College Night 2018

What an awesome night we had here at Vantage this evening. We had our annual College Night and there were at least 48 colleges in attendance. As you can tell from the picture, many students, parents and friends came out to gather information from the various colleges and to speak with the representatives who were here in attendance. This is a tremendous way to help the students make a better and more informed decision regarding their college choice.

Now if you were one of the fortunate students who attended this event tonight, you may be asking "Well what's next?". That is a great question. While you were at the event, some of the colleges may have asked you to fill out an information card if you showed them some interest. If you filled out any cards, then you can expect to hear from them very soon. I also suggest that if you have an interest in a certain college, you should contact them as soon as possible and let them know you spoke with a representative at College night. This would be the time that you also set up a visit. Remember, you have two college visits every year that are not counted against your attendance. After visiting the colleges of your choice, it is then time to make your decision.

If you have decided on a certain college, then immediately fill out their application (be sure to check for deadlines). After you have been accepted, you should be constantly checking your college email that they set up for you. They will be sending you information that sometimes you need to immediately respond to. Again, don't miss any deadlines. The next step would be to fill out your FAFSA, this is your Free Application for Federal Student Aid. You must fill this out if you are attending a college or university. You can not fill out the FAFSA until October 1st. I will be putting on a Financial Aid presentation sometime next week to any interested seniors. If you are interested, please sign up in the student services office. Finally, start filling out scholarships. Please visit our scholarship page located under student services on our website and begin filling out as many scholarships that pertain to you.

As always, if you have any questions on the college process, please stop in and see either Mrs. McConahay or myself in student services.

Food Drive Blitz

The food drive blitz is something we do around Vantage every year at this time but some of our juniors may not be aware of what it is all about. This year the food drive blitz will be held on September 28, 2018 here at Vantage. This is all put together under the direction of Ms. Diane Font and her Medical Office students. The purpose of the food drive is to collect food and other items that we can distribute to the United Way and their annual "Day of Caring". The United Way does so much for our community and for the people of Van Wert. Vantage is proud to be able to have this one day where we really focus on helping out our friends and neighbors. Vantage has always done a fantastic job on collecting items for this drive, and I don't expect this year to be any different. Some of the items that are needed include: Deodorant, Shampoo, Dish Soap, Feminine Products, Laundry Detergent and Toilet Paper. We have posted around the school a complete list of items that are needed. If you have any questions, please see any Medical Office student or Ms. Font.

As I mentioned earlier, Vantage has always done a great job collecting a lot of items. As Ms. Font says, "Vantage students rock and we love our community". So please students, please try to bring something in on Friday, September 28th. Let's show the community how awesome we are! Also, don't forget that the lab with the most items brought in will win a pizza party. Now how awesome is that going to be.

If you are interested in finding out more about our local United Way and what they do around our community, I have attached the link to a short video. While watching the video, please notice two of Vantage's finest: Casey and Hailey. They did a fantastic job in the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKJbDQT6ogM&authuser=0

Thank you Ms. Font and the entire Medical Office students. You make all of this happen.

Student Appreciation Day

Tomorrow, September 14th is our Student Appreciation Day. This is such an exciting day around campus with so many activities going on in the afternoon. Vantage has always used this day to let our students know how much we appreciate them and the fact that they chose Vantage Career Center for their final two years of school. I truly hope that each student here has felt that they are really appreciated by all of our faculty and staff. As I have said before, we realize how hard this was for so many of you to leave familiar and comfortable situations at your home school and select Vantage for your final years of high school.

Just last week I wrote about our fall sports spirit day. It was amazing to see all the athletes that have decided to come to Vantage and still stay active at their home school. I know that is truly a commitment on your part. We appreciate it! The students who spoke with me the first week of school who were scared and were thinking about going back but hung in there and now are enjoying everyday. We appreciate it! The students who switched labs because their first choice wasn't exactly what they were looking for, but they still wanted to stay here at Vantage, so they chose another lab. We appreciate it! I hope you get the message I am conveying. We appreciate each and everyone of you for choosing Vantage. We promise to make your stay here rewarding. If you show up everyday and work hard, you will have an awesome experience.

Like I said earlier, tomorrow will be a busy day. The events will take place shortly after lunch and it looks to be a beautiful day. I always enjoy the car & truck show and look forward to that. We will have refreshments, corn hole, climbing wall, photo booth, bungee run, cards, chess, checkers, Wii dance, wacky trikes, music and more. Please be kind and courteous during this time and enjoy every bit of the entertainment. This is an event that Mrs. Owens and the student ambassadors and other staff have worked very hard to put together. I hope you meet new friends, talk with staff and understand that we are grateful that you chose Vantage. Thanks so much and enjoy!