Guidance BLAST A Publication of the Roncalli High School Guidance Department

October 20, 2011

ALL STUDENTS Second Quarter: Second quarter has begun and it gives all students the opportunity to re-evaluate their academic effort that was demonstrated during the first quarter. Is there an area of concern? Are you spending enough time on homework? Are you completing homework? Are you using your Rebel Day Planner? Are you preparing for tests prior to the night before the test? Have you talked with your teacher about concepts that you do not understand? Give yourself a fresh start second semester. Prepare and Review. Review and Prepare nightly. If you need some study techniques, talk with your teacher first but remember that your counselor is at RHS to assist you in becoming academically successful. Have a great second quarter. Coming Soon! Paying for College Presentation: Roncalli High School will sponsor two financial aid information sessions over the next few months. All families in grades 9-12 are welcome to participate in these unique opportunities. Additional programs include: November 15 Paying for College by Tricia Poplicean of Eli Lilly Credit Union December 5 A review of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by Marilee Taylor of IUPUI Both programs begin at 7:00 p.m. in the RHS auditorium and the presenters received many compliments from those in attendance. Baking Contests: If you are a student (or parent) who likes to bake, you might consider submitting a recipe for any/all of the following contests. www.marthawhite.com (muffin contest using a Martha White product) www.BettyCrocker.com/mixitupwith Betty http://www.conterstcook.com/ http://midwestliving.com/mwl/file.jsp?item=/contests/MWL_RecipeContest/MWL-RecipeContest0610&ordersrc=google1contestcooking (This is all one site!) Writing Contests: http://homeworktips.about.com/od/essaywriting/tp/2009contests.htm Engineering Poster Contest: The Engineering Education Service Center announces its Civil Engineering Poster Contest. Posters should be motivational, fun and inspirational to students encouraging them to pursue a degree in civil engineering, technology, math and/or a science career. The deadline is Nov. 4 and there are three monetary prizes. For more information: www.engineeringedu.com/contest.htm NEXTRANS Announces School Essay Competition: The NEXTRANS Center at Purdue University is sponsoring a high school essay competition. The contests goal is to encourage students to consider how integral transportation is to the future of Indiana and our nation, and potentially interest them in transportationrelated careers and/or higher education in the field. NEXTRANS is seeking articulate and well-researched essays of up to 1500 words on the following topic: What factor(s) do you think will most affect the future of transportation in Indiana and across the nation? The deadline for submitting an essay is December 9, 2011. For more information: http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/nextrans/news/view.php?id=1058

Voice of Democracy Speech Contest: The Voice of Democracy Program is open to students in grades 9-12, who are enrolled in a public, private or parochial high school or home study program in the United States and its territories. Students should first draft their essay based on the 2011-2012 theme: "Is There Pride in Serving in Our Military?" Students should then record their reading of the draft to a CD. The recording should be no shorter than 3 minutes and no longer than 5 minutes (plus or minus 5 seconds). Entries begin at the Post level. Once the student has created their essay and completed burning the audio version to a CD, they should submit their typed version, CD and the Voice of Democracy entry form to their local participating VFW Post no later than November 1, 2011. Please consult the website for more information: http://www.vfw.org/Community/Voice-of-Democracy/ Young Authors Writing Contest: Sponsored by the Columbia College in Chicago this competition is open to all high school students. Students can submit entries in the following categories: fiction, creative nonfiction and playwriting. The guidelines and entry forms are available at http://www.colum.edu/Academics/Fiction_Writing/YA/YA12 The deadline for submit the entries (electronic only) runs between November 21, 2011 and January 16, 2011. There is also a brief informational handout in the guidance carousel. The National Youth Leadership Forum offers summer programs on Medicine, Law and CSI, and National Security. There is a fee for the program but students who have attended in the past found the programs to be quite informative. For additional information please consult their website: http://www.nylf.org/ Need tutoring? Go an online to access a tutor from 4 p.m. 10 p.m. seven days a week. Getting help is easy. Just go to www.imcpl.org and click on "Homework Help". You can even set it up on your phone with Tutor.com to Go. Homework Help: 1-877-ASK-ROSE Teen Film Festival: Creating Movie Magic: The festival will be held Nov. 10 at 7:00 p.m. in the Greenwood High Schools auditorium. Area teens in grades 9-12 must submit their entries by Oct. 28. Guidelines for the categories are available in the media center from Mrs. Anderson. The categories include documentary, feature film, music video, and book trailer. Monetary prizes/gift cards will be awarded. Visit the Teen Film Festival online at www.greenwoodlibrary.us/teenfilmfestival.asp Additionally, the Greenwood library will host workshops on script writing, filming, and video editing throughout the year. DePaul University in Chicago is now test-optional. This means that students interested in applying do not need to submit their ACT or SAT scores to be considered for admission. In lieu of the test scores, students will submit answers to a number of open-ended essay questions. For more information: http://depaul.edu/testoptional Open Houses at Indiana Institutions: Registration is required. Franklin College: Oct. 29 www.admissions.franklincollege.edu/visit-franklin Hanover College: Oct. 29 www.hanover.edu/admission/visits Manchester College: Oct. 28 visit@manchester.edu or 800-852-3648 Purdue University: Oct. 27 www.purdue.edu/Admissions/Undergrad/Visit_Programs/Schedule_a_visit.html Rose-Hulman: Oct. 28 & Nov. 11 www.rose-hulman.edu/admissions/form/CampusDay/ Univ. Southern Indiana: Oct. 29 www.usi.edu/admissn/visit.asp DePauw Univ.: Nov. 5 www.depauw.edu/admission/visit/events/preview-days.asp Manchester: Nov. 5 & Nov. 19 www.manchester.edu/admissions/visit/index.htm

Univ. Evansville: Nov. 5 St. Marys College: Nov. 7 & 13 Indiana State Univ.: Nov. 11 Univ. St. Francis: Nov. 12 Univ. Southern Indiana: Nov. 12 Valparaiso Univ.: Nov. 12 Vincennes University: Nov. 18 & 19

www.evansville.edu/visit/openhouse.cfm www3.saintmarys.edu/special-programs www1.indstate.edu/admissions/sycamore-previews.htm www.sf.edu/visit or 800-729-4732 (Health Careers Day) www.usi.edu/admissn/visit.asp www.valpo.edu/visit/

www.vinu.edu/cms/opencms/future_students/visit_us/prevu.html#axzz1TVISbLVI Open Houses at out-of-state Institutions: Registration is required. Belmont University (TN): Nov. 5 www.belmont.edu/prospectivestudents/visiting/previewday/ Spalding University (KY): Nov. 5 admissions@spalding.edu St. Louis University (MO): Nov. 5 www.slu.edu/x23885.xml Palm Beach Atlantic (FL): Nov. 10-11 www.pba.edu/open-house Kettering University (MI): Nov. 12 admissions.kettering.edu/visit Xavier University (OH): Nov. 13 www.xavier.edu/undergraduate-admission/visit-xavier/index.cfm Thomas More College (KY): Nov. 19 www.thomasmore.edu/admissions/open_house_registration.cfm University of Dayton (OH): Nov. 19 www.udayton.erdu/admission/visit_options.php Robert Morris University (IL) offers a Week-end Away for Out of State Students Friday, Nov. 11 and Sat., Nov. 12. RBU offers nursing; art and design; culinary arts; technology & media; business administration; and liberal arts programs. www.rmu.edu Stevenson University in Maryland offers academic course work with practical, hands-on application and experiences. Mentoring by faculty (including the president of the University) is a mark of a Stevenson education. Top programs include nursing; business administration; biology; criminal justice; psychology; visual communication design; computer information systems; accounting; elementary education; and film, video, and theatre. Additionally, they have just added fashion design, a marching band, and a football team. For more information: admissions@stevenson.edu Open house dates include Oct. 29, Nov. 19. Students should register online to attend at: visit.stevenson.edu SENIORS, JUNIORS, and SOPHOMORES: Upcoming representatives include: Oct. 26Bethel College at 8:00 Oct. 26University of Kentucky at 2:00 (This is a rescheduled date.) Oct. 28--Belmont University (TN) at 1:15 Nov. 2University of St. Francis at 8:30 Nov. 3High Point University (NC) Nov. 7University of Arizona at 1:30 Nov. 21Western Michigan University at 8:30 Dec. 5--Rochester Institute of Technology (NY) at 8:00 We the Living Essay Contest: Sophomores, juniors, and seniors are invited to submit an essay on the novel, We the Living, written by Ayn Rand. Three topics are presented and students only need to select one topic to write on after reading the novel. More information and the participation rules can be found at: http://essaycontest.aynrandnovels.com/WeTheLiving.aspx?theme=blue The deadline for submitting essays (800-1600 words) is May 5, 2012. There is a $3,000 grand prize plus additional monetary prizes. SENIORS:

SENIORS--DEADLINES APPROACHING Have you applied to any college or university yet? Do you know that Nov. 1 is a major deadline for applications and priority consideration for scholarships at many universities? If you miss the initial deadline date, you will not be considered for many of these scholarships. Be sure that you apply soon and give your counselor plenty of time to complete her portion of the application prior to the Nov. 1 deadline. All parts of the application must be submitted by the November 1st deadline. If you have questions or are having difficulties, please contact your counselor. Brown Fellows Program: Centre College and the University of Louisville co-sponsor the Brown Fellows Program that allows interested students (in either institution) to build an open-ended academic adventure beginning the summer before the freshman year in college. All academic costs (tuition, room & board, and summer enrichment) are fully covered. Students with strong leadership, academic excellence, and a sense of adventure are considered for this program. For more information: www.brownfellows.org or call 502-8961157. Students must apply to either Centre College or the University of Louisville to be considered. JUNIORS AND SENIORS: Career Fair will take place the morning of Friday, November 4, 2011. Students will be released to attend the Career Fair according to their class year and portion of the alphabet. ALL juniors and seniors are encouraged to attend, regardless of their career interests. Students can use this opportunity to learn more about the specific careers presented, to practice networking skills, and to simply broaden their knowledge of different professions - just for the purpose of knowing more about their world. Please check out the other document attached in this email for details about the professions and professionals participating in the Career Fair. CAREER FAIR 2011 SCHEDULE: Period 1 Period 2 Prayer Period 3 Period 4 7:30-8:19 8:24-9:13 9:13-9:16 9:21-10:10 10:15-11:04 9:21-Dismiss Seniors-Bryce Opel Molly Zobel 9:46-Dismiss Juniors-James Agresta Derek Gibbs 10:15-Dismiss Juniors Christina Gillenwater Casey Mouser 10:40-Dismiss Juniors-Tyler Muffen Nadia Zunarelli Speakers will set up their booths. 8:24-Dismiss Seniors-Nick Ader Lindsay Gough 8:49-Dismiss Seniors- Brooke Grannan Jacob Ohler

Scholarship Presentation: The Marion County Public Library will host two evening presentations on scholarships. The Warren branch (9701 E. 21st Street) will host the presentation on November 2 from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. while the Eagle branch (3325 Lowry Road) presentation is scheduled for November 17, 2011 from 6:00-7:00 p.m. Interested families do not need to pre-register. Panelists for the presentations include representatives from Indiana Dollars for Scholars, IUPUI Office of Student Scholarships, La Plaza, Inc., Sociedad de Amigos de Colombia (SADCO), and the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). For additional information, please call 275-4008. JUNIORS: Loyola University-Chicago: LUC will offer a Junior Open House (Rambler Day) on Oct. 29, 2011 on campus in Chicago. Interested families must pre-register @ LUC.edu/visit

FRESHMEN and SOPHOMORES: Anthem Essay Contest: Freshmen and sophomores are invited to submit an essay on the novel, Anthem, written by Ayn Rand. Three topics are presented and students only need to select one topic to write on after reading the novel. More information and the participation rules can be found at: http://essaycontest.aynrandnovels.com/Anthem.aspx?theme=blue The deadline for submitting essays (800-1600 words) is March 20, 2012. There is a $2,000 first prize plus additional monetary prizes. FRESHMEN: Math Study Tips: 1. You can't learn math just by reading and listening. Much of math learning involves actively doing. This means that you must do all of your math homework and assignments. This is essential to learning how to use formulas and procedures.
2.

Math is a sequential subject. What is taught on a given day is based upon what was taught before. Once you fall behind, it is very difficult to catch up. Cramming at the last minute will not help you. Be certain to attend every class and keep up with your teacher. Math is a difficult subject that becomes increasingly complex. You may have to spend more study time on this subject than on your other subjects. Don't try to memorize your way through math. There are simply too many formulas and procedures. Try to master the key concepts. This will reduce the amount of information you will need to remember. If you are having difficulty mastering the concepts, contact your teacher as soon as you begin to struggle or do not answer concepts! A few moments spent with your teacher can mean the difference in math.

3. 4. 5.