Ms. Kennon's Chem 1 Parent Update
September 21, 2014
Just a Note:
I enjoyed seeing several of you at Open House last week and want to encourage all of you to contact me anytime. I firmly believe that the best interest of the student is met when the parents and the teacher work together as a team to guide the student as he or she navigates high school and makes post-secondary plans.
I am at school most days until at least 4:00, usually later. Please encourage your child to come by and get help if they are confused about or struggling with anything we are working on in class.
College and Career:
I'm a bit passionate about talking to students about their preparations for life after high school. One of the things I would like to do from time to time is post helpful information and sometimes links on my newsletter to articles about college and career planning that will be helpful to you in this process. It's never too early to start planning for their future!
One thing that many parents and students may not be aware of is that there are quite a few scholarships available for students to apply for before their senior year. I encourage you and your child to utilize scholarship search engines like FastWeb or Scholarships.com.
Also, Governor's School for Entrepreneurs is an excellent program for which students in grades 9-12 may apply. Check out the program at http://kentuckygse.com/ . Along the same lines, it is also time for sophomores to start thinking about applying to programs like Rogers' Scholars http://centeryouthprograms.com/rogers-scholars/ and for juniors to consider the Governor's Scholars Program http://gsp.ky.gov/ . Both sophomores and juniors can apply to the Governor's School for the Arts http://www.kentuckygsa.org/ . The applications for these programs have varying due dates and some have to go through a committee at school prior to being sent to the admissions commitee for the program. Check with the guidance office for more information on these wonderful opportunities for our students. They all look great on college applications and some of them are linked to automatic scholarships at several colleges and universities.
Read this article written by a college admissions officer on what colleges are actually looking for when they comb through the applications: http://daily.swarthmore.edu/2014/09/11/admissions-spotlight-zarinah-james-on-holistic-admissions/
Upcoming Events:
I am tentatively planning a quiz either Thursday or Friday of this week. I want to wait to make that decision after I make an assessment of how they are doing during class on Monday and Tuesday.
Once again, I will be putting videos on Edmodo along with some extra practice problems. Please encourage your child to utilize this resource. I have had several who are using it ask me to continue because they find it very beneficial.
Also, please encourage them to study a little each evening. Studying for 30 minutes to an hour each day over a number of days is much more beneficial for sustained learning and promotes a less-stressed test environment than "cramming" the night before.