I got an acceptance letter(s) from

      Eastern Illinois University            University of Illinois @ Chicago  

            Nicole Barrera                                Tierra Russell

             Southern Illinois University @ Edwardsville

                                            Louvenia Williams

February Events

3-4           ACT/PSAE Practice Exam (Small Gym)

5              Counseling Department Professional Development

6              Purdue Calumet Counselor’s Luncheon

12            Holiday

13            No School/Professional Development

16            Holiday

18            Long Advisory (Distribution of PSAE support material)

20            Youth Summit

25            FAFSA Workshop/LADDERUP

Federal Student Financial Aid Deadlines

 The 2009-2010 School Year (July 1^st, 2009 - June 30^th, 2010):

§             FAFSA on the Web applications must be submitted by midnight Central Daylight time, June 30, 2010.

Corrections on the Web forms must be submitted by midnight Central Daylight time, September 15, 2010

Federal Student Aid considers a FAFSA’s receipt date and time to be when the FAFSA/correction is submitted successfully.

TIP: When you submit your FAFSA, be sure to print out the confirmation page and keep it for your records. It contains a confirmation number with the exact date and time (Central Standard Time) the form was received.

The Personal Identification Number (PIN) serves as your electronic signature and provides access to your personal information in various U.S. Department of Education systems. Anyone—including parents of dependent students—who has a valid Social Security Number and is a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen may apply for a PIN. Because you can use your PIN to sign your financial aid documents, you should keep it in a safe place. Do not give or entrust it to anyone, even if that person or organization is helping you fill out your FAFSA.

Before you start the FAFSA process: check your eligibility for federal student aid, apply for a PIN now, gather the documents you need, print a FAFSA on the Web Worksheet, and plan how to sign your FAFSA.

Counseling Touches

                  Div. 108                                               Div. 998

Registration for the Bowen Evening School Program begins                                                                           

March 23, 2009. If you intend to graduate with your class 

but you are missing credits, please register as soon as possible

You will not be allowed to participate in the graduation ceremony          

if you have not satisfied the requirements for graduation which also

include: 40 service learning hours, Driver Education,  Consumer Education, Public Law 95 Test, and the ACT/PSAE.

Need-to-Know Tips & Strategies for the ACT—Thomson Peterson’s

Relax the night before the test                April 22 and 23
Don’t cram. You are being tested on knowledge that you have accumulated over the course of the year. Studying at the last minute will only stress you out. Go to a movie or hang out with a friend—anything to get your mind off of the test!

English

When searching for sentence errors, start by reading the sentence or paragraph carefully, listening for it; usually the word or phrase that contains an error will sound wrong. If none are apparent, look for the four most common types of errors; errors in the relationship between the verb and its subject; pronoun errors; sentence structure errors; and awkwardness, verbosity, and incorrect use of idioms.

Mathematics

As soon as you find the right answer, mark it and move on—there are no “degrees of rightness” to be considered. Marking up diagrams or sketching simple drawings when none are available can help you “see” the answers. The questions generally focus on mathematical reasoning, not your ability to perform calculations’ if you find yourself spending too much time doing figuring, then you’ve probably overlooked a simple shortcut.

Science

40 questions—35 minutes

Seven passages

·          3 passages—Charts and Graphs

Followed by five questions and at least one chart or graph. Usually, there are two or three charts or graphs per passage

·          3 passages—Experiments 

Followed by six questions. Each passage usually has three experiments in it, but that can change

·          1 passage—Fighting Scientists

Followed by seven questions. Your job is to analyze the arguments. The Fighting Scientists passage is usually the only one with meaningful information in the introduction.

·          Skip the introduction on everything else.

·          Skim over the information given, and try to get a basic understanding of what’s going on.

·          Most of the questions will require you to read only a small part of the information presented. The other stuff isn’t important so don’t bother with it until another question asks about it.

You don’t need to know any science to do ACT science. It can help to know a little math.

You need to answer enough questions to get the score you want. This pacing chart will help you determine how many questions (or passages) you need to work on based on the score you want.

If you’re shooting for a 20 on the Science Test, you need about 22 raw points. You’ll work on 23 questions and guess on the remaining 17 questions. Of the 23 you work on, supposing you get 5 of them wrong, you’ll earn 18 raw points from those 23 questions. About ¼, or 4, of your 17 of the guesses will be correct, so you’ll earn another 4 raw points there bringing your total raw score up to 22.

Scholarship Opportunities

Scholarship of the Month (SOTM)

Wentcher Educational Fund Scholarship

Applicants are responsible for gathering and submitting all necessary information. Incomplete applications will not be evaluated. All information received is considered confidential.

• 3.0 or higher GPA and class rank (if available)
• Three letters of recommendation from people outside your family who can attest to your suitability to receive a Wentcher Educational Fund scholarship. At least one of the references should be a teacher or counselor in your high school.
• Typed autobiography (no more than 2 pages)
• Student transcript (unofficial copies will be accepted)
• ACT/SAT scores
• A SAR (Student Aid Report) must be submitted. FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) must be filed. (A SAR will be issued to the student after completion of FAFSA.) All pages of the SAR are due prior to the interview.
• Application acknowledgement letter or letter of acceptance from a college/university.

Applications will be pre-screened by the Postsecondary Scholarship Committee. Finalists will be interviewed by the Wentcher Educational Fund. All applications must reach the Department of College and Career Preparation by end of day on Friday, March 20, 2009.

Scholarship Websites

www.collegeboard.com

www.fastweb.com

www.chooseyourfuture.org