Counselor Connection
Monthly Newsletter from FHS Counseling Department
December's Newsletter
The Forest Counseling Department is publishing a monthly newsletter in order to communicate important information to students and parents. These newsletters will cover important information such as upcoming events, college and career information, available scholarships, and helpful updates.
Please be sure to follow our new Instagram and Twitter pages! The handle for both is Guidancewildcat.
Check out Guidance's Instagram!
Please remember, Forest High School has a twitter as well and our TV Production crew as a YouTube channel with a lot of helpful information. *You DO NOT need a Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube account in order to check these accounts out for information*
YOU MATTER!!!
Important Upcoming Events
Please know that events are always subject to change based on current events and outside factors.
Last Day of School Before Winter Break
Friday, Dec 18, 2020, 08:30 AM
FHS Campus
Last Day of 1st Semester
Wednesday, Jan 13, 2021, 08:30 AM
FHS Campus
Teacher Work Day-No School for Students
Friday, Jan 15, 2021, 08:30 AM
FHS Campus
Interested in Virtually Touring a Florida College or University?
Semester Exam Schedule
Interested in School Choice?
Are you interested in attending MTI or another school's magent program next year?
You must fill out the school choice application which is open now until the end of January. Check out the reference guide attached below for more information!
PSAT Results
To watch a video to help you understand your scores, please go here: Understanding Your PSAT Score Report.
Make sure to use this experience to help your future! Khan Academy offers FREE personalized test prep for the SAT by using your PSAT results. Go to https://www.khanacademy.org/sat to find out more information and to link your Khan Academy account with College Board account to get started.
Spirit-Pride Shirt Order with Ms. Pohlers
Important Senior Information
Interested in Attending College of Central Florida (CF) Next Year?
Attend a Virtual Meeting on December 8th at 5:00pm.
Make the decision to attend CF and drop in any time from 5-6:30 pm to speak with representatives from our Admissions, Financial Aid, Education Opportunity Center, and Health Sciences Departments. If you apply with us during this session we will waive your $30 application fee!
Sign Up at: https://cfpatriots.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUpceqoqzMoGNcQx48IrUiq8jRfJA7-6IJM
State University Application Deadlines
FAMU (Tallahassee): May 1st is the last Deadline.
FAU (Boca Raton): April 15th (Priority deadline is February 15th)
FGCU (Fort Myers): Early Action is November 1st. Regular Deadline: March 1st
FIU (Miami): Rolling but last deadline for Fall 2021 is April 1st
Florida Poly (Lakeland): Priority Deadline is November 1st, Rolling until Full with April 1st being Latest Deadline
FSU (Tallahassee): Priority Deadline is December 1st. Rolling until final deadline is March 1st.
NCF (Sarasota): Early action deadline is December 1st
UCF (Orlando): Rolling until May 1st
UF (Gainesville): November 1st
UNF (Jacksonville): Recommend Applying early but accept on rolling basis until July 1st
USF (Tampa): Priority Deadline is November 1st. January 1st is priority deadline for financial aid. March 1st is final application deadline.
UWF (Pensacola): Priority Deadline is December 1st. Final application is June 1st.
Transcript Request Procedure
Letters of Recommendation Request Process
FAFSA Opens up October 1st!! Sooner it is completed, the better!
State Scholarship Information for Seniors
Scholarship Resources
Click on the Buttons Below for 2 Resources to Help You Earn Scholarships!
Available Scholarships
Marion County Scholarship Directory
Southeastern Youth Fair Scholarships
Florida Retired Educators Foundation Fund Scholarship
Harold S Schwartz Music Scholarship
Students are urged to APPLY EARLY! Due to COVID-19 precautions, audition schedule positions are limited.
Students eligible to compete for a Harold S. Schwartz Music Scholarship must be graduating seniors from a Lake, Marion or Sumter County High School or Academy, with a minimum grade point average of 3.0. They must be planning to major or minor in music at a college or university of their choice during the following academic year.
Key 2021 Harold S. Schwartz Program dates are:
- Monday, March 1, 2021 - APPLICATIONS DUE
- Saturday, April 3, 2021 - Audition Day in The Villages (Mandatory for Applicants)
- Evening of Thursday, April 22, 2021 - Scholarships awarded in The Villages, FL (Mandatory for Winners)
Florida Association of School Resource Officers
Jose Marti Challenge Grant Fund
Requirements:
• Submit a completed, error-free Florida Financial Aid Application (FFAA) by April 1, 2021 (available October 1, 2020). Applicants will be ranked by their application submission date, if necessary.
• Be of Spanish culture, born in or having a natural parent who was born in either Mexico or a Hispanic country of the Caribbean, Central or South America, regardless of race. Students of the following countries are not considered for an evaluation of this scholarship: Brazil, Spain and Haiti.
• Have earned, by the end of the seventh semester, a minimum unweighted cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale based on subjects credible toward a high school diploma for an undergraduate scholarship, or a 3.0 institutional cumulative GPA for undergraduate college work if applying for a graduate level scholarship. o A prospective undergraduate student must apply during senior year of high school and ensure that either the high school principal or designee certifies online the student’s 7th semester unweighted cumulative GPA to the Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) by a date established by the Florida Department of Education (FDOE). o A prospective graduate student must ensure that an admissions office official at the postsecondary institution the applicant plans to attend certifies the student’s institutional cumulative GPA online to OSFA by a date established by FDOE.
• Demonstrate a minimum of $2,000 in financial need by timely completing and submitting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in time to be processed error-free by the U.S. Department of Education on or before May 15, 2021.
Scholarship Search Engines
Fastweb Scholarship Search Engine: www.fastweb.com
Scholarships 360: scholarships360.org
Big Future Collegeboard Search: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/scholarship-search
How To Contact your Counselor
9th Grade Counselor: Mr. Ecliff Telford Ecliff.telford@marion.k12.fl.us
10th Grade Counselor: Dr. Keyana Lyde Keyana.lyde@marion.k12.fl.us
11th Grade Counselor: Mrs. Shirley Thomas Shirley.thomas@marion.k12.fl.us
12th Grade Counselor: Mrs. Tracy Moody Tracy.moody@marion.k12.fl.us
ESE: Ms. Katherine West Katherine.west@marion.k12.fl.us