GHS SENIOR Newsletter

Welcome to your last year of high school! You have worked hard to reach this point, but the work is not over yet. It will be a busy year, but be sure to enjoy it!

In case you haven't met me yet, I am Mrs. Page, your school counselor. I am looking forward to a great year and hope you are as well! These newsletters are meant to improve our communication so that you don't miss out on important events and news.

The information in these newsletters is subject to change. Be sure to listen to announcements and check your school e-mail daily for updates. If you do not yet have your school email and Google Classroom set up on your cell phone, I highly recommend you do that. I will try to keep you informed with the latest information. If you have any questions, please contact me at

kpage@grovetonisd.net OR 936-642-1473 extension 8119

There is also lots of information and many resources posted on my school website: https://www.grovetonisd.net/counselorscorner/hs

There are many options for after high school- 4-year universities, junior colleges, trade schools, certificate programs, internships, or entering the workforce. Remember, everyone has different skills, interests, and goals, so be sure that your plan aligns with your own talents and goals. I talk a lot about college, but if you have questions about trade schools, etc., ASK!

Get involved! U.I.L. activities, BETA Club, Student Council, FCCLA, FCA, etc. are fun, rewarding, and look great on applications! On applications, they show your leadership and time management skills as well as specific areas in which you excel.

Start your resume and update it frequently. This will help you remember all of your activities and achievements and ensure you are ready for job, college, and scholarship applications as they come. You will need to give teachers a resume when you ask them to write you letters of recommendation.

If you want to know more about college in general, http://www.collegeforalltexans.com/index.cfm?objectid=630430A7-DF46-DC9C-FA99030E5CE7CC77 is a good resource.

You get two "free" College Visit Days this year, but you must complete the form and communicate with the front office. If you need College Day Forms and/or copies of your transcript, please come see me!

See the listed UIL coach for more information on how to get involved in Academic UIL:

Science & Robotics- Mrs. Hannah

Accounting, Computer Applications, & Computer Science- Mrs. Antley

Persuasive & Informative Speaking- Prof. Shelton

Spelling- Mrs. Adams

Calculator Applications- Mrs. Riley

Mathematics- Ms. Andrews

Number Sense & Cross X Debate- Mrs. Moore

Lincoln-Douglas Debate- Mr. Gentry & Mrs. Moore

Congress- Mrs. Ecord & Mrs. Moore

One Act Play, UIL Film, & Theater Design- Mrs. Moore & Mrs. Klare

Literary Criticism- Mr. Gentry

Jouralism- Mr. Gentry & Mrs. Klare

Ready Writing- Mrs. Klare

Current Issues & Events- Mrs. Steubing

Social Studies- Mrs. Loftin

Prose & Poetry- Mrs. Turrentine

If you don't know the coach for an event you are interested in, ask a classmate to point you in their direction and go introduce yourself- they are looking for motivated participants! Academic UIL is fun and can help you earn scholarships!!

Athletics- Coach Woodard & Coach Hester

(Football, Volleyball, Basketball, Powerlifting, Cross Country, Track & Field, Baseball, Softball, etc.)

Yearbook- Mrs. Moore

Band- Mr. Turrentine

High School BETA- Mrs. Hannah & Mrs. Steubing

Skills USA- Mr. Wilson, Mr. Roberts, & Mrs. Robertson

FFA- Mrs. Ecord & Mr. Krenek

FCCLA- Mrs. Plotts

High School Cheer- Coach Lankford

There are lots of ways to get involved, so there are no excuses for not joining something!

It is time to start applying to colleges. Most public colleges in the state of Texas require prospective students to complete the Common Texas Application found at www.applytexas.org

Be sure to write all essays that are required. Do not procrastinate! Aim to have it complete before Halloween. You should also complete the scholarship section of the application in order to be considered for scholarships offered directly by various colleges. Notice that the deadlines for scholarship applications are often much earlier than the deadlines for admission. This is not the same as the FAFSA, which you will complete beginning in December. (More information to come about that.) *This year, someone from Angelina College is going to be on campus to help students who would like help with this application process on the morning of October 11.*

Several colleges have changed their admission requirements and no longer require the SAT or ACT for admission, so be sure to check the website of the college you plan to apply to/attend to verify admission requirements. If you want to know the average SAT and/or ACT scores that are used for acceptance at Public Colleges in Texas, you can go to https://www.collegetuitioncompare.com/compare/tables/?state=TX&type=public&factor=sat-act-scores

**This ^ website has lots of other useful information/comparisons about financial aid, tuition, acceptance rates, etc.

-If your college is "test optional," consider whether or not your score is helpful to your application before choosing to report the score or not report it.

If you are applying to Angelina College or another junior college, you do not have to take the SAT or ACT to be accepted. However, you do need to take one of these exams in order to be considered for Angelina College scholarships, FFA scholarships, and many others. Some junior colleges do not use the Apply Texas application, so be sure to check their website to see if they have their own application.

Other places to search for scholarships include:

GoingMerry.com, FastWeb.com, Merit Aid, Cappex.com, and SchoolSoup.com

--> Check with your parents to see if scholarships are offered through their employer.

Watch for local VFW and business scholarship announcements in the newspaper.

We have a Google Classroom where I post scholarships that I find as they become available- make sure you are a part of that!

**I will have a packet for you at the beginning of the spring semester (usually in early February) with local scholarship information and applications.

The Smith-Hutson scholarship applications are online and all have different due dates. If you are applying for the Smith-Hutson, make sure that you have applied AND been accepted to the college. These are offered at SFA, Lamar, SHSU, and AC. You will only apply for the Smith-Hutson at one college. The application is on the college's website.

Type your applications and be sure to follow all directions carefully.

Have your essays/short answers proofread! These are your opportunity to shine and really express yourself to the college admission board and/or scholarship committee.

If you want more information about the college admission process, Slate.org is used by many colleges to strengthen communication about this topic.

Below is a link to a presentation that was initially made to help parents of Emergent Bilingual students understand applying to college, but there is information in this that could help everyone better understand the process:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHIVB9Xuqmk&list=PL6y7v5okd6cwHo0zGFX-4gWGnH_itmSfa&index=3

This video is two hours long, but you can fast forward to parts you are specifically interested in. It contains information on finding community resources, applying for college and financial aid/scholarship, Texas Workforce Commission, finding childcare, etc. The college portion begins at 20:46. It is available in I believe 9 different languages (including Spanish).

The ASVAB test will be given on Thursday, November 2 at our school at 8:30 am. Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors are welcome to take this test. The test is free. It is an aptitude test designed to help you identify your strengths. It is provided by the military, so taking this test will most likely lead to a military recruiter contacting you to determine if you are interested in enlisting in the United States military, but you do not have to be joining the military to take it. Please contact me or sign up in the front office when it is announced. I need to know by September 5 if you want to take the ASVAB.

More information can be found at https://www.asvabprogram.com/

Practice tests and tutorials for the ASVAB, SAT, and ACT can be found at march2success.com

The PSAT will be given Tuesday, October 25 at Groveton High School at 8:00 am. Juniors who are interested in going to college are especially encouraged to take this test. This test is available to Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors though underclassmen should keep in mind that they have not had as many courses (especially math) as upperclassmen. The test costs $18 though some students will qualify for a fee waiver. More information on fee waivers can be found at https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt-psat-10/k12-educators/requesting-fee-waivers

Please contact me or sign up in the front office before September 9, 2022 if you want to take this exam. Study guides are available online or you can contact me if you need a paper copy.

*Beginning in the fall of 2023, the PSAT will only be administered online.*

The SAT will be given at our school on Thursday, October 26 at 8:00 am. This is primarily for seniors and Groveton ISD will pay for seniors to take the SAT (or ACT if we start offerring it at school) once. There will be a spring administration of the SAT at our school this year that will be a better option for Juniors since it allows for a few more months of class instruction. The deadline to sign up to take this at school is September 5.

*If you took the Algebra 1 EOC test in 8th Grade, you will need to take either the SAT or ACT to meet state graduation requirements.

You may want to take this more than once to possibly improve your score. The SAT is offered at other locations on:

Test Date: ⭐Registration Deadline:

August 26, 2023 ⭐July 28, 2023

October 7, 2023 ⭐September 8, 2023

November 4, 2023 ⭐October 6, 2023

December 2, 2023 ⭐November 3, 2023

March 9, 2024 ⭐February 23, 2024

May 6, 2024 ⭐April 19, 2024

June 1, 2024 ⭐May 17, 2024

Beware that these testing dates and locations could change. Updated information can be found at collegeboard.org

To sign up for off-campus testing, visit https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/register

If you are unable to register online independently, please contact me and I'll help you!

*Beginning in the spring of 2024, the PSAT will only be administered online.*

For seniors off campus and all other students, the test costs $60.00 though there are extra charges for late registration. If you think you might be eligible for a fee waiver, contact me for more information or read the guidelines at https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/register/fees/fee-waivers

There are free practice tests for the SAT at www.collegeboard.org and www.khanacademy.org. Go to the student page and look for SAT preparation. If you took the PSAT last year, you were given an access code on your score report form. You may also access a personal SAT study guide and college/career planner at www.collegeboard.org

If you do not have a photo ID and it is required for testing, please let me know! Mrs. Cockrell and I can help with that.

The ACT is not currently offered on campus at our school.

*If you took the Algebra 1 EOC test in 8th Grade, you will need to take either the SAT or ACT to meet state graduation requirements.

The ACT is offered at other locations on:

Test Date: ⭐Regular Registration Deadline: ⭐Late Registration:

September 9, 2023 ⭐August 4, 2023 ⭐August 18, 2023

October 28, 2023 ⭐September 22, 2023 ⭐Oct. 6, 2023

December 9, 2023 ⭐November 3, 2023 ⭐November 17, 2023

February 10, 2024 ⭐January 5, 2024 ⭐January 19, 2024

April 13, 2024 ⭐ March 8, 2024 ⭐ March 22, 2024

June 8, 2024 ⭐May 3, 2024 ⭐May 17, 2024

July 13, 2024 ⭐June 7, 2024 ⭐June 21, 2024

Beware that these testing dates and locations could change. Updated information can be found at actstudent.org

To sign up, visit https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/registration.html

If you are unable to register online independently, please contact me and I'll help you!

The test costs $68.00 without the writing portion and $93.00 with the writing portion though there are extra charges for late registration. If you think you might be eligible for a fee waiver, contact me for more information or read the guidelines at https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/FeeWaiver.pdf

Several colleges have changed their admission requirements and no longer require the SAT or ACT for admission, so be sure to check the website of the college you plan to apply to/attend to verify admission requirements. If you want to know the average SAT and/or ACT scores that are used for acceptance at Public Colleges in Texas, you can go to https://www.collegetuitioncompare.com/compare/tables/?state=TX&type=public&factor=sat-act-scores

**This ^ website has lots of other useful information/comparisons about financial aid, tuition, acceptance rates, etc.

-If your college is "test optional," consider whether or not your score is helpful to your application before choosing to report the score or not report it.

If you are applying to Angelina College or another junior college, you do not have to take the SAT or ACT to be accepted. However, you do need to take one of these exams in order to be considered for Angelina College scholarships.

Even though it may not be required for college acceptance, many scholarships do want SAT/ACT scores.

The Groveton High School Code is 443-020.

If you are not sure if you should take the SAT or the ACT, an article about their simlarities and differences can be found at https://online.maryville.edu/blog/act-vs-sat/

The Texas Success Initiative Assessment 2.0 (TSIA2) is a series of placement tests for students enrolling in public colleges and universities in Texas. The tests help Texas schools determine whether you're ready for college-level courses in the areas of reading, writing, and math. If you scored high enough on a standardized test such as the SAT, you may be exempt from this assessment. Students wishing to take Dual Credit courses their Junior and/or Senior year(s) will need to take this if not exempt.

We offer this on campus in the spring!

If you have not passed all of your EOC's, the next opportunity to retake them will be in December:

December 5- English I & US History

December 6- Algebra I & Biology

December 7- English II

-These dates are ONLY for students who have taken these tests previously but did not pass.Remember, all STAAR/EOC testing will now be done online. (That's the state's new rule, not mine.)

Don't forget that Mrs. Kennedy or I helped you previously make an account at www.kudernavigator.com with lots of college and career information. Your username is mmddyyfirstnamelastname (but no more than 20 characters). You can use this account to help you select a college, compare colleges, choose a major or career, and find financial aid opportunities. You may also develop your resume and apply for jobs through this site. GISD has provided each of our students with this account free of charge. It is available to you for the rest of your life and may be extremely helpful when you are applying for jobs. If you were not a student at GISD when your classmates made this account, see me for information on how to get your own access.