What's Up In StuSup?: January/February Tidings

Academics:

Course registration season is upon us here at SHS. Counselors have already met with sophomores and juniors in first semester Integrated Wellness courses, explaining new courses and discussing how registration will occur. We will be meeting with second semester sophomores and juniors the first week of second semester, and we will be meeting with freshmen the second week of the semester. For students who opted out of Lifetime Wellness, we will hold a series of lunch meetings to discuss registration.

It is important that students and parents/guardians discuss course selection and make choices that are appropriate and of interest to the student; changes can be made in the future under particular circumstances, but a number of important decisions are made initially based on course registration. Ideally, students should tie course selection to academic and career plans. Ask your students to share the results of two career surveys they have taken on Family Connection; they took these surveys their freshmen and sophomore year. If students want to take another career survey, please check out this survey crafted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

On January 31st, students will get information about how to register online. Between the 31st and February 7th, students will need to input their course choices into Infinite Campus. They will receive directions about how to do this in homeroom on January 31st.

Please check out our website to review course options; the updated Curriculum Handbook is available there. A few new courses are available this year, including two block classes that meet for one semester. In Environmental Literature and Science, students will meet for two class periods for a semester, receiving both English and Science credit. In addition, a block class titled Image and Word will give students the opportunity to study social justice movements and earn both an English credit and an Art credit. Finally, if students want to take additional classes outside of SHS, they should see their counselor as soon as possible.

Career/College:

All freshmen took a Career Cluster survey this fall in their American Society class. Career Clusters contain occupations in the same field of work that require similar skills. Students can use Career Clusters to help focus education plans towards obtaining the necessary knowledge, competencies, and training for success in a particular career pathway. Feel free to peruse these results on Family Connection or read more about each Career Cluster on this website created by the federal government.

All sophomores have or will take (second semester in Team Concepts) another Career Interest Survey based on the research of John Holland, a well respected psychologist who created six codes that matched interests to careers. Holland's research into vocational choices has largely withstood the test of time and can be a good indicator of careers students may be interested in as they progress towards graduation. In this survey, students answer approximately 180 questions that ask them to imagine doing various tasks (building cabinets, studying weather patterns, etc.). Once complete, students get a Holland code, three letters that represent different types of careers. They also receive a list of potential careers that may be of interest, categorized by educational level. Students can then research various careers, discovering typical daily tasks, job growth expectations, and average salaries. Again, feel free to peruse these results with your child on Family Connection. If you want to learn more about Holland codes, check out this handout from the University of Missouri.

Juniors have or will complete (second semester in Lifetime Wellness) a college search (for those students who opted out of Lifetime, we held lunch sessions to go over this content), as well as build a resume of all activities, extracurriculars, and work/volunteer experiences completed in high school (this can be used for colleges, jobs, and for requesting letters of recommendation here at SHS in May 2018). The college search is completed within Family Connection; students are able to designate specific traits they desire a college to have (location, size, type of university, etc.), and the program provides matches for the student. The student can then research the college on Family Connection and save colleges of interest.

Junior conferences, the hour long conference between counselors, students, and their parents/guardians, are nearly complete. These are important conferences that discuss a number of topics, including but not limited to post-secondary options, college fit, the application process, financial aid, and scholarships. If you have not completed this process, feel free to reach out to your child's counselor.

Seniors continue to receive ongoing support as they apply to colleges and examine financial aid options, as well as consider career entry or other post-secondary options. Most meetings are informal, but counselors continue to check in on their seniors as they near they end of their high school career. We love to hear about acceptance letters!

Testing Updates

All juniors will take the ACT and the ACT WorkKeys in February. In compliance with the 2011 Assembly Bill 40 Act 20 and the 2013-15 biennial state budget, Wisconsin will assess high school students in 9th, 10th, and 11th grades beginning with the 2014-2015 school year. 11th grade students will take the ACT Plus Writing during school hours on the morning of Tuesday, February 27, as well as the ACT WorkKeys Assessment on the morning of Wednesday, February 28. These tests will begin at 8:05 am on February 27th. All juniors are automatically registered for this free test; no additional registration is required. The ACT will be administered in small groups in classrooms with multiple teacher proctors. The ACT WorkKeys will be administered in the arena.

Students can access national ACT and SAT test dates at www.collegeboard.com (SAT), and
/or www.actstudent.org (ACT) if they plan to register for additional tests.

9th and 10th grade students will be taking the ACT Aspire in April. This test is meant to predict an ACT score, as well as measure academic achievement. More information to come!

Finally, students in AP (Advanced Placement) courses will have the opportunity to register for AP tests (which run from May 7-May 17) between February 21 and March 7. The cost, per test, will be $98. More information will be sent via Infinite Campus to parents/guardians, and students will receive registration information in their AP courses.

Personal/Social:

Counselors often work with students one-on-one to discuss social, emotional, and personal problems. We embrace a solutions focused approach that helps students consider strengths and determine workable solutions. We also frequently collaborate with outside therapists to ensure students can be successful at SHS.

We have worked or will work (second semester) with both freshmen and sophomore Integrated Wellness classes to discuss the Department of Public Instruction's "Signs of Suicide" curriculum, which helps students recognize warning signs; we also discuss common mental health afflictions, including anxiety and depression.

Please reach out to your child's counselor if you have any questions concerning mental health.

Recent News:

Check out this article from the New York Times concerning increasing anxiety among youth.

A line from the article:
"Jake learned mindfulness techniques, took part in art therapy and equine therapy and, most important, engaged in exposure therapy, a treatment that incrementally exposes people to what they fear. The therapists had quickly figured out that Jake was afraid of failure above all else, so they devised a number of exercises to help him learn to tolerate distress and imperfection."

An interesting article about Smartphone usage and increasing depression from the Washington Post.

Finally, a post concerning the push for rigor from some elite colleges.

A line from the article:
"The study found a strong correlation between students taking up to five college-level courses in high school and their first-year grade point average. More college-level courses -- up to five -- yielded higher academic performance in college. For students taking six or more college-level courses, gains in first-year GPA were marginal or even negative."