Ms. Kennon's ICP Parent Newsletter
September 21, 2014
Just a Note:
I enjoyed seeing several of you at Open House last week and want to encourage all of you to contact me anytime. I firmly believe that the best interest of the student is met when the parents and the teacher work together as a team to guide the student as he or she navigates high school and makes post-secondary plans.
I got a bit of exciting news at the end of the day on Friday. Last month I applied for an ARI mini-grant for the ICP classes and on Friday, I received the e-mail that we were awarded $1000.00 to purchase LEGO Mindstorms robotics equipment. As soon as we have received the money, the equipment will be ordered and more definite plans will be made. I will keep you apprised of the progress of this exciting opportunity for our students.
College and Career:
If you have spoken to any of my former students or have previously had a student in my classes, you may know that I'm a bit passionate about talking to students about their preparations for life after high school. One of the things I would like to do from time to time is post helpful information and sometimes links on my newsletter to articles about college and career planning that will be helpful to you in this process. It's never too early to start planning for their future!
One thing that many parents and students may not be aware of is that there are quite a few scholarships available for students to apply for before their senior year. I encourage you and your child to utilize scholarship search engines like FastWeb or Scholarships.com.
Also, Governor's School for Entrepreneurs is an excellent program for which students in grades 9-12 may apply. Check out the program at http://kentuckygse.com/ . Along the same lines, it is also time for sophomores to start thinking about applying to programs like Rogers' Scholars http://centeryouthprograms.com/rogers-scholars/ and for juniors to consider the Governor's Scholars Program http://gsp.ky.gov/ . Both sophomores and juniors can apply to the Governor's School for the Arts http://www.kentuckygsa.org/ . The applications for these programs have varying due dates and some have to go through a committee at school prior to being sent to the admissions commitee for the program. Check with the guidance office for more information on these wonderful opportunities for our students. They all look great on college applications and some of them are linked to automatic scholarships at several colleges and universities.
Read this article written by a college admissions officer on what colleges are actually looking for when they comb through the applications: http://daily.swarthmore.edu/2014/09/11/admissions-spotlight-zarinah-james-on-holistic-admissions/