Transcripts, Scholarships, and Common Application Bootcamp

Hello, folks.

Right now I'm thoroughly enjoying working with seniors on college essays. I've got 10 seniors in our first college essay workshop. Personal essay topics by this group include a cliff jump, a passion for teaching, the movie Yuma at 3:10, Tiananmen Square, Pigskin Camp, the Broadway Wicked and a sixth grade musical, an art project, Sylvia from Jewett's "A White Heron", and a blown cover in a Pakistani music store.

I've loved sharpening the edges of every student's essay!

Okay a few "house keeping" items.

2008 graduate parents. All final Casady transcripts have been sent to every college that students are matriculating to in the fall. So relax.

New senior students and parents: This is a good time to research for scholarships. I'd encourage you to probe and explore the following scholarship web sites:


FastWeb: http://www.fastweb.com/.
Scholarships.com: http://www.scholarships.com/
College Board: apps.collegeboard.com/cbsearch_ss/welcome.jsp
eFinancialAid.com: http://www.efinancialaid.com/
ScholarshipExperts: http://www.scholarshipexperts.com/
StudentScholarshipSearch: http://www.studentscholarshipsearch.com/
CollegeNETMach25Scholarship Search: http://www.collegenet.com/mach25/appp

Also high school parents. Many parents have called to ask about the new GPA system. When will we see what our child's new "weighted GPA" is? The answer: I'm not sure. We have some mathematical and logistical changes we have to make. So it could be August. Sorry folks, you'll just have to be patient. I could try and convert your child's GPA for you, but I got a C in Business Algebra in college.

Finally, senior parents and students. MARK YOUR CALENDER FOR AUGUST 4th!

We're going to offer the 1st ever "Common Application Boot camp." That's right. We're going to open up the computer labs (exact locations yet to be determined) for sessions in the morning, afternoon, and early evening session. Each session will go for 3 hours. Mr. Bottomly (newly appointed director), Mr. Hoven (newly appointed college counselor), and Mrs. Cockrum (our amazing registrar!) will be on site to lead you step by step through the common application, answer questions, offer suggestions, help organize your information, proofread essays. And don't worry about two things. The cost. The workshop is FREE. And fall athletics. We're already coordinating with Coach B and coaches to ensure every senior athlete gets a chance to attend one of the boot camps.

We will send out an official letter to all seniors to provide specific instructions about information you will need to bring to complete the application (parent's information, social security, an edrive with essays saved, etc.)

We're hoping for 75% senior participation. It'll be awesome! So put in your iPod. Be there!