Morristown West Counseling Corner
January/February 2021
FAFSA Deadline Extended
Need help with FAFSA? Here are some ideas.
**Watch tutorials: https://www.collegefortn.org/fafsahelp/
**Email fafsa.help@tn.gov
**Call TSAC (TN Student Assistance Corp) 615-350-8668, Monday – Thursday: 9am – 8pm; Friday: 9am – 5pm; Saturday: 11am – 3pm
**TSAC virtual completion assistance workshop - Jan. 20 5-8pm; Register here **Email Mrs. Dulling at fdulling@niswongerfoundation.org to make an appointment
**Email, call, or stop by the counseling office for help
Spring Dual Enrollment
Schedule Changes
Advanced Placement
AP teachers will begin collecting money for AP exams on February 15. The cost of the exams will be $95. The cost for students who qualify for free and reduced lunch is $23.
· Payments can be online through My Payments Plus or by check paid to West High School. If paying by check, please give the check to one of your AP teachers.
· If you have any questions, please contact the Counseling Office or your AP teacher.
Who's Who
TN Promise Requirements
- FAFSA - submit by March 1 (see above for details)
- Virtual Mandatory Team Meeting - due May 31:
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, your mandatory meeting requirement will be completed virtually. The deadline to view the mandatory team meeting requirement is May 31, 2021! You will access the virtual team meeting on tnAchieves.org, view the video in its entirety and press submit. By viewing the virtual team meeting, you will satisfy your TN Promise team meeting requirement.
Step 1: Log into the virtual team meeting am meeting at tnachieves.org/team-meeting
To log in, you will provide: First and Last Name, Date of Birth, Last Four Digits of your Social Security Number
Step 2: View the virtual team meeting webinar. You will view the team meeting webinar in its entirety. Once the meeting concludes, press Submit. By pressing Submit, you are satisfying your TN Promise team meeting requirement!
- Community Service Requirement - 8 hours by July 1:
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, tnAchieves recognizes that completing in-person community service hours may be challenging. As an additional resource, TN Achieves has recorded a virtual opportunity for you to complete community service hours. By watching the webinars below, you will accumulate community service hours. Each video will account for one hour of community service, so feel free to watch multiple episodes. TN Achieves representatives hope that these webinars/interviews will provide you with insight to career paths, college success and general life skills. Duplicate viewings of the same webinar will not be counted as an hour of community service. You may only receive credit for viewing each webinar once!
To receive your hour of community service, simply login, view the webinar in its entirety, then click Submit! To view any of the community service webinars, click here!
For more information, see Student Handbook below or visit the tnAchieves website for the Class of 2021.
Scholarships
Walters State Scholarship Deadline Feb. 1
Ned McWherter Scholars Program - Feb. 15 Deadline
To be eligible, the applicant must:
- be a resident of Tennessee, a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, and attend an eligible Tennessee college or university full time, and
- have at least a 3.5 unweighted cumulative grade point average, and
- have a minimum composite score of 29 on the ACT (or concordant equivalent score on the SAT).
An applicant may receive extra credit for honors or Advanced Placement courses and leadership in extracurricular activities while in high school.
An application, in order to be considered complete, must be accompanied by:
- an official high school transcript that contains the applicant’s high school grades through the first semester of the senior year, and
- an official ACT/SAT score.
Applications are available through the student's TSAC Student Portal . Awards are very competitive and are based on limited funding. TSAC must receive the completed application and required attachments by February 15. Students should e-mail Mrs. Howerton at howertona18@hcboe.net to request a transcript for this program.
College Scholarship Deadlines
Below is a list of FIRM scholarship deadlines for some local colleges. Please note that in some cases, students must apply and be accepted before they are able to access the scholarship application(s). Also, many schools require that ALL parts of the application are received by the deadline, including the application, application fee, test scores, and high school transcript. It is important to apply well before the stated deadlines!
Carson-Newman University - Apply Early
East Tennessee State University - March 1 priority deadline for Academic Performance Scholarships
King University - Apply Early
Middle Tennessee State University - December 1
Tennessee Tech University - December 15
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga - December 1
University of Tennessee at Knoxville - November 1 (for competitive scholarships, honors programs); December 15 (general)
Walters State Community College - February 1
Transcript Requests
Junior ACT
Any student graduating with a regular diploma from a Tennessee high school is required to take the ACT prior to graduation. The current plan is for all juniors to take the ACT at school on March 16, 2021. Registration for the state-wide junior ACT will take place at school in TNN. This ACT is offered free of charge for all juniors.
For students wishing to take the ACT on a national test date (see below - these are on Saturdays), students must register on-line at www.act.org. [Please note: students who qualify for free/reduced lunch may use a total of 4 fee waivers during junior and/or senior years to pay for the cost of the ACT (without writing). Students should see Mrs. Howerton in the Counseling Office for a fee waiver].
ACT National (Saturday) Test Test Dates
Please note that the July 17 test will NOT be offered at West High.
Please visit www.act.org for information about late registration and photo upload deadlines.
Students will not be admitted to the test center without an admission ticket.
Please note: The registration deadline for the Feb. 6 ACT was extended until January 15!
Work Ethic Diploma
Seniors will apply in their TNN classes. Students who successfully complete the application process will earn cords to wear during the graduation ceremony. The deadline for meeting requirements and submitting completed applications is April 15, 2021. Please click here to view the Tennessee Work Ethic Diploma standards.
Counseling Office Contact Information
Students are assigned by the first letter of their last name.
- Kelly Ezell: Students A-E
Erica Gillett: Students F-L
Renae Byrd: Students M-R
Melanie Justis: Students S-Z
Jessie Alder, Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Aimee Howerton: Counseling Office Secretary
Office Contact Information:
Fax- 423-585-3791
Niswonger Care Advisor
Hi there! My name is Faith Dulling and I am the NiswongerCARE Advisor for Morristown West High School this year. I’m here to help with all college and career needs. I will be in the school every Friday and every other Monday or Thursday. If you have any questions or concerns that relate to college or college preparation, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m looking forward to meeting you all!