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October Newsletter 2020
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Fruitport High School

October 2020 Newsletter

OCTOBER EVENTS MICHIGAN College Application Month

SMALL GROUP COUNSELING BEGINS

This month the counselors begin small group counseling with students who were selected based on need. The first small group that will run this semester is a Mindfulness group. The Mindfulness group will hit on topics including anxiety, stress management, self-control, and coping skills when dealing with high emotion. Students can sign up by emailing their counselor or by signing up on the google form sent to their email.

CAREER EDUCATION

Fruitport’s career specialist, Stephen Pettifor, will be providing students with valuable weekly lessons on preparing for the workforce. Each month will have the same 4-week outline focusing on a different career field. For October, the career field is HealthCare. The first lesson will cover Employability Skills in HealthCare. The second week provides a lesson on understanding the field of HealthCare as a career. Week three addresses "education and training" in HealthCare. And the last week of the month will provide local employer videos displaying visual tours of the HealthCare field. Please encourage your student to explore these lessons in their email and on our twitter page. These lessons will help them prepare for their future.

APPLICATION SEMINARS 

Students are invited to attend college application seminars in October. Seminars will take place 2nd hour every Thursday and Friday this month. Students must sign up to participate in these seminars. All sign-ups are sent through email. As a reminder, many applications require a student's social security number and a form of payment to apply, so please prepare your student appropriately.  Good news!! In October, some colleges waive the application fee. So, be sure to encourage your student to apply this month.  

COLLEGE EXPLORATION 

This year we have provided the students with a link to view a variety of colleges virtually! These virtual college tours links are available on our website, in your student’s email, or on our Twitter account. Please feel free to join our Twitter page @SchoolFhs for updated information we share with our students. Also, Muskegon Community College will be providing a Virtual College fair where students can visit many other Michigan College campuses on October 19th from 6-9 pm. More information will be sent to your student’s email.  

EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN REQUIREMENT

It's that time of year again for students to begin working in XELLO. XELLO is a great platform for career exploration. XELLO work will be due by December 1. Each grade level is required to complete several steps in this program. Students have been sent direct instructions, including a video, on what to work on. PLEASE encourage your student to work on this each Wednesday at home. Grade level requirements for the EDP can be found on our webpage and in your student’s email.

FINANCIAL AID PARENT MEETING 

All parents are invited to attend this informational meeting on Wednesday, October 21 from 6:00-7:00 PM. This meeting will be in the virtual form. Please email jfinnerty@fruitportschools.net, by October 19, so you can receive an invitation to the virtual event. This meeting will cover valuable Financial Aid information that will help parents understand how to help their students pay for college.  

TRANSCRIPTS 

Seniors are encouraged to begin applying for colleges. Each senior has already set up a parchment account. The parchment service is a service that sends the student’s transcript to their requested post-secondary school for free. Parchment services are free until the fall of the student’s graduation year. A direct link to parchment is located in the student portal and on our school counseling webpage.

COLLEGE APPLICATION MONTH ACTIVITIES 

October is Michigan College Month. In order to amp up our school environment for our college bound students, we will be providing the following events:

  1. Weekly informational flyer sent via email and posted on our twitter account. Topics include: 1- college exploration; 2- transcripts; 3- financial aid; 4- scholarships
  2. Application Seminars - see information above
  3. Financial Aid Parent / Student virtual meeting - see information above
  4. College Gear - students and staff are encouraged to wear college gear Oct. 8 & 9
  5. College Trivia- students compete for college themed prizes Oct. 15 & 16
  6. College Fight songs - during passing times, college fight songs will be played Oct. 22 & 23
  7. College Prep video - a video giving advice about college from staff to students Oct. 29 & 30
  8. Advertise College Signing Day - this will takes place in May
  9. Advertise College Acceptance Letter wall - once a student is accepted, we are asking for a copy of the acceptance letter to be brought to the School Counseling office so we can hang on the “College Acceptance Letter Wall of Fame.”
  10. Each teacher will hang a poster by their classroom to show what college they attended.

VIRTUAL LESSONS

Topics for Virtual Lessons for this month. These can be found in the students email each Wednesday morning.

Wednesday, October 7: How to stay organized with online learning                 

Wednesday, October 14: Mindfulness Activities: coping with anxiety                

Wednesday, October 21: Email Etiquette 101

Wednesday, September 30: Career Planning: EDP checklist for each grade

VIRTUAL COLLEGE SPEAKERS

Students are sent a list of colleges who will be speaking to students virtually. Please encourage your student to sign up for the college of their choice by checking their email.   

CONSENT FOR ELECTRONIC OR VIRTUAL SCHOOL COUNSELING 

Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, there are times throughout the 2020-2021 school year where school counselors support services may be provided through electronic means, such as email, text, phone call, or virtual platforms (including, but not limited to Google Chat/Hangout, Zoom, or other telemental health platforms).

Please read the following:

I understand that the school counselor will do the best of their ability to provide uninterrupted support when meeting student(s) and will make all attempts to limit distractions. I understand that the school counselor cannot ensure or limit distractions in the homes of any participants, and is unable to prevent others in home from overhearing conversations in individual or group sessions.

I understand there are risks, benefits, and consequences associated with electronic or virtual school counseling work support (telemental health support), including, but not limited to disruption of service due to difficulties with technology, interruption and/or breaches of confidentiality by unauthorized persons, and/or limited ability for the school counselor to respond in the event of an emergency or crisis. In the event that communication is interrupted, we will reschedule the session.

I understand that there will be no recording of any online sessions by either party (myself or the student). All information will be kept confidential, except where permitted by law (someone is being hurt or planning to hurt themselves or others).

 

If you do not agree with the following statement, please contact the counselors directly to be sure your child does not participate in telemental health procedures.

As a parent/ guardian of a Fruitport High School student, I allow my student to participate in school counseling support through electronic means, such as email, text, phone call, or virtual platforms (including, but not limited to Google Chat/Hangout, Zoom, or other telemental health platforms). 

For more information on a variety of topics, check out our webpage!