The Final Stretch

I don't know how many of you have checked out the school calendar lately but we are officially one week away from the end of the 3rd quarter. If you are like me, that is really amazing. Wow! What happened and how did it happen so fast. Doesn't it seem like we just arrived here on campus and started the new school year? Then all of a sudden we looked up and it was Christmas break. I hope all of you were paying attention at the beginning of the year when I told you at the orientation session that this year was going to fly by for all of you. Oh I'm sure there are some of you who would think that the year dragged by and it is still going by slow. However, you will be the student's that come back to visit and say how you wish you were back in school and you didn't realize how much fun you had here. It happens all the time. Well the important thing is that you finish up strong. I have a few suggestions for the seniors and juniors.

SENIORS: This is it. You are now in your very last quarter of your high school career. What started for many of you over 12 or 13 years ago is coming to an end. If you are heading out into the work force and are currently on Early Placement, you should be letting your employer know when you will be graduating and when you will be available to start for them full time. If you haven't settled on a job yet then you should be working with your instructor, program supervisor or myself to make some connections that will get you started in your career. If you are heading on to higher education, then you should have already applied to the school of your choice and finished your FAFSA. You should also continue filling out scholarships (click here for scholarships). Remember to check back with the college often to see if there is any more information they need or deadlines that you have to meet. Please remember, if you have any questions you can always stop by my office. Finally, as I stated earlier, finish strong. Don't let "Senioritis" set in. That means working hard in all your classes right up to the end, keep up your attendance and leave a good lasting impression with all the teachers and staff here at Vantage. Remember, the colleges do contact us if they have questions for admittance and you may be using some of us as references for future employment. Good luck the rest of this year and enjoy the place, the friends and the memories.

JUNIORS: Well in almost nine weeks, you will be the Seniors here at Vantage. You have been a great class and we look forward to seeing all of you next year. Probably some time next week, I will be talking to you about next years schedule, so you can start thinking about what classes you will be taking. You can take a look at our course list here (I will have this completely updated some time today). I would also advise you to sign up for the next ACT test which is April 18th. The registration date for that test is March 13th, go to www.actstudent.org to sign up. You should also be thinking about which colleges you would like to attend after graduation and schedule a visit for some time this summer. Even if you aren't considering going to college, at least investigate it, you might just find that it is something that you can do. Above everything else, work hard in all your classes. If you have had really good grades the first three quarters, you don't want to ruin your GPA by slacking off the last quarter. If you have struggled the first three quarters, then work hard to raise your grades and boost your final GPA. When you begin filling out scholarships next year, your GPA will be very important. Also remember that you may be considering Early Placement next year and that you must have an "A" or "B" in your lab your junior year, no disciplines, 95% attendance rate and acceptable grades in your academics. Very soon we will be selecting our student ambassadors for next year and your leadership around the school will stand out to the committee. Finally, as I have mentioned to the seniors, I not only want you to work hard right up to the end, but I also want you to enjoy the rest of your junior year. You are the future leaders around Vantage and we look forward to 2015-2016.