making blanket and complicated intentions like getting into college. The actual admission is not in your control, but you can control your efforts, timeliness, and use of resources. Similarly, "making more friends" is not as simple as it sounds; it is more attainable to "join two student organizations" or "try out for an athletic team," which can put you in a position to establish meaningful relationships with peers who share your interests and values.
Making goals relevant addresses two areas: they should be related either to a clear need you have (it's more relevant to improve your grades if they are lower than B's, but maybe if you have a GPA higher than 3.0 you can plan to find time in your schedule for extracurricular enrichment or exploring possible careers) or pertinent to your long-term objectives (if you wish to attend college, it will help ensure personal and social acclimation to convince your parents to give you practice with more autonomy and independence, like applying to volunteer at a sleepover camp or attending a summer program on a college campus).
Committing your goals to time-bound parameters helps you maintain control of your goals. If you break your goals into smaller chunks, you can modify them every month or academic quarter to better address your actual life, beyond the lofty optimism that comes after being off school for a week. One time bound goal is to secure a summer internship by May. Another is to be academically eligible for fall sports, which requires a C average during fourth quarter. You can set yourself up to achieve that goal by working similar academic goals into your plans every five weeks between now and April, so that by the time the fourth quarter comes around, you'll be used to the habits that give you such a result.
Please discuss your resolutions with the important adults in your life, as they know you best - maybe even better than you know yourself. If you happen to have a family situation in which sharing your goals will result in your feeling worse about yourself than not saying anything at all, please come in and share your goals with your school counselor. We can empower you to meet your goals, and maybe even help you develop strategies for self preservation at home.
After all, the act of setting and assessing goals is intended to improve our lives. Failing once in a while is not necessarily terrible. It is okay to make mistakes. What matters is what you learn about those mistakes. Just keep moving onward and upward, and never settle for the status quo, and you'll be sure to have a happy and successful 2013, by whatever definition works for you as an individual.