RHS Counselors Connection
March 2018 Edition
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RHS School Counseling Website: Click here for the New School Counseling Website
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Is Happiness Contagious???
Just like the common cold or the flu, can happiness be spread from one person to another by direct or indirect contact? Researchers from Harvard University and the University of California were interested in this question. They were interested in the possibility that the happiness of those in our social network might impact our own happiness-and that our own happiness might impact the happiness of those around us. They looked at an enormous amount of date, examining the happiness level of almost 5,000 people over the course of 20 years. What they found was striking. Not only did the happiness level impact those with whom you have direct contact, the researchers could trace the effect of happiness not merely one one’s friends, but on their friend’s friend’s friend! “Ripples” of happiness were evident up to three degrees removed.
Here is how the researchers described their findings: “Human happiness is not merely the province of isolated individuals… The happiness of an individual is associated with the happiness of people up to three degrees removed in the social network. Happiness, in other words, is not merely a function of individual experience or individual choice but is also a property of groups of people. Indeed, changes in individual happiness can ripple through social networks giving rise to clusters of happy and unhappy individuals.”
The data highlights the fact that we are deeply connected to the human beings around us. We can alter the happiness level of our group of friends or our family or our math class. That, can then alter the happiness level of those people’s families or soccer team or history class. That can, then alter…well, you see where I’m going. So, why not start a chain reaction of happiness here at RHS. Maybe if we all start with small acts of kindness and positivity we could create a “happy cluster culture.”
Here are FIVE easy things we can all do that could turn RHS into a Happy Cluster
- Say hello or greet people you pass in the hallway or on the side walk.
- Be conscious of our facial expression: smiling doesn’t hurt and actually makes you look and feel better.
- Be polite to each other; say please, thank you and excuse me.
- Wish people a good day.
- Keep unnecessary negative comments to ourselves and instead try complementing someone.
A little bit of happy can have impacts far beyond ourselves. Indeed, our efforts here will have benefits about which we may never know.
~Content taken from Mindfulness Curriculum for Adolescents, Mindful Schools ©2015
Class of 2019- Career & College Planning Night
National Social Workers Month
We celebrate the contributions of social workers during
National Social Work Month in March. Our nation’s more
than 650,000 social workers have amazing tenacity and talent.
They confront some of the most challenging issues facing
individuals, families, communities and society and forge
solutions that help people reach their full potential and make
our nation a better place to live.
RHS has a School Social Worker, Mrs. Castelli. Her office is located in the Building 1 in the Hallway between the Media Center and the Counseling Office. She is on campus Mondays and Thursdays. Student and families are able to contact her by phone 904-657-3743 or email Barbara.castelli@myoneclay.net.
Thank you Mrs. Castelli for the amazing support you offer the RHS Community!
~Content taken from NASW North Carolina Chapter Website
College Corner
LaGrange College- LaGrange, GA
LaGrange College is located one hour south of Atlanta and offers a variety of programs; including, Art & Design, Biochemistry, Biology, Business, Chemistry, Digital Creative Media & Film, Education, Music, Musical Theatre, Nursing, Political Science, Religion & Philosophy and so much more. Founded in 1831, LaGrange is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and offers students solid academics, Division III athletics, and plenty of campus activities and support so that all students can be successful. By commencement day, more than 75 percent of the graduating class had already accepted a job or enrolled in a graduate school. They also offer students study abroad opportunities. LaGrange looks for students who have taken challenging high school course work but does not require two years of world language. You must have a minimum 3.0 recalculated weighted GPA and college ready test scores on the ACT or SAT.
Undergraduate tuition and fees: 29,620 USD
Acceptance rate: 55.2%
Total enrollment: 994
Athletics: NCAA Division III
For more information visit http://www.lagrange.edu
Career Planning & Spotlight
Attention all Juniors...
The summer before senior year is critical to your future. This is the time to really dig into your research about post-secondary options, visit potential schools, get some specific job or community experience and work on your academic resume.
Do you want to pursue:
Military (contact a recruiter now to start this conversation and take the ASVAB)
Art Schools (get with your Art, Theatre or Band teacher to make sure your portfolio or audition piece is on track for the schools you plan to apply)
Technical School (make a list of the programs nearby that offer the career area you want to pursue and contact them for a tour of their program)
State College A.A. or A.S. degree programs (ask questions about the job outlook for the Associate degree you want to pursue or what you need to be aware of if you plan to transfer to a larger university after you finish the A.A. or A.S. degree)
College/University B.A. or B.S. degree programs (narrow your list down to at least 5 schools and start gathering your application requirements. You should start requesting recommendation letters from teachers, counselors, or community leaders early so they have time to write these. The application process for most 4 year colleges and universities begins in August so be prepared to apply then. Take a tour of these schools if possible over the summer.)
Apprenticeship programs (call and ask questions about apprenticeship programs and the companies that they work with for job placement)
You should be spending time now and through your summer break doing your research and making specific plans for your future. Senior year will be full of activities and will go a lot faster than you think. Talk with your School Counselor now for help narrowing down your options.
CLICK HERE for a more specific planning calendar for Juniors.
So You Want to Go to Medical School? 5 Think-Ahead Tips for High Schoolers
by Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz
Despite rising educational costs, and changes in the last decade that make medicine less certain as a high-income career, high school students continue to ask, “What can I do to become a doctor?” Given that I encourage students to approach college admissions and career choices based on a good fit model, to me the more important question is, “What can you do to find out if medicine is the right career for you?”
HOW DO YOU KNOW IF MEDICINE IS A GOOD CHOICE?
As I work with students, I find that many have very romantic notions of what being a doctor means, including TV images of attractive women and men dressed in proverbial white coats with stethoscopes hanging around their necks; dreams of prestige, high salaries, extravagant future lifestyles, along with a genuine need to help others. In many cases, the most access they have had to a medical environment is time spent with their own physicians.
In a National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC) seminar on medical school admissions, presenters suggested that a) actual exposure to the medical profession, b) practical experience in a doctor’s office, clinic or hospital and/or c) time spent in a scientific research laboratory are all excellent ways of finding out if a student really wants to go into medicine. Of note, any one of these activities can also be very impressive on college admission applications.
Here are some ideas about how to go about acting on the NACAC suggestions:
1. Interview — better yet shadow — doctors in different medical specialties in which you think you might be interested
An information interview is an appointment you schedule with an individual for the purpose of gaining information about a job or career field from an “insider” point of view. Some questions you might ask include:
- What led you to become a doctor?
- What is your day like from the time you get up until you go to bed?
- What do you like and dislike about your job?
- If you could do it all over, would you choose the same work? Etc., etc.
2. Apply for a research or experiential internship program for high school students
Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth has a list of excellent Biomedical Science Internships all around the U.S. Stanford University’s School of Medicine also offers a terrific list of opportunities throughout the country for high school students interested in science and medicine. Scroll down the page and there is another list for college students.
ADMISSION POSSIBLE Tip
A number of colleges and organizations offer tuition-free, residential programs for low-income high school students. Applications usually become available at the beginning of a the calendar year.3. Volunteer at a local hospital or a health clinic, especially one that serves low-income patients
Medical school admissions officers often say that beginning in high school sustained, meaningful volunteer work involving patient contact is one of the best preparations for medical school. This kind of activity would also make a good impression on undergraduate admissions officers.
ADMISSION POSSIBLE Tip
Having experience working with underserved and/or non-English speaking populations is noteworthy to colleges and medical schools. Also, it doesn’t hurt to be proficient in a language other than English.4. Create your own health-related project
Colleges and medical schools love when students do something significant on their own. For example, one student I worked with created a program that put together small nutritious snack and food packages for patient families during their children’s stay at a local hospital. The project began when the student was a 9th grader and was passed along to his younger brother when he left for college. Another student wrote a popular column on teen health issues for her high school newspaper. As might be expected, the most popular topics were healthy, tasty food choices, and stress relief techniques.
5. Attend a summer program for high school students interested in medicine
Stanford, Duke, Penn, USC, Tufts, Michigan, Georgetown, the National Student Leadership Conference and many others offer summer programs that introduce high school students to the medical field.
If students like what they see, hear, experience and/or do, that’s a pretty good indication that they might like medicine as a career.
WHAT ABOUT ACADEMIC PREPARATION?
High school students who think they want to attend medical school will do well to prepare themselves academically by taking the most rigorous courses offered at their high schools (a mixture of Honors, AP and/or IB courses), get the highest grades they can and score well on the SAT and/or ACT, proof to admissions officers that they have the wherewithal to thrive in their schools. Colleges also look for students who demonstrate a true love of learning.
Where high schoolers choose to attend college is also an important issue. Incorrectly, many people think that the more prestigious an undergraduate college is, the better the chances are for a student to get into med school. Not true. Acceptance into medical programs often has more to do with how students maximize the resources and opportunities provided at whatever college they happen to attend. As it happens, small, liberal arts colleges often offer the best preparation for medical school because students have greater access to accessible professors who actually teach and mentor them. Undergraduate research opportunities also tend to be more available at small colleges. Have a look at the National Science Foundation list of the “Top Schools from which S&E (Science and Engineering) Doctorate Recipients Received Bachelor’s Degrees.” Lots of small, liberal arts colleges are on that list, many of which you may not have even heard of.
Another piece of misinformation is that students must be Pre-Med majors, or at least science majors, to get into medical school. Wrong again. According to NACAC experts, a very good student has a better chance of getting into the most selective medical schools by majoring in something other than Biology (or another science). Med schools now look for students who have broad, liberal educations that will help them relate to the world beyond their science interests. As a result, future medical students can major in anything they want, including art history, Russian, or horticulture, so long as they take the required pre-medical school classes (see list below) and score well on the Medical School Admissions Test (MCAT).
The usual required courses for acceptance into medical school are:
- 1 year, freshman Chemistry with associated lab
- 1 year, Organic Chemistry with associated lab
- 1 year of Biology with associated lab
- 1 year of Physics with associated lab
- 1 year of English
- 1 year of Calculus or other advanced Math, including Statistics
Surprised at how little is required?
WHAT ELSE SHOULD YOU KNOW?
Another important part of getting into medical school is helping the admissions people see that you are a compassionate person. You can do that by the choices you make in activities in and outside of school. Word is that med schools are increasingly interested in future doctors who demonstrate that they care about patients.
It’s also useful to know that there are a number of universities that offer combined BS/MD or BA/MD programs, which allow students to receive undergraduate and MD degrees in seven or eight years. Todd A. Johnson has put together an excellent, comprehensive list in his BS/MD Programs —The Complete Guide: Getting into Medical School from High School.
Finally, there are a few websites that offer excellent information to high school students about applying to medical school.
The Association of American Medical College’s (AAMC) “Aspiring Docs” is especially useful, covering such topics as how to prepare for your future in medicine while in high school, what’s it’s like to be a med school student today, how to get ready for the MCAT exam.
AAMC’s “The Road to Becoming a Doctor” describes different types of physicians, what med school is all about, what the different medical specialties are and how to finance it all.
I hope this helps high school students understand if and what they need to know and do to spend their lives as doctors in the medical world.
Scholarships 101
JP Hall, Sr Children's Charities Scholarship
Graduating seniors from Clay County High Schools who demonstrate financial need and plan to attend St. John's Rivers State College or the University of North Florida may apply for this scholarship. Students must meet all application requirements and the completed application must be returned to Mrs. Johns in the RHS Guidance office no later than March 9, 2018. See the Scholarship box in the RHS Guidance office for the application. The Scholarship amount varies depending on the student need and multiple scholarships will be awarded. Deadline March 9, 2018.
Florida Striders Track Club Scholarship
The Florida Striders Track Club offers an annual college scholarship program. This year, four $1,000 college scholarships will be awarded to graduating high school seniors who live in Northeast Florida. The 2018 Florida Striders Track Club College Scholarship application is available on our website at www.floridastriders.com. Deadline is March 9, 2018.
Clay County Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Foundation
This foundation offers three scholarships under one application focused on providing Clay County high school seniors with financial resources for college so that they may be encouraged in their pursuit of continuing education that will develop and enhance their business and workforce skills in the community. All students are encouraged to apply regardless of academic merit or financial need status; the scholarship committee will consider all eligible students, and will base award decisions on the entire application, not just scores, GPA, or financial circumstances. CLICK HERE to apply. Deadline March 15, 2018.
USF- College Assistance Migrant Program
Provides financial assistance, support services and cultural enrichment opportunities to students from migrant and seasonal farm-worker backgrounds during their first year at USF. This $3,000 scholarship is only available to those who meet specific criteria and who have already been accepted into USF. CLICK HERE for more information or to apply.Deadline March 15, 2018.
Penney Memorial Scholarship Program
Penney Memorial Church is a multi-denominational church located at Penney Retirement Community in Penney Farms, Florida. The congregation is pleased to partner with graduating students to aid them financial in completing their college/university training. The funds for the scholarship are provided by donations given by church members who delight in seeing young people success. Applicants are expected to be serious students who have had a good high school career, including acceptable grades, volunteer experience, and evidence of good attendance and citizenship. This is a four year scholarship that provides support each semester of enrollment at a college/university so long as students maintain good academic standing. For the full application, come to the RHS School Counseling office. Full application packet is due to Mrs. Johns by March 23, 2018.
Alpha Delta Kappa Scholarship
Students graduating from a St. Johns, Clay or Flagler County school who are planning to pursue a degree in Education may apply. The application must also include two letters of recommendation and proof of school or community involvement.CLICK HERE for the application. Deadline March 23, 2018
Clay County Education Association (CCEA) Scholarship
A $1,000 non-renewable undergraduate scholarship for seniors graduating in Clay County. Parent/Guardian must be a CCEA member in good standing. Applicant should have a 3.0 weighted GPA. Please see the scholarship box in the RHS School Counseling office for the application. Deadline March 23, 2018
Orange Park Woman's Club Scholarship
We are accepting applications for the Orange Park Woman's Club Scholarship for graduating seniors in the greater Orange Park area (Orange Park High School, Ridgeview High School, Fleming Island High School, and Oakleaf High School). Each year we use the proceeds from our Thrift Store to fund these scholarships. Applicants must attend two-or-four year accredited educational institution in the fall of 2018. The scholarship grant will be deposited in the winning applicant's student account. Recipients of the scholarships are selected on the basis of the applicant's community service involvement, communication skills and letters of recommendation. A GPA is not required to apply for the scholarship.
To apply, please download the APPLICATION FORM HERE. Follow the instructions provided on the application for completing and mailing. Applications should be mailed so that they are received no later than March 30, 2018.
Community service hours are not required for graduation but are required for the different levels of Bright Futures Scholarships. Earning hours is also a way for you to get to know more about possible career fields, enhance your college admissions resume and to gain valuable experience.
Where can I go to get Community Service Hours? Click on the links below for ideas & sign up to receive notifications from the department when opportunities are shared (see RESOURCES page)
Volunteer Jacksonville - a list of volunteer opportunities in the greater Jacksonville area
Volunteer Match - use this site to enter your availability and it will match you with potential volunteer opportunities
Orange Park Non-Profits - visit this site for a list of non-profit organizations in Orange Park
Student Resources
SAP (Student Assistance Program) Counselor- Kim Barrera
The Student Assistance Program works with identified adolescents to screen for risk factors that may interfere with a student’s ability to positively cope with life challenges and stressors. The program consists of individual and/or group prevention activities where teens work with an SAP team member 1-4 times a month on a short term basis. SAP does not provide direct therapy services but can assist students with accessing services through Clay Behavioral Health. You can ask any of your teachers to go see Ms. Barrera in Building 5 room 554 or you can talk with your School Counselor to be referred for services.
Military Life Counselor- Atrews Bell
Mr. Bell provides a variety of services and/or referrals for students with a parent/guardian on active duty or retired military. This can include academic assistance, personal counseling, help with transitioning from school to school and much more. See your School Counselor for more details or stop by Mr. Bells office in Building 1 room 140.
Contact Us!
Pre-IB & IB Students
(904) 336- 8912
Lori.feathergill@myoneclay.net
Maria Littlejohn
Student Last Names A-E
(904) 336- 8904
Maria.littlejohn@myoneclay.net
Jackie Welch
Student Last Names F-L
(904) 336- 8903
Jacquelyn. welch@myoneclay.net
Margo Whyte
Student Last Names M-R
(904) 336-8902
Tabbatha Johns
Student Last Names S-Z
(904) 336-8906