<p>onesonmom… I think the NOLS course would be an amazing experience for your son. I would highly recommend it, as would my son. I do think that one of the most important thing a boy can learn is self reliance… especially as they make that transition to going away to college. I have encouraged my sons in any way possible to try new things and branch out from comfort zones. Having a job is also good, but I have to agree with you that the benefit from the wilderness experience and having to rely on himself for a month is a HUGE learning experience that will be invaluable to him thorough out the rest of his life. You probably already know this, but my son was the youngest person to hike the entire Pacific Crest Trail completely on his own. Just the planning of this hike is incredibly difficult. He had only himself to rely on for 4 months. He says that it was the most defining time of his life, and he feels there is nothing he can’t do now. I say go for the NOLS course( especially since grandma has offered to pay…they aren’t cheap, I know). my S did a 1 month NOLS course to become a wilderness EMT in Wyoming( and is now actually working as an EMT at a NAtional park until he leaves for college on August) and he has nothing but great things to say about it. It is top notch organization… if you have anymore questions about NOLS I would be happy to answer them.</p>
<p>Awfully quiet here lately, thought I would just chat about what is going on as we finish HS here.</p>
<p>Today was Sr Exhibition Day. D’s school requires an oral presentation with cover letter and resume as a graduation requirement. I think it is an excellent way to force the kids to create a resume and make an oral presentation - practice for interviewing and other key skills. Oh, and they have to dress appropriately! Most of the kids hate it.</p>
<p>I have volunteered as a ‘panelist’ the last couple of years and I just enjoy watching these kids do such a stellar job. However, I’m not sure that my D will win for ‘appropriate professional attire’ 
She decided to do her presentation on her main EC - hula. because she said it would just be easy - no effort as the days wind down here. Luckily she had a chance to go home and change into her costume. She did her presentation in full costume with thick flower leis (triple white carnation) and huge flowers in her hair - tight Princess style muu muu (long dress) - but she insisted on wearing the one with the slightly low back, halter top and extra long train. At least it wasn’t a coconut bra and grass skirt (which she has never owned or danced in ever anyways) !</p>
<p>As part of her presentation she danced a full hula based on an ancient chant about Kamehameha I’s warriors preparing for battle in the Waika valley on the Big Island. She has never shared this EC with anyone at school - she is too embarrassed to dance in front of anyone from school. I guess it isn’t ‘cool’. So it was very scary for her.</p>
<p>I really wanted to sneak over to her classroom and watch - all you other parents get to see your kids do their stuff such as sports, music or theatre, science fairs, etc. She never will allow me to watch her and I’m usually backstage prepping the dancers (or dancing myself with the old ladies) whenever there is a show or competition.</p>
<p>Just sharing…</p>
<p>Prom tomorrow…
Busy!</p>
<p>Coralbrook, what a brave step for your daughter to take! Good for her! I hope she continues this unusual activity in college. </p>
<p>Big sigh of relief here: son has taken his last final, and baccalaureate and graduation are early next week. A few minor hiccups these last few weeks as he experienced the terminal stages of Advanced Senioritis. One late small assignment, one missed curfew, but otherwise he rocked Senior Spring. Phew. Other parents’ horror stories of kids checking out and acting out has given me some perspective.</p>
<p>DS graduated last night. I want to thank all of you for your moral support and assistance with the college process - it was a long road to get here, but now we can look forward (while crying quietly) to dropping him off at Wheaton in MA in August. Now we just have to work on him waking up on time in the morning without having us to keep going upstairs to make sure he’s getting up.</p>
<p>Proud Mom here,<br>
D just got informed that she got 12 out of 12 for her Sr Exhibition and very few kids get the perfect score! The lead teacher on her panel stopped her at school yesterday and said it was the most impressive Sr Exhibition he had ever seen. Wow, I guess the panelists like hula Now the word is out and she is getting a lot of texts from the kids “I didn’t know you danced hula??” </p>
<p>Yeah!!! I’m happy she is getting a little recognition for the average kid with the weird, non-school based EC !! </p>
<p>Too bad we couldn’t get it to shine somewhere on the college apps (besides one essay topic she did) since there really aren’t ‘leadership positions’, recognized national organizations, national competitions or anything for high school students who are accomplished dancers with years and years of dedication. Unfortunately (as related to college applications), one of the key aspects of her training is ‘humility’ and it is considered very poor taste to compete in any fashion as a soloist. There is only one highly recognized competition and you have to be Native Hawaiian to even stand a chance - she’s as Caucasian as they come </p>
<p>Oh well, it’s for enjoyment from now on and it will be her decision whether to get involved at her college. I doubt she will pursue it, she will focus on her film passion.</p>
<p>Coral, what a wonderful way to end your D’s high school career! Congrats to her! I do hope that she chooses to continue to pursue this; she is a talented and accomplished dancer and it is a beautiful outlet for her artistic expression!</p>
<p>Congrats to everyone who is done! One more week here-- graduation on Friday evening</p>
<p>Coral–congratulations to your daughter! She should be very proud of herself! I think it’s great when the school gets to see the “hidden talents” of all the students</p>
<p>I have no idea how DS final grades will be. I think he has 4 finals this week, but I am not sure that he is studying at all. Lots of banquets in the past few weeks. Since this is my last going through HS they really are final events for me. Sad for the end, although I am glad not to have another set of college apps to fret over. DS has sent in all his college paper work-- medical forms, housing forms, freshman seminar forms, etc. I think he will hear about housing at the end of June</p>
<p>I have not done any dorm shopping-- waiting to see which dorm he gets. If he is like my older S he won’t really care about what we get for the dorm room anyway</p>
<p>I guess one indicator of just how “done” we are is how quiet this thread has been. </p>
<p>DS had his last final yesterday, exempt from the rest next week, then graduation. Grades show the magical “upward trend” for S2 in the AP Chem and Precalculus C+/B-; A’s for the rest so no disasters. Whew! </p>
<p>Thought we could drop the RPMs some but no. Instead he’s gearing up and working out in preparation for a 30-day NOLS backpacking program starting later this month - many thanks for all the helpful information and encouragement here for that decision. </p>
<p>I’m facing the reality of putting our home on the market, packing and moving. I’m looking forward to the dorm shopping, but have to make sure it all fits in a Mustang for the trip cross country to the PNW. Looks like this will be the summer of big events and big changes.</p>
<p>Any thoughts on teacher gifts for those who wrote letters of recommendation? Gift cards and a personal note?</p>
<p>My D finished her last exam yesterday. Looks like she’ll graduate on Friday with a 3.52 cumulative and a lot of honor cords hanging around her neck. I didn’t dare hope for such a great outcome two years ago. We’re having friends over for a “root beer kegger” after graduation to celebrate.</p>
<p>She selects her actual room online next week, and already has a roommate. We’ve been scouring the clearance bins at Target and have almost all her dorm supplies purchased. We found a fridge on clearance at Sears this week. Her roommate is bringing a TV. </p>
<p>Now I’m already thinking about S, who finished up his freshman year with a 3.25, but a huge improvement from 1st semester to 2nd. He’s hoping to follow his sister to RIT.</p>
<p>onesonmom - I’m a teacher, and I enjoy the gift cards. I get lots of $5 Starbucks cards and occasional Panera, Target, Amazon, cupcake, and movie theater cards. I love the thought behind homemade sweets, but it does no favors for my diet. In short, the teachers will just love being remembered - I also appreciate just a simple “thank you” card.</p>
<p>My S wrote thank you notes to the teachers who wrote recommendations and to the GC and included a Starbucks gift card</p>
<p>Pkd - Yay Graduation!!! We still have 2 weeks left. No finals, but a capstone presentation to worry about. I’ve been assured that he will be getting a diploma ;)</p>
<p>Congrats to your D coral. That’s a nice end indeed to high school.</p>
<p>Congrats to all who have graduated and congrats in advance to those who are graduating in the next couple of weeks!</p>
<p>DD graduated yesterday in a lovely ceremony, on a beautiful day. As with all graduations, it was bittersweet; a mixture of pride, joy and sadness as she ends this chapter in her life, but optimism and excitement as she begins a new one. We took countless pictures of her and her friends, the same group of kids who have been with each other for years. Most of them are going to our state flagship, and she will be a few hours away, but hopefully they will be able to keep in touch, for a while at least…</p>
<p>She received her first choice dorm which was nice, but was placed with only one of the two girls with whom she had signed up. Still, we are all looking forward to orientation in two weeks and she is starting to check out course offerings for next semester. We have not started dorm shopping yet. In the meantime, she’ll hopefully have a great summer working at a theater camp and TJMaxx and spending time with friends before everyone leaves in August.</p>
<p>DS16 has already started talking about college and I just can’t focus on that right now. I need a break! These last two weeks have been wonderful yet emotional as we celebrated two graduations - DD09 graduated from college two weeks ago as well!</p>
<p>Wow, I completely forgot about some thank you cards to the key teachers in my Ds life, especially her film department teacher who got her hooked three years ago. Thank you all so much for discussing it.</p>
<p>My D is finishing out Sr Year with a huge ‘upward trend’. I think I mentioned earlier that she had a disastrous Sophomore Year that she could not dig out of by end of Jr Year. So we were firmly in this wonderful group of kids, 3.0/3.3. But something just clicked for her this year, probably finding her passion in film, and she finished Sr Yr with a 4.2 avg - pulling herself into the 3.6 group. If she could submit a college app right now she would probably be accepted to her dream school - but then we would have had to pay full pop for it because she would not have been super strong for the big merit aid! I am very happy where she ended up.</p>
<p>So, since we were cruising in the slightly above average field of students, I did not even know there was such a thing as a Senior Awards Night at her high school. On Friday we received a letter… Invitation to Awards Night to honor your D for cumulative Honor Roll (OK, I can understand that based on the last 4 semesters) BUT… Honoring D for a special department scholarship. WHAT??? I don’t know anything about this, didn’t even know they had these types of things, D hasn’t said anything about this. What the heck??? Turns out D is being awarded the School District Film Department scholarship. I just honestly couldn’t be prouder. I thought her biggest school achievement was going to be her Best Dressed vote, with picture in yearbook (which she is very proud of ). BTW, there wasn’t anyplace to put that big honor on the college apps (just kidding) although she wouldn’t of known that at the time of apps.</p>
<p>Prom last night and of course her Mom thought she was the most gorgeous classy young lady in the bunch. After reading through that DUI thread, I quickly reserved a limo. I was very surprised when they were all back at the front door by 11:40pm - tired.</p>
<p>Coralbrook - I’m proud of your D too! What an accomplishment! </p>
<p>That DUI thread is super scary. I’m glad D went with a bunch of girlfriends, and the school sponsored an all night after prom. I pray I’m never aware of what happens in college ;-)</p>
<p>We don’t have school after parties here. Do they get to change their clothes for the after party?? Only reason I ask is that the bottom of D’s dress is black just from prom. Pretty sure she had her shoes off immediately and dragged the bottom of her white dress around all night. Cannot imagine how much she would ruin if there were another 4 hours involved.</p>
<p>Yes, they change into shorts/jeans/tees. After all, it involves bouncy houses They also play a lot of casino games for small prizes and dance some more. Many kids choose to skip prom and just go to after prom. The prom is at the country club and after prom is in the school’s gyms.</p>
<p>That’s great Coralbrook - congrats!</p>
<p>D has college registration this week - I was a bit frustrated that it is scheduled during her last week of h.s. classes but D insists she won’t be missing anything important (well of course she does!) </p>
<p>No invitation for awards night arrived here. -Sigh- had really hoped she might get recognized for something…but still one of those under-the-radar kids. I feel like kids who quietly pull their weight, are reliable and dedicated and commit themselves to an activity for four years are often taken for granted. Thinking of the countless hours over the past years, hard for me to not feel a bit bitter. But I will shake it off!</p>
<p>Our Sr Awards were last night. D got called up 3 times and they butchered her name each time. Oh well.</p>
<p>I sat next to some parents from our church and they told me that there son is not going to college because they totally failed in the applications. They do not have much money so he applied to only one college - the local private where the Step Mom works. Turns out that he got accepted, but did not get the free ride they expected because the benefit doesn’t go to step children. They did not apply anywhere else and had to tell the kid he couldn’t go due to financial reasons.</p>
<p>I just feel really awful for them, the son tried hard in school and probably has about 3.8 and good test scores. </p>
<p>I was giving them unsolicited college application advice. I feel that their son should work a bit and try again with a full court press for Spring 2014 Freshman admission. If he goes to the local community college for one year he will lose his advantage for freshman merit aid.</p>
<p>What do you all think? go to CC and transfer later? Or work for a bit and try for Freshman admission in Spring 2014?</p>
<p>I really want to call them up and offer to be his college counselor to help him find schools to apply for Spring that will give him the financial aid he needs? Do you think that is being too intrusive?</p>
<p>coralbrook - I know virtually nothing I didn’t learn from or because of this thread, but imho offering to lend some help with getting their son to school with aid is a generous and wonderful idea. I have relatives who have responded with overwhelming gratitude when I’ve just casually mentioned offering a couple of unconventional ideas about getting my little cousins to schools beyond a 60 mile radius and outside the Ivy League. Even on the off chance they’re initially offended, it wouldn’t be because you did anything wrong or insulting.</p>