DestinationCollege2021
Crosby Scholars Sophomore Newsletter, June 2019
Our Mission
We will assist public middle and high school students in Forsyth County in preparing themselves for successful college enrollment.
Our Vision
We seek to ensure that every public school student in Forsyth County has the opportunity to attend college.
This newsletter, DestinationCollege2020, is published quarterly to keep you informed of activities, deadlines, and program opportunities. It is your responsibility to know deadlines and program requirements, so read your newsletter and log in to your Crosby Scholars student portal regularly to find out all the latest information. The June issue is the final issue produced during this school year.
Junior Year: The hardest year? Not with Crosby Scholars!
1. Junior Academy - The Junior Academy takes place in August and September. Junior Academies are held ONLY at Forsyth Technical Community College and Goodwill Industries. If you choose, you will have the opportunity to complete your Academy requirement in early August before school even starts. Academy topics include College 101 and ACT/SAT Prep sessions.
2. College Tours - Throughout the school year, we will offer many campus visits for juniors. This gives you the opportunity to visit colleges you may be interested in, while also completing your college fair/college visit requirement. Registration for every tour will be found in your Crosby Scholars Student Portal and are available on a first-come, first served basis.
3. Community Service - While the community service requirement of two hours (2) remains the same, the deadline to submit your service form has changed. Community service for all Juniors and Seniors is due on January 31, 2019. Any hours completed over the summer will count toward your 2018-2019 requirement. You can also submit your form to our office at any time!
4. Mandatory Rising Senior Meeting (MRSM) - The MRSM is the final requirement of the Junior year. During this meeting we will dive into the college admissions process and also inform you of all you can look forward to as a senior Crosby Scholar.
5. Webinars Sessions - Throughout the year, we will host online webinar sessions and other supplemental sessions to teach you about various topics as they pertain to college admissions. Topics include: PSAT Prep, SAT Prep, Campus Visits, Building a Target List, Senior Advisor Program.
The DO's and DON'Ts of Summer '18
Spend your time balancing relaxing activities with productive ones and your future self will thank you!
Do:
Work - Employment is one of the most practical ways to build your resume and impress colleges. Any job is good, but working in a leadership position or in an academic area would be ideal. The more a job challenges you, the more it builds the skills that colleges and future employers are interested in seeing in applicants.
Volunteer - Community service is another great way to gain some valuable work and leadership experience. At the end of the year teachers can always use help cleaning up in their classrooms and around school, and nonprofits, such as soup kitchens, are always looking for volunteers, so it shouldn’t be difficult to find an organization near you that could use an extra pair of hands for a few hours a week during the summer.
Travel - Visiting and exploring foreign places will broaden your horizons, allowing you to expand your awareness of other peoples and cultures. But even if you can't leave the state or country, exploring new places in your own city or town will give you a new appreciation of the place you call home.
Summer Enrichment - These programs are a good way to explore and gain experience in fields you may want to study in college. Many of these organizations have residential or day camps for high school students focused on specific topics such as music, creative writing, science, engineering and a variety of other areas of interest.
Visit Colleges - Campus visits should be part of any college applicant’s summer plans. Taking the time to explore your options early will help you throughout Junior and Senior year as you begin to narrow down your target list of colleges. You can fulfill your college fair/college visit requirement by taking this form with you on any college visits you attend.
ACT/SAT Prep - Standardized tests are an important part of the admissions equation at many colleges across the country. If you've already taken the SAT or ACT, or even the PSAT or Pre-ACT, and your scores aren't what you think you'll need to get into your top choice colleges, then the summer is a great time to work through an exam preparation book or take a test prep class.
Don't:
Spend the entire summer playing Fortnite
Scroll through your social media pages all day long
Stay up until 6am, then sleep your entire day away
Watch Youtube tutorials all day
Source: ThoughtCo. - The Best Summer Plans for High School Students
Next Year's Community Service form is Ready!!!
As a Junior, the deadline for you to submit a community service form is January 31, 2019. The community service form is already available here. You may volunteer and fulfill the requirement this summer. Don't forget to submit your form as soon as you volunteer, but no later than January 31. Watch for community service contest announcements - the earlier you submit your form, the better chance you will have to win prizes!
At the end and the beginning of each school year, schools and teachers are looking for student volunteers to assist with campus and classroom clean up, moving furniture to different locations, campus beautification, and other helpful projects. Check in with some of your teachers to see about volunteering with them over the summer. This is a quick way to fulfill your community service obligations and help that you are impacted by everyday.
Finally, you can always go to the Crosby Scholars Community Service page on our website to see which organizations are looking for volunteers for their upcoming events. Please make a copy of your form or take a picture of the form with your cell phone before you submit it. It is always important to keep a record of the forms you submit to our office.
You voted...
...and the winners are (drumroll please...):
2018-2019 Crosby Scholars Junior Vice-Presidents:
Atkins: Bri Thompson
Carter G. Woodson: Rashad Jones
Carver: TBA
Early College: Morgan Brookshire
East Forsyth: Catherine King
Glenn: Jasmyn King
Kennedy: Vivian Caldwell
Mt. Tabor: Ono Abhulimen
NC Leadership Academy: Beth Davis
North Forsyth: Trinity Barr
Parkland: Aria Bryson
Quality Education Academy: Cierra Godfrey
Reagan: Katherine Jafroodi
Reynolds: Matt Ramirez
Walkertown: Bayleigh Bray
West Forsyth: Carson Groce
WS Prep Academy: Ma'Sasha Staley
Catch up on your Grade Advisor Materials
While the Grade Advisor Meetings were not mandatory, they were a great way to stay ahead on all things college admissions as it pertains to your grade. Preparing you for the future is our goal, and if you missed any or all of the Grade Advisor Meetings, you still have an opportunity to get the information you missed.
Download the meeting handout in your Crosby Scholars Student Portal and read through it to receive credit for any meetings you may have missed. Once you've downloaded the handout, go over to our website to find the recording of each webinar for a quick overview of the meeting handout and activities for each meeting. You can earn credit for attending the Grade Advisor meetings by downloading and reviewing the handouts before June 30.
As a Junior, the Grade Advisor Program will differ from your freshman and sophomore years. Instead of group meetings after school, the Junior Advisor Program will be in the form of evening sessions and webinars that will prepare you for the college admission process as a junior. These sessions will conclude in the Spring of 2019.
Summer Activities: Build Your Activities Resume' in your Crosby Scholars Student Portal
How do you keep track of your membership in school clubs and activities, leadership roles, awards received, service provided, etc? You create an activities resume! The Crosby Scholars Program provides you with a guide to build your activities resume through your Crosby Scholars Student Portal. Log in and view the Activities Resume tab. Then start to build your resume by completing the chart provided. Building your resume now and keeping it current will make applying to college easier!
Remember, colleges want to see your commitment, passion and leadership and will be impressed by the depth and length of your involvement in few activities more than mere membership in several activities.
HOW TO USE A RESUME
You can’t believe all the uses there are for a resume. Here are a few:
- High school counselors, teachers and others have dozens of recommendations to write. Anything you can do to make their jobs easier—as in providing an activities resume—will be greatly appreciated. The truth is that offering a well organized, easy-to-read, comprehensive resume can only have a positive effect on what recommenders say on their recommendation forms and letters.
- You can also use a resume as a giveaway to a college admissions representative with whom you interview. What better way of “breaking the ice” with an interviewer than by giving him or her a copy of your resume as you arrive?
- Having a resume ready to give or send to a college coach, college professor or someone else you meet on campus or at a college fair is a good way of being remembered.
- Resumes can be used with scholarship applications and special program applications, such as research or volunteer internships, and even summer job applications.
Source: HuffPost's The Blog
Activities Resumes: A Surprising First Step to Having a Successful College Application Experience
It's NEVER Too Early To Speak with College Admission Representatives!
Are you planning to attend campus visits and college fairs this summer?
A Crosby Scholar can fulfill the college fair/college visit requirement beginning in the sophomore year. Crosby Scholars must speak with four college admission reps about their respective schools. We define “speak” with admission reps as initiating a conversation rather than simply asking them for a signature!!!
Alternatively, you can go on four official college visits and have an admissions representative or tour guide sign your college visit form. These only count for official visits that were scheduled through the admissions office, or on an official recruitment visits for sports, arts, etc.
In order to get the most out of attending a college fair or campus visit, Crosby Scholars should:
- Review the list of colleges represented at the fair ahead of time, and consider which ones you want to investigate further.
- Visit the websites of colleges that interest you prior to the fair or campus visit. This will prepare you to ask questions that matter to you.
- Develop a list of at least three questions for admission reps regarding admission requirements, campus life, and academic programs.
- Find out about special campus visitation days, application deadlines, and new programs.
- Think about what matters to you, and guide your conversations with admission reps accordingly.
Remember to prepare in advance in order to get the most from attending the college fair or going on campus visits. Once you have collected four signatures, submit your college fair participation form to our office to receive credit.
Click here to view and print the college fair form for sophomores.
Parents can monitor their student's Crosby Scholars student portal, view announcements and events, and confirm if their student has fulfilled program requirements by logging in to their Crosby Scholars parent portal. If you need assistance accessing your parent portal, please email highschool@crosbyscholars.org.
Crosby Scholars Community Partnership
Email: highschool@crosbyscholars.org
Website: crosbyscholars.org
Location: 2701 University Parkway, Winston-Salem, NC
Phone: 336-725-5371
Facebook: facebook.com/crosbyscholars
Twitter: @crosbyscholars