COUNSELING DEPARTMENT
Effingham County High School
DECEMBER 2019 NEWSLETTER
MEET YOUR SCHOOL COUNSELOR!
Front Row (left to right)
Mrs. Aurelia Moss - Class of 2021 Counselor (11th Grade)
Dr. April Sikes-Brown - Class of 2020 Academic Counselor (12th Grade)
Back Row (left to right)
Mrs. Natalie Ramsey - Class of 2022 Counselor (10th Grade)
Mrs. Mimi Hayes - College and Career Counselor and 9th Grade Counselor
WHAT'S HAPPENING AT ECHS?
12/1 - 12/20 - Senior Dues - $85
12/6 - Herff Jones Senior Order Day #3
12/7 - SAT
12/9 - ASVAB
12/9 - FAFSA Completion Night #1 @ 6:00 p.m.
12/9 - PSAT Score Release Day
12/20 - Last Day of the Second Nine Weeks
12/23 - 1/3 - Christmas Holidays
1/1 - 1/31 - Senior Dues - $90
1/13, 1/16, 1/17 - Registration Advisement
1/20 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
1/27 - Financial Aid Presentation #2 @ 6:00 p.m.
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN 9TH GRADE?
9th Grade Responsible Decision-Making Skills
Responsible Decision Making Tips:
1. Talk to Your Teen About Accountability
2. Discuss Adult Responsibilities With Your Teen
3. Compliment Your High Schooler's Decision Making and Provide Support
Source: https://www.parenttoolkit.com/benchmarks/9th-grade-responsible-decision-making-skills
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN 10TH GRADE?
PSAT Results
The results of the test will be available on December 9, 2019. Students may log in or create a College Board account online at https://studentscores.collegeboard.org.
Mrs. Ramsey will be visiting with 10th grade students December 18-20 to share and discuss their test results.
The PSAT is highly relevant to your future success because it focuses on the skills and knowledge at the heart of education. It measures what you learn in high school and what you need to succeed in college. The test is used by scholarship programs to look for eligible students, including the National Merit Scholarship Program.
SIGN UP FOR REMIND!
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN 11TH GRADE?
College Board Opportunity Scholarships
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN 12TH GRADE?
These Are the Words Your Teen Applying to College Needs to Hear From You
Yes, we know they act like they don't care what you think. Trust us, they care so much.
The first of the big college application deadlines have now passed for high school seniors, and many await their first college admissions decisions coming in mid-December. Others are just beginning their applications and are trying to complete them by January during the chaotic holiday season. When almost every college has a slightly different process, keeping track of the dates, requirements, and details makes for an absurd task.
This is it: This is the peak of stress season for those trying to get into college. I am not just a college counselor in a large public high school, but also a parent of a high school senior myself. I see the toll this stress takes in my own house and on the teens who pass through my office, email, and text me every day.
Living this experience both professionally and personally this year has crystallized my perspective on the process, and I have something to tell my fellow parents of high school seniors:
This is a critical parenting moment. This is when you remind your children that they did almost all of the important parts of their preparation for college and their application work in the three years before now — by earning their grades, by challenging themselves, by getting involved in their community or world in whatever way felt right to them.
Remind them that while what they scored on a three-hour standardized test will likely be considered in this process, it is just one small part of an application, and it is definitely not a part of who they are or what they are capable of doing with their lives. It’s not an intelligence test, and it’s not more important than what they did in their classes. Remind them that no matter what happens now, that test does not define them.
Don’t let your kids talk about themselves in terms of whether or not they are “good enough” for this college or that college. Don’t let them think for a moment they don’t measure up. I talk to and work with enough teenagers every day that I can tell you for sure: your kids are awesome, they are all “good enough,” and they are trying so hard to get through this tedious and maddening process. Whatever frustration we feel about this experience, they feel exponentially.
Just applying to college is the culmination of so much effort and energy; remember to celebrate the work it takes your child to apply at all. One of the best things I have done is sit by a senior’s side while they submit their applications and get the confetti “Congratulations!” page from the Common App. It’s humbling and a privilege to be the confetti button-pusher while the applicant captures the perfect Snap of it, often so they can text it to the person who matters the most: their parent. “I need to send this to my mom!” they giggle, their hands shaking.
I know it doesn't seem like it (trust me, I know), but they still care about what you think. They want so badly to make you proud. Please let them know right now, in this in-between time, how proud you are of them — just for being who they are, for gritting their teeth and getting it done, for being good humans no matter where they are accepted or denied. They need to hear it, and they need to hear it from you. I promise you, they do.
And if decisions come that they don’t want, remind your high school senior — a "no" can mean “not right now.” It doesn’t have to mean “no forever.” And in the end, things do tend to work out, even when we cannot imagine how they possibly could.
I have a favorite quote I like to keep on my college counseling office wall. Some attribute it to John Lennon, but I haven't been able to confirm that. Whoever said it, thank you. Class of 2020 (and their parents), you're not at the end yet.
“Everything will be OK in the end. If it’s not OK, it’s not the end.”
By Allison Slater Tate
Source: https://www.today.com/parents/what-parents-seniors-applying-college-need-say-t166752
DUAL ENROLLMENT ADVISEMENT - SPRING 2020 SEMESTER
FAFSA Completion Night #1
Information pertaining to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will be presented to 12th grade students and parents during the FAFSA Completion Night. The event will be held in the ECHS Media Center.
Please contact Mrs. Mimi Hayes with any questions regarding the event.
Monday, Dec 9, 2019, 06:00 PM
Effingham County High School, Georgia 119, Springfield, GA, USA
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
FINANCIAL AID FOR COLLEGE
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the main application used to apply for federal or state-supported financial aid to pay for a college education. Completing and submitting the FAFSA is free, easy and provides you access to the largest source of financial aid available.
Financial aid covers expenses like tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, transportation and other college-related expenses. The FAFSA can be used to determine eligibility for:
- Federal Student Aid –Pell Grants and student loans.
- State Financial Aid – HOPE Scholarship and Grant programs.
- Institutional Financial Aid – Institutional Scholarships offered by a college.
- Private Financial Aid – Private Scholarships provided by businesses or other organizations.
For more information, view the FAFSA Overview and How to Fill Out the FAFSA videos provided by Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education.
COLLEGE AND CAREER - TESTING DATES AND RESOURCES
ASVAB
February 4, 2020
March 2, 2020
ACCUPLACER
February 5, 2020
March 4, 2020
SOURCES OF STRENGTH
Sources of Strength is a best practice youth suicide prevention project designed to harnesses the power of peer social networks to change unhealthy norms and culture, ultimately preventing suicide, bullying, and substance abuse. The mission of Sources of Strength is to prevent suicide by increasing help seeking behaviors and promoting connections between peers and caring adults. Sources of Strength moves beyond a singular focus on risk factors by utilizing an upstream approach for youth suicide prevention. This upstream model strengthens multiple sources of support (protective factors) around young individuals so that when times get hard they have strengths to rely on.
If you have any students that you would like to nominate as peer leaders for the Sources of Strength program, please refer them to your school social worker, Dr. Jackie Brown.
PERSONAL WELLNESS AND MENTAL HEALTH
Counseling Department Contact Information
Mrs. Aurelia Moss - amoss@effingham.k12.ga.us
Mrs. Natalie Ramsey - nramsey@effingham.k12.ga.us
Dr. April Sikes-Brown - asikesbrown@effngham.k12.ga.us
Mrs. Denise Stevens, Registrar - dstevens@effingham.k12.ga.us
Dr. Jackie Brown, Social Worker - jbrown@effingham.k12.ga.us
Newsletter Contact
Email: asikesbrown@effingham.k12.ga.us
Website: https://www.effinghamschools.com/domain/280
Location: Effingham County High School, Georgia 119, Springfield, GA, USA
Phone: 912-754-6404