Synopsis of Second College Chat for 9^th Grade Parents

Helping Students Stand Out:

Focusing On Community Service, Leadership and Summer Opportunities

Jeanne Marie Peet, College Counselor, began the presentation (held Tuesday morning, January 12^th) and spoke to parents concerning the importance of leadership positions and the role they play in college admissions. She emphasized that not all students can be ELECTED to leadership positions…everyone cannot be student body president; however, there are many other student leadership opportunities. Students can show leadership through academics, athletics, the arts, and community service.

Leadership opportunities at Prep are abundant. There are over 40 different activities in which students can become involved. Jeanne Marie stressed that colleges do not want students to participate in a “laundry list” of activities. Rather, colleges are looking for students who choose a couple of activities and really excel in these activities. This shows commitment and perseverance…two really great leadership qualities.

Carolyn Sisk, Director of Academics, spoke next about summer school classes that will be offered this summer. Some students choose to attend summer school to get a jump start on academics for the following school year. Some summer classes that will be offered this summer are as follows: Drivers Ed; Geometry; 10^th, 11^th, and 12^th grade History; Advanced Biology; Classical Philosophy; and Computer Applications. This is by no means an exhaustive list.

If a student is interested in taking summer school, he should sign up for courses as soon as the application is received. Carolyn did remark that many of the summer courses fill up quickly.

Becky Walker, Senior High Counselor, spoke about the many different summer opportunities in which students can participate. There are many summer camps, leadership, and scholars programs available to students. The Senior High Counselors are delighted to help students find programs of personal interest. Becky invited students and parents to visit the counseling office in the high school to get more information on these opportunities.

Anne Duncan, Director of Community Service, concluded the College Chat sharing information about the importance of community service in the life of the student as well as for college admission. Colleges are looking for students who have not simply shown up at an event to serve in some capacity. Rather, colleges want to see where a student has developed some type of service program on their own. Serving at organized events is great, and students should participate in such; however, if a student really wants to be competitive for scholarships, they should turn their passion in to some sort of service opportunity. Furthermore, when students are serving in the community, Anne recommended that they keep a journal of their thoughts concerning their service. She stated that scholarship committees really like this sort of thing, and it makes students stand out to the scholarship committee members.