-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the night before his assassination

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Linworth conferences are different. Because we value participating in a wholistic picture of the personal and academic experience occurring, all teachers will be in the meeting. To maximize spots, we have two conferences happening concurrently, creating 40 slots, with teachers moving from one place to the other. When you arrive to the Zoom conference, I will move you to a Meeting Room, where teachers will join you. You are also welcome to email teachers in lieu of a conference. Email addresses are below.

Linworth Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences are Thursday, February 10, and Monday, February 14. All conferences will be held virtually.

Sign up for LINWORTH PARENT-STUDENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES here.

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The Linworth Forum is an experiential education activity that brings engaging speakers to Linworth students. Classes will be canceled on Monday, February 28, and the school day will be divided into 60-minute blocks with speakers for students to see in a conference-style format. The Linworth Forum will shed light on how students can leverage their talents and interests to forge their own path in life. The Linworth Forum will bring speakers to Linworth who can address a wide range of topics, including: discovering and following your passion; overcoming adversity and roadblocks; collaboration and interdisciplinary partnerships; innovation and outside-the-box thinking; and how to be an agent of change — both large and small.

The four presentation blocks are 8:00-9:00 AM, 9:15-10:15 AM, 10:30-11:30 AM, and 12:30-1:30 PM.

Here are a couple confirmed biographies:

Sarah Musa, class of 2001, has worked in New York City’s fashion industry for over a decade for top fashion houses including Ralph Lauren, Theory, and Club Monaco. After graduating college from OSU, she decided to pursue fashion professionally and 1 month later started studying at the Fashion Institute of Technology. While working in fashion she has advocated for diversity and wellbeing in the workplace and has now launched her own brand at sarahmusa.com.

Lindsey Rome, class of 2000, is a photographer, visual artist and songwriter. Her interest in photography started while at Linworth and she participated in The Fort Hayes Vocational Photography program her junior and senior years. She went on to pursue a photography degree in New York City from The School of Visual Arts. After working for many years in NYC and traveling the world photographing and filming musicians and fashion, she moved to Nashville with her musician husband and began working in the music industry in other capacities. She now continues to make art and write songs while raising a family.

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Interim is a period of time that has been set aside for individual experiential learning experiences. It is an opportunity for students to identify and pursue an area of interest not normally found in traditional school classes. Interim is an important part of the Linworth Program and is consistent with our desire to develop responsible, self-directed learners.

The basic idea is easy to understand. Students pick something about which they want to learn more. They then develop a plan to learn this information. The plan must involve a minimum of 30 hours of time on the project. Next they carry out the plan. Finally, they evaluate the experience and make a short presentation to a small group of students and staff.

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Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Worthington Schools has made every attempt to keep our students, families and community aware of how the virus was impacting our schools. Our dashboard continues to be updated each weekday to display cases and quarantines throughout the district. In addition to this tool, our health office professionals identify positive cases, close contacts and symptomatic students. When this occurs, they continue to contact families and apply the updated guidance from Columbus Public Health.

Until recently, our administrators and health office personnel have also been using the student case data to individually track school and bus schedules and send emails to families that may have been near a COVID case. With the significant increase in cases in our high schools, we are creating a more efficient process than sending a large number of individual emails to families. Starting next week, we will provide Linworth families a COVID report from our building with relevant information and trends from the week in our Friday newsletter. We are hopeful that this update and our other communication strategies will meet the needs of our school community in this stage of our experience with COVID.

Below are our distribution numbers for new events each day last week.

Watch for information from the main campus regarding registration.

Linworth students need register only for classes to be taken at the main campus.

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Upcoming dine to donate events:

February 2: Pizza Primo

February 8: Dewey’s Worthington 3-8 pm

March 2: Hot Chicken Takeover (Polaris) 4-8 pm

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Greetings from Parent Board! A recap for those new to Linworth that Parent Board is our version of a PTA but there is no need to sign up or pay dues. You are a member simply by having a student at Linworth. In years past, Parent Board opted to have monthly meetings featuring a variety of speakers based on topics we thought were of interest to our families. We also support the school with events and fundraisers which fund things that the school needs as well as Walkabout scholarships.

Last year with COVID restrictions, we did not have Parent Board meetings and instead focused on funding experiences for the school to help foster community even during the challenges of the year. This year we have had a couple meetings, but the Executive Board recently met to figure out what is most needed for our students and families this year. We decided rather than trying to have monthly meetings, we would focus in on a few topics and events that would have the most value overall. I will share the list here for those who like to plan ahead but we will send reminders in Chris’s emails and post on the Linworth EP Families page on Facebook.

Feb 9 from 7-8: Parent Board Meeting, speaker topic Experiential Learning

Fry Pie Sale: March 14 in honor of Pi Day!

April 20 from 7-8: Parent Board Meeting, speaker topic Technology Dangers

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All Worthington City School juniors are automatically registered to take the state-sponsored ACT (college entrance exam) at their main campus high school during the school day March 1, 2022.

Linworth juniors are encouraged to register before the February 2nd deadline for Dr. Sampath of PrepAccelerator's FREE virtual 4-hour ACT crash course held Friday, February 4th. Click here for registration information and let Laura know if she can answer any questions.

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College Credit Plus provides Worthington high school students the opportunity to potentially earn college and high school credit at the same time and at no cost to your family. Interested Linworth Experiential Program students/guardian need to do the following:

1. Visit the two links below. The first video is an overview of College Credit Plus delivered by the Ohio Department of Education and the second is a video on how Worthington City Schools implements College Credit Plus in our buildings and additional offerings.

Ohio’s College Credit Plus presentation

Worthington Schools College Credit Plus Slideshow

2. Return the Intent to Participate form to Laura.

Linworth students interested in participating in the College Credit Plus Program during the 2022 summer, 2022 fall, and/or 2023 spring semesters must submit the Intent to Participate Form to Laura no later than May 1st, 2022.

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As a student entering ninth grade on or after July 1, 2019, Ohio’s new high school graduation requirements give you more flexibility to choose a graduation pathway that builds on your strengths and passions – one that ensures you are ready for your next steps and excited about the future.

You can read more about the Graduation Requirements here.

You can review your progress by accessing the Worthington Portal and going to My Accounts and clicking on "Student Graduation Status."

Maybe this synopsis by WKHS School Counselor Brianna Abbott will help.

Basic Academic Requirements:

• 4 credits of English
• 4 credits of Math
• 3 credits of Science
• 3 credits of Social Studies
• 1/2 credit of PE (or additional elective credit if earning the PE Waiver)
• 1/2 credit of Health
• 5 credits of Electives (anything other than the classes listed above count as electives
• 1 full year worth of Fine Art completed between grades 7-12
• Financial Literacy requirement (can be met through Personal Financial Management, Economics & Financial Literacy, Financial Algebra, IB History, or IB Business)

Demonstrate Competency in English and Math:

• For most students this will be done by earning competency scores of 684 or higher on the English 2 and Math 1 state End of Course tests. Students can repeat these tests as needed.
• There are a range of other options for how competency can be demonstrated, but testing is the clearest path. If you need other options, I will be working with you to identify what pathway would work and be a viable option for you in the future.

Show Readiness by earning 2 Seals:

• There are 12 seals (9 state seals and 3 local seals) that students can try to earn.
• All students must earn 2 seals and one of those two seals must be a state seal

You can learn more about seals here.

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As we return to a normal schedule with all students attending school daily it is extremely important NOT to send your student to school if they are sick and not feeling well. A daily health check is required for parents and students to complete each morning prior to school.

Daily Home COVID-19 "Before School" Screening

Guidance for Daily Home Screening

If your child develops or reports any of the symptoms listed below during the school day they will be isolated and a parent or guardian will be called for immediate pick up. Follow-up with a health care provider will be required for your student to return to school. The COVID-19 protocols will be strictly enforced to ensure a healthy environment for our students and staff.

Your child needs to be kept home if any of the following symptoms are present.

• Temperature 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher when taken by mouth

• New or worsened cough

• New-onset severe headache

• Loss of taste or smell

• Sore throat

• Vomiting or diarrhea

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The Worthington Science Day 2022 will again be very different as compared to pre-pandemic years. The most notable change will be that no large scale gathering will be held on February 12th, 2022. Students that have completed Science Fair projects or Invention Convention projects will still have an opportunity to receive feedback and move on to the next level of competition. Worthington Schools will also offer a remote Design Challenge students can engage in at home. All other Science Day events, Cubing Competition and the Robotics Competition, will not be held this school year.

Science Fair: Students in grades 5-12 are eligible to compete in the District 7 Central Ohio Science Day. This will be a virtual event. To help Worthington students be successful in this competition, Worthington is offering optional feedback/coaching sessions. If interested, complete this form and Worthington Schools will reach out to help you with project feedback.

Invention Convention: Students in grade K-12 are eligible to participate in the Invention Convention. Projects must be registered and uploaded by April 1st, 2022. To help Worthington students be successful in this competition, Worthington is offering optional feedback/coaching sessions. If interested, complete this form and Worthington Schools will reach out to help you with Invention Convention project feedback.

Design Challenge: Students in grade K-12 are eligible to participate in a virtual Design Challenge. This event will be held asynchronously to allow for the maximum flexibility for students and families. Students will follow a set of specifications to design, build, and share their solution to the design challenge. Once the design challenge has been reviewed for safety, it will be posted on the Worthington Science Day website.

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Each year, ASSE/World Heritage offers North American families the opportunity to host girls and boys, ages 15 to 18, from Europe, Asia, Africa, the Pacific, Canada and Mexico. World Heritage invites you and your family to participate in this invaluable cultural experience and help contribute to global harmony.

Go here to get started.

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Under Federal and State law Section 3345.32 of the Ohio Revised Code, male students who are eighteen (18) years of age or older and who are classified as an Ohio resident by the public college or university they are attending through the College Credit Plus program are required to be registered with the Selective Service System. Participating male students are required to provide their Selective Service number to the public college or university within thirty (30) days of their 18th birthday. If such students do not submit their Selective Service number, they will not be considered a College Credit Plus participant for that current semester or term and will be responsible for any tuition, textbooks, or fees associated with the classes for which they are enrolled. For additional information about the Selective Service System or for online registration, please visit the website for the Selective Service System.

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Parent Board Meeting, speaker topic Experiential Learning: Wednesday, February 9, 7:00-8:00 p.m.

Linworth Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences: Thursday, February 10 & Monday, February 14

Linworth Forum: Monday, February 28

Interim: Monday, March 28-Friday, April 1

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THE FIRE IN MLK’S LAST SPEECH

ASTRONOMERS DISCOVER A PLANET WITH ONE OF THE MOST UNUSUAL SHAPES EVER SEEN

The Best Free Online Courses Everyone Should Take This Year

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If you have any questions for Linworth teachers, please don’t hesitate to reach out to them.

Jamie Mackin jmackin@wscloud.org

Jen Kubina jkubina@wscloud.org

Jasmine Hasanain jhasanain@wscloud.org

Lilly Yap lyap@wscloud.org

Ian Sample isample@wscloud.org

Rosanne Nagel rnagel@wscloud.org

Mark Shannon mshannon@wscloud.org

Amy Bowman abowman@wscloud.org

Josh Stegman jstegman@wscloud.org

Kenzie Bruck (Holderbaum) kbruck@wscloud.org

Laura Zelch lzelch@wscloud.org

Amy Kargiotis akargiotis@wscloud.org

Chris Hasebrook chasebrook@wscloud.org