Your Founding Year: the 9th grade

HOW TO KEEP CALM & CARRY ON TO SUCCESS AT WISS

First, remember to . . .

“None of us is as smart as all of us.”

-Japanese Proverb

There is no such thing as too many questions.

Your Team:• Your Teachers and the 9th Grade Academy• Your School Counselors• Your Principals and Leaders• Wiss Links, SAP and Student Ambassadors

Listen: to YouAdvise: on School Explore: Careers Find: Colleges

Where is the guidance department?

• A HALL (front of the building)• Between Square Gym and the Main Office• Look for the College Pennants

and . . . .

Online!

Follow us on Twitter @WissHSGuidanceLike us on Facebook: Wissahickon High School Guidance

Who’s who in the Guidance Department:

9th Grade: Support Specialist:

Mrs. Samit (That’s me )Mrs. Wolfert

10th-12th Grade: a-d: Ms. Perrotta e-ki: Mrs. Reavy

kj-q: Mr. Cappa r-z: Mrs. Glover

College & Career:Ms. Anderson

Guidance Secretaries: Mrs. Glennon Mrs. Lawver

More aboutMrs. Wolfert:

Our Support Specialist• Mrs. Wolfert

• Sees students individually• And in groups• Leads No Place for Hate• Runs our school wide Mentor Program:

• Wiss Links• Keeps office hours: Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays• B02

• between K hall and the upper cafeteria• Look for the board with the Sun

How to request a guidance appointment:

• Come to the Guidance Suite in A Hall• Fill out a small yellow appointment • request form

• Drop the form in the silver bucket

• Within 1-2 school days, you will receive a pass to see your school counselor

Next:

Dream big, be brave, look ahead:

Navigate with

What is?

• Career and College Exploration at your finger tips

• Comprehensive• Career interest questionnaires• Advise• And the “how to’s” of

• Career preparation• College planning.

• It is the Cadillac of College and Career Search Engines. It is awesome, like you;

and Navigator.He’s awesome too.

How to Log on to Naviance and get started:

Visit the WHS Guidance Page and Click on Naviance under the College or Careers Tabs or simply Google:

FAMILY CONNECTION – NAVIANCE / WISSAHICKONWWW.CONNECTION.NAVIANCE.COM/WISSAHICKON

• enter your email & password….or…student id

• set up your account

Do all this whilecontinuing to:

Your First Career is this one: being a Student

• Your Grades read like a resume:• All colleges and most employers review to see

• How much you challenge yourself • Your level of success in high school

• They read your Transcript:

• The summary of your grades and credit earned• It shows employers and colleges your grade point

average (GPA)• a calculated average of all your grades

• Each final letter grade earned for the year• Your test scores and more

How your transcript may appear:

If nothing else,

Graduating: It is all about the CREDITSEnglish 4.0Social Studies 4.0Mathematics* 3.0/4.0Science* 3.0/4.0Wellness (9th Grade) 1.0Physical Education 1.0Health 0.5Graduation Project 0.8Electives (including World Language) 10.0 .

Total needed: 26.80

* Need a total of 7.0 credits between math/science

With credits in mind,here’s how to

• Step 1For each classMultiply each Grade x the # of Quality Points{ Quality Points Chart}

A=4 B=3

C=2 D=1 F=0Step 2Divide the # of quality pointsby the total # of credits Quality Points/# of Credits

How to Calculate Your Grade Point Average (GPA):

An Example:Grade 94x 1=44x 0.5=24x 0.5=23x1=34x1=44x1=43x1= 34 x1= 4

Total Quality Points= 26

Total Credits= 7.0

26/7= 3.71 Grade Point Average

Not all classes count for the same amount of credit:- Full year core classes like math and English count for 1.0 credit-Semester electives like creative writing & public speaking count for 0.5 credit-An “A” in a semester class is not equal to an “A” in a full year class

1) When you take an honors class:If you earn a “c” or above in that course,

then you multiply 0.05 x the quality points for that course to help calculate your weighted gpa.

2) When you take an AP (advanced placement) class: If you get a “c” or above in that course,

then you mulptily 0.10 x the quality points.

You also have a Weighted GPA:

Note the unweighted gpa v weighted gpa:

AN EXAMPLE:

Unweighted GPA= 3.71

Add in 4 Honors classes:3.71 + 4 (0.05) = 3.91- Weighted GPA

“It is not that I am so smart.

It’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

- Albert Einstein

Never give up. Persevere.Believe in yourself. We believe in you.

Our Expectations:Set your own standards above.Raise your hand.Ask questions-stay after class if you don’t

feel comfortable to ask in classUse your agenda book.Never give up. Believe in yourself.Turn in your homework.Study—how do you learn best?

Flash cards, writing things over again, quizzing yourself, study group

Ask for helpfrom your teacherfrom the STARS program

Make mistakes and learn from them.Get involved: sports, clubs, activities!!

How Grades and Studying pay at Wiss:

Distinguished Scholarship Roll:All “A”s and may have a “B” in one Honors or AP course

Scholarship Roll:All “A”s and “B”s and may have one “C” in one Honors or

AP course

*for either, you must earn at least a “B” in physical education

National Honor Society: See the club’s Moodle page for further up-to-date eligibility and application guidelines

Scholarship: having an unweighted GPA of 3.5 or higher at the end

of the Sophomore or Junior year.

Service: having generally participated in school activities throughout

the high school career. (some provisions- outside activites)

Leadership: is not based on the holding of offices but on the

efficiency of duties performed.

Character: is not based on mere personality but a definite pattern of

behavior

An honor such as NHS requires three categories of involvement atSchool (teamwork, service, and personal interests).-------------------------A school that caresabout each othergrows together:

A B C At Least one "Team" At Least one of "Service-Oriented" At least one of "Student Interest"

Baseball Manager of Sports Team Asian Studies

Basketball S.T.A.R.S. Tutoring Art Club

Cheerleading Freshman Class Committee Aura

Cross Country Sophomore Class Committee Computer Club

Field Hockey Junior Class Committee Foreign Exchange Club

Football Senior Class Committee Future Teachers of America

Lacrosse Student Council Horticulture Club

Outdoor Track & Field Key Club Math Club

Marching Unit Interact Great Books

Musical Wiss Pals GSA-Gay, Straight Alliance

Stage Crew Ambassadors Club-10th/11th CASA

Robotics Health Careers Club

Soccer Car Club

Softball S.A.D.D

Swimming Ambassadors Club-9th

Tennis TV Club

Volleyball Jewish Studies Club

Water Polo Hip Hop Club

Winter Track Amnesty International

Wrestling FANS

Ilium - Yearbook Quiz Bowl

Fall Drama WTV Club

Golf

Debate & Speech Club

FBLA

Trojan Times

Jazz Ensembles

Pit Orchestra

Symphony Orchestra

Outside Service Accepted (with documentation for each year high school

participation (9th-10th grade))

Outside Service Accepted (with documentation for each year high

school participation (9th-10th grade))

Gymnastics teams Girls Scouts

Ice Hockey Team Boy Scouts

Ice Skating Team

Dancing

BALANCING ACT:SCHOOL & ACTIVITIES

WHAT DO I DO IF I AM FEELING STRESS?

“In times of trouble, look for the helpers.”- fred rogers

Tell someone; look for the helpers:-Your favorite teacher-Your school counselors (Mrs. Samit, Mrs. Wolfert)- Your mentor (through Wiss Links)- Student Assistance (SAP)- Your family- STARS tutoring

and remember . . . .

Be Awesome! You teach your teachers as much as we teach you.

A Message from Kid President(youtube, accessed 9/9/2014)