Welcome to the Goddard High School's Counselor's Corner. The Guidance Program is an integral part of the GHS educational program. We are committed to helping students develop their personalities, intellect and talents. We are concerned with the emotional and social, as well as educational and career development of GHS students.

Reminder—the next ACT is Saturday, February 9!  We encourage Juniors to take this test again in April or June.

The April ACT registration deadline is March 7.  We encourage Juniors to test this Spring.

Athletes—if there is an opportunity for your student to receive an athletic scholarship, he/she must be certified by the NCAA Clearinghouse upon graduation from high school.  There is a certain set of academic requirements for NCAA athletic scholarships—different from graduation requirements and Qualified Admissions requirements.  Check with us now for information on NCAA academic requirements.

Parent/Teacher Conferences are on February 20 & 21.  This would be a time that you can have an individual conference if you have questions about your student’s progress, enrollment, career plans, etc.

Seniors need to remember to keep track of the scholarships that have been OFFERED.  They will be asked to record these and turn these in sometime in April for the Senior Awards night.

Newman University will be offering a Financial Aid Presentation that will be focused on the different types of financial aid and also will go step by step over the FAFSA on the Web Worksheet.

Event: Financial Aid: Financing Education Beyond High School
Date: February 13th, 2008
Time: 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Location: Newman University – Dugan Library & Conference Center
              3100 McCormick Ave, Wichita, KS 67213
Contact: Victoria Tillotson (316) 942-4291 ext. 2106

WSU offers ACT and ACT Math test prep workshops; you can register by going to this web address: http://www.registerblast.com/pbl/college.asp?College=46&Page=4. 

Enrollment for 2008-2009: 

March is the start of the 2008-2009-enrollment process. Students will receive Enrollment Booklets and other information, complete Four-Year Plans and enroll in March.  This activity follows our earlier Spring career guidance units with students.

We have scheduled three Enrollment meetings to share information with parents, also.  For your convenience, parents of all grade levels can choose to attend any one of these three times:

• Monday, March 3  7:00 PM  Auditorium
• Monday, March 10 7:00 PM  Auditorium
• Wednesday, March 12 1:00 PM  BOE Room

• Monday, March 3  6: 30 PM Auditorium
• Monday, March 10 6:30 PM  Auditorium
• Wednesday, March 12 12:30 PM BOE Room

The enrollment information presented will be the same at all three meetings; all three meetings are open to parents of all grade levels.

Early March will also bring meetings in which enrollment information is shared with your students.  Each student will receive an Enrollment Book at this time.  All students are responsible for the information contained within the Enrollment Book.

Students must submit course requests for 2008-2009 via their Four Year Plans:

Four Year Plans are due by this schedule:

• Juniors:  Friday, March 14  U.S. History class
• Sophomores: Friday, March 14  English 10 class
• Freshmen Tuesday, March 25 English 9 class
• Eighth graders Wednesday, March 26 Science 8 class

Students’ last chance to complete their enrollment by themselves is March 28.  This is the late date; students who submit their enrollment choices on time receive first chance at electives. After March 28, parents must enroll their student by April 2 if the student chose not to enroll.  Parents will be notified if their student chose not to enroll. 

The deadline for parents to enroll their student is April 2.  After the parent deadline to enroll the student, a schedule will be built for the student.   This schedule will also be subject to our schedule change rules.

Please review the schedule change rules with your student(s).  Your student is accountable for his/her choices and these rules when the enrollment process is complete. This information is in the student’s Enrollment Booklet.

We will have our “Counselor on Call” on Monday, February 18 & March 24, from 4:00 - 7:00 PM.  GHS counselors will be in the office to assist with your educational, career and personal/social questions for your student.  Please come and see us or call us during this time at 794-4115.

We will meet with our Guidance Advisory Committee on February 18 & March 24 to discuss enrollment and our spring career guidance activities as well as get their feedback about various aspects of our program.

If your student is attending college after graduation, you will want to make sure that he/she takes a complete college prep curriculum.  Each college has its own entrance requirements and a student can best prepare to meet most by taking a rigorous college prep curriculum.

AP Exam registration begins Friday, February 1; the last day for qualified students to register will be February 19. (See AP Exam Snapshot pages)

If you, as a parent, have a question or concern, please, please do not hesitate to call.  We want to work as a team with you, your student and our staff to ensure the best learning experiences possible for your student.
 

Is your student struggling to complete assignments?  We also offer an after-school study program in our Library staffed by GHS teachers and peer tutors.  It works!  It is from 2:50-3:20 PM, each Tuesday & Thursday.  Contact us for more information.

Go to our GHS Counselors’ website to find many resources to assist your student in career & educational planning: http://www.goddardusd.com/ghs/stuserv.html.

Did you know that, if you go to the Goddard Public Schools homepage, you could find the e-mail addresses of our staff?

Did you know that, if you give us your e-mail address, we could add it to our student information database so that our teachers can access it?

Did you know that InTouch, our parent information module, could give you weekly current information about your student’s academic progress?  If you have not received your InTouch username and password, please come to GHS and do so!

How Can You Spot Academic Problems?

Teens are good at keeping secrets. So they may not let you know if they're in academic
trouble. Parents need to watch for warning signs such as these:

• Change in grades. They drop noticeably - even in subjects your teen used to enjoy.
• Change in attitude. At first, your teen may be negative about school, but sooner or later the attitude will spill into other areas.
• Change in behavior. Teens in trouble are often less willing to talk about school, assignments or friends. 
• Change in confidence. Your teen may have doubts about his ability, regardless of his past achievements.
• Change in habits. Your teen may spend less time studying, reading and preparing for school. He may watch more TV.
• Change in communication from the school. If your phone calls or notes are increasing, teachers are probably noticing that your teen is struggling.

If you suspect a problem, talk with your teen. Let him know you want to help. Set up a conference with one or all of his teachers as soon as possible. Together, you and the school should be able to catch difficulties before it's too late.

All Parents: If your student plans to enter a Kansas public, four year college right out of high school or qualify for a scholarship from the state of Kansas, you must make sure that he/she is meeting the appropriate criteria listed on the following page. This information has been supplied in the past via this newsletter and yearly enrollment meetings. A student must meet ONE of three criteria to attend a Kansas public college directly out of high school: 21 composite on ACT OR, be in top ½ of class at end of 7th or 8th semester OR, meet Qualified Admissions Curriculum that can be found at this website:

State of Kansas KANSAS BOARD OF REGENTS Qualified Admissions Curriculum

1. Remember that during adolescence, communication generally decreases and a child will confide less in parents. 
2. Listen to what is being said; that is, try to understand the teenager's feelings and where she is coming from. Rather than thinking about arguments or retaliations, listen to her. 
3. Stop what you are doing and look at the teenager. Listen when she speaks to you. 
4. Be sure most of your communication is positive, not negative. Don't dwell on mistakes, failures, misbehaviors, or something they forgot to do. Give them positive communication and talk about their successes, accomplishments, interests, and appropriate behavior. 
5. Talk to them about their interests (e.g., music, sports, computers, dance-team practice, cars, motorcycles). Have conversations with them when you are not trying to make a point, to teach them something, or to impress them. 
6. Avoid talking too much - giving long or too-detailed explanations, repeating lectures, questioning excessively, or using other forms of communication that will result in the teenager turning a deaf ear to you. 
7. Try to understand the teen's feelings. You do not have to agree or disagree with him; just make him aware that you understand how he feels. Do not try to explain away his emotions. There are times when you do not have to fix things or make the youngster feel better. Understanding how he feels may be the primary comfort that is needed. 
8. Do not overreact to what is said. Remember, sometimes teenagers say things that are designed to get a reaction from their parents. In addition, do not say "no" too fast. Sometimes it is better to think about the request and give a response later. In other words, think before you open your mouth. 
9. Try to create situations in which communication can occur (driving the child to the doctor's appointment, having the teenager help you with household tasks). You have to be physically close to the teenager for communication to occur. Whenever possible, the parent should try to do things with the teenager, rather than separately. 
10. Try to avoid power struggles, confrontation, and arguing matches. Your goal should be to have the communication move toward a compromise situation, rather than a battle. When appropriate, involve the teenager in decision making and setting consequences for his or her behavior.

Michelle Murray-Cline has responsibility for students A-E
 Kim Hoetmer has responsibility for students F-L
Janet Doud has responsibility for students M-R 
Steve Sandall has responsibility for students S-Z.