Cougar Connection
Student Services Newsletter: January 2020
Happy New Year Cougars
Student Services Highlights
Curriculum Night
In the auxiliary gym and cafeteria, teachers and students were available to discuss both curriculum and activities. Below are a just a few photos of the night.
Course Registration
For more information about Academic Advising, check out: https://oaktonhs.fcps.edu/student-services/academic-advisingcourse-offerings .
Up Next:
Rising Sophomore Registration - Classroom Presentation on 2/6 & 2/7 in Biology classrooms and Individual Meetings begin on 2/10 through HPE 9 classes.
Counselors will meet with each student individually. If a student is absent from class or does not have HPE, then the counselor will send a pass for him/her by 2/28.
All schedule change requests are due February 28, 2020.
Middle School Visits
For rising ninth grade parents, the presentation from Curriculum Night is available on the school website: https://oaktonhs.fcps.edu/announcements/curriculum-night-presentation.
Junior Family College Night
The college reps offered information on beginning the college search, components of the application and insight into how colleges make decisions. College Access Fairfax provided information on financial aid and scholarships.
Missed the event? No problem, we will host a Junior Parent Night on March 19th. You can also check out our classroom presentation on the Oakton website: https://oaktonhs.fcps.edu/student-services/programs-presentations-forms.
Post-secondary Planning for Latinx English Learners Workshop
Popcorn & a Movie Brain Break
Parent Resources
Communicating with Teens
Parents can also help to facilitate conversations around bullying. Check out this resource also provided by the PTSA: https://www.stopbullying.gov/prevention/bystanders-to-bullying.
Summer Learning Opportunities
The Summer Learning office is excited to share learning opportunities for Summer 2020.
Please read through the information below, and contact the Summer Learning team with any questions.
Online Campus - New or repeat credit (current 7-12 grade students):
· Courses offered: Algebra 2 Head Start, Economics and Personal Finance (not self-directed), Health and PE 9 and 10, Honors Geometry, Geometry, Algebra 2, Chemistry, Physics, Geosystems, Spanish 2 & 3, English 10-12, World History and Geography 1 & 2, VA/US History, VA/US Government (Eligible students must have completed VA/US History or will be sophomores in an International Baccalaureate (IB) school during the 2020-21 school year.)
· Students will need to have a computer with the specifications indicated.
· Registration opened January 6, 2020.
· Dates, testing information, and tuition information can be found here: https://www.fcps.edu/academics/summer-learning/online-programs.
CTE Summer Career Academy (current 10-11 grade students)
· CTE Summer Career Academy provides students access to CTE courses in the following areas: Construction Technology, Electrical Construction and Engineering, Health Sciences, Information Systems, and Teachers for Tomorrow.
· These are one credit introductory courses that students may not have the opportunity to take during the school year.
· Registration begins February 3, 2020.
· View addition program information on the program webpage.
Self-Directed Economics & Personal Finance (current 8-12 grade students)
· Session 1: Wednesday, April 22 – Monday, June 22, 2020
· Session 2*: Monday, June 29 – Friday, July 31, 2020 (*Self-Directed Economics and Personal Finance is the only course students can take with an Online Campus course during Session 2)
· Registration dates
o Session 1 registration: Monday, January 6 – Friday, April 10, 2020
o Session 2 registration: Monday, January 6 – Friday, June 12, 2020
· Tuition (discounts based on free/reduced lunch status)
o Full $140
o Reduced: $70
o Free: $14
College & Career Center Updates
January was also a busy month for our College & Career Center. They hosted college admissions reps and specific programs such as Virginia Tech Engineering.
- February 11 @ 9 am - NOVA General Info Meeting (application, classes, placement tests)
- March 12 @ 7:50am - NOVA Math Placement Test (register in T-35 by March 2)
- March 16 @ 7:50am - NOVA English Placement Test (register in T-35 by March 9)
- April 21 - NOVA Discovery Field Trip (more info to follow)
The College and Career Center-Trailer 35 will be hosting a presentation by The Coast Guard Academy on Feb.5, 2020 during Cougar Time. If students are interested in attending please RSVP to Mrs. Banbury.
On February 21 at 11am, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers by George Mason University will present about engineering majors and careers.
Also, the College & Career Center Specialists are working on college admissions rep visits specifically for tenth and eleventh grade students. They will also be holding mini classes during Cougar Time on topics such as interviews, resumes and navigating Naviance Student.
Students are encouraged to check their emails with updates. Interested in scholarships? Summer Opportunities? Check out T-35 or make an appointment with one of our career center specialists.
ASVAB Military Entrance Exam and Interest Inventory
The ASVAB is a job placement exam for those who wish to enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Oakton HIgh School will be hosting the ASVAB Exam in the College and Career Center-Trailer 35!
Date: March 10,2020
Time: 8:00am until you finish
The ASVAB Interpretation will be held in the College and Career Center-Trailer 35
Date: March 30,2020
Time: 11:30am
Additional information regarding sign up, etc. will be sent out the first week of February, please feel free to stop by the College and Career Center-Trailer 35 if you have questions or direct them to Mrs.Banbury: dbbanbury@fcps.eduUpcoming Events
National School Counseling Week
To learn more about National School Counseling Week, visit www.schoolcounselor.org/nscw.
African American History Month
As a Harvard-trained historian, Carter G. Woodson, like W. E. B. Du Bois before him, believed that truth could not be denied and that reason would prevail over prejudice. His hopes to raise awareness of African American’s contributions to civilization was realized when he and the organization he founded, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), conceived and announced Negro History Week in 1925. The event was first celebrated during a week in February 1926 that encompassed the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The response was overwhelming: Black history clubs sprang up; teachers demanded materials to instruct their pupils; and progressive whites, not simply white scholars and philanthropists, stepped forward to endorse the effort.
By the time of Woodson’s death in 1950, Negro History Week had become a central part of African American life and substantial progress had been made in bringing more Americans to appreciate the celebration. At mid–century, mayors of cities nationwide issued proclamations noting Negro History Week. The Black Awakening of the 1960s dramatically expanded the consciousness of African Americans about the importance of black history, and the Civil Rights movement focused Americans of all color on the subject of the contributions of African Americans to our history and culture.
The celebration was expanded to a month in 1976, the nation’s bicentennial. President Gerald R. Ford urged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” That year, fifty years after the first celebration, the association held the first African American History Month. By this time, the entire nation had come to recognize the importance of Black history in the drama of the American story. Since then each American president has issued African American History Month proclamations. And the association—now the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH)—continues to promote the study of Black history all year.
(Excerpt from an essay by Daryl Michael Scott, Howard University, for the Association for the Study of African American Life and History)
To learn more check out: https://africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/about/.
Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month
During February, Teen Dating Violence Awareness Months provides an opportunity for prevention and healing for teen victims of violent relationships.
According to the Domestic Violence Awareness Project, approximately 1.5 million high school students in the United States experience physical abuse from a dating partner. One-quarter of parents don’t talk to their teens about domestic violence.
Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month encourages parents and adolescents to take an inventory of their relationships. Abuse includes physical, psychological or sexual abuse. Visit youth.gov, loveisrespect.org, breakthecycle.org for conversation starters and resources.
NATIONAL TEEN DATING ABUSE HELPLINE
If you or someone you know has been the victim of dating violence, free and confidential help is available 24 hours a day through the National Dating Abuse Helpline.
Boys and Girls State Summer Opportunity
SUMMER OPPORTUNITY:
Are you interested in government? Are you looking for leadership opportunities? Consider applying for a slot to participate in the American Legion Auxiliary Virginia Boys/Girls State!
Boys/Girls State is an opportunity to practice and develop leadership skills; to study local and state government; and to live, work, and associate with other young leaders from across the state. Candidates must be of the rising senior class (current juniors) and have an interest in municipal and state government.
To get more information and/or an application, please see Ms. Sherrill in trailer 31. You can also visit their website at https://www.vagirlsstate.org/ or https://www.vaboysstate.org/ if you would like to learn more.
Girls/Boys State applications are due to Ms. Sherrill on February 21st.
Counselor Spotlight
Ms. Ashleigh Sherrill has been a School Counselor for five years; she is a National Certified Counselor. Ms. Sherrill likes to keep busy- on top of working at Oakton, she works in Human Resources for a major company and has provided career counseling to returned Peace Corps volunteers. In 2016, Ms. Sherrill was awarded and recognized as the FCPS Outstanding School Counselor.
Ms. Sherrill’s “why”, “I believe that each student, given the appropriate support can achieve at high levels and are capable of personal growth and self-direction. As a School Counselor, I am a fundamental piece in helping students reach those goals. I enjoy talking to students, getting to know them, and figuring out how they can reach their post-secondary goals.”