Improving Your Learning Ability

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March, 2012

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

COUNSELING NEWSLETTER

USC School CEEB Code for SAT and ACT: 393707 USC Test Center Number for SAT: 39-696

Counselors Mr. Jerry Malarkey ……….A-D

Mr. Thomas Marquis …….E-Ga L-Ni

Ms. Julie Diorio …………Ge-Ha No-Se

Mrs. Jennifer Kirk ……...He-Hu

Sh-Z

Dr. William Rullo .. ………...I-K Developing lifelong learners and

responsible citizens for a global society is the mission of the Upper St. Clair School District,

served by a responsive and innovative staff who is

partner-ship with the community pro-vides learning experiences that nurture the uniqueness of each

child and promote happiness and success. College Visitations 2 Financial Aid Tips 2 Scholarship Information 3 Career Research 4 Anxiety and Depression 5 Tips for Parents 6 Parents Pointers Calendar 6 Senior Spotlight 7 Important Dates 7

Upcoming SAT/ACT 7

Counseling Calendar 7

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Improving Your Learning Ability

The only way to make studying work for you is to avoid BOREDOM – the worst enemy of learning. From a very early age, we vary what we do to stop ourselves getting bored. We look for new tasks and seek new ways to do things. Sometimes even this fails and we fall into the boredom-trap. We cannot be bothered to find ways to cure our boredom because we are too bored.

Over time we develop a concentration-span – the time between starting a task to the time we find our minds wandering. This is because your brain deals with information in a very special way. The brain receives information from our senses. This is then passed on to our short-term memory where it is stored for a short time. From then on the information in short-term memory must be passed on to long-term memory or we end up “forgetting” the information. Your brain’s ability to do this depends on how you feel. If you are bored, short term memory is lost very quickly and so can never be passed on. You may be surprised to learn that it is not lost forever – it is stored away often never to be remembered again. The best way to learn is to limit study periods to the length of our concentration-span. This gives the brain the best chance to store what we are studying in long-term memory.

DETERMINING YOUR CONCENTRATION-SPAN  Go to your study area and get settled.

 Read a large section of the text book belonging to your least favorite subject, preferably from part of the book which has not been covered before. Note the time you start.

 Make an effort to LEARN and RECALL the information you read.

 Note the time at which you find your mind beginning to wander, no matter how little. This will be your minimum concentration-span.

Repeat the task with your favorite subject. This will be your maximum concen-tration-span.

You will probably find that your concentration-span varies between ten and twenty minutes depending on the subject, how you feel, the amount of rest you have taken, and your eating habits. Now that you know what your own brain can cope with you can sort out your reading and revision to suit. NEVER study beyond your concentration-span. You may still be reading but your brain will be losing most of the information it takes in. This makes it pointless to go on. You may satisfy your need to feel as if you are working hard, but the amount you actually remember will get less and less.

M A X I M I Z I N G R E C A L L

After studying for the time you found was best, you must then take a rest for about five minutes. Do something else not connected with your work. Listen to music, have a snack, refresh yourself – but don’t stop thinking about what you were reading. This may be an unusual thing to do in the middle of a study session, but your brain needs that time to sort out the information in your short-term memory. At the end of the rest period, the information you were reading will be much clearer than it was to begin with. Short-term memory lasts between 12 to 48 hours. If you stopped at this point you would be able to recall only about 10-20% of the information you read.

To get the information into long-term memory you must REVIEW.

R E V I E W I N G Y O U R C H O S E N S T U D Y T O P I C

After your five-minute rest, read the same information again. Concentrate only on those points that are most important. Then take another five-minute break and re-read once more, fitting all the bits of information together. Both of these reviews would be made even better by note-taking in whatever way you find easy and helpful. Make sure that the notes you make are well organized! ONE WEEK and TWO WEEKS later review the topic again using your notes. By now you should have found that there has been a huge improvement in your ability to remember, understand and use that information.

Finally, you must REVISE. This is simply a way of drawing loose ends together with the same study method but this time using your notes only.

If you use the above methods while you are still following a course of study, your final revision will be made much easier. Some students who have used these methods early find that very little final revision is necessary. They became so good at remembering the work during the course of the year that they didn’t need to do anymore!

http://academictips.org/study-skills/improving-your-learning-ability/

Eight tips to getting financial aid for your child

There's no time like the present to start applying for aid for your college-bound student.

TODAY financial editor Jean Chatzky offers some advice. Everyone knows the signifi-cance of January. It marks a time when many of us wipe the slate clean and make all sorts of prom-ises, both to ourselves and to others. It's the day we quit our bad habits, decide to get our fi-nances in order, and vow to ask our boss for that pay raise we deserve.

But if your child is planning to enter college in the fall of 2012, or if you are entering college your-self, another alarm should now be ringing in your mind: It's time to submit your application for finan-cial aid, a form called the FAFSA a n d f o u n d o n l i n e a t : www.fafsa.ed.gov.While January 1 isn't the last day to submit by any means (individual school dead-lines vary, but the Web applica-tion can be completed until June 30, 2012), the earlier you com-plete the FAFSA, the more likely you are to get a jump on the pot of money that's available, explains Martha Holler, spokeswoman for Sallie Mae, the nation's largest student lender. And with funds at a record high — $152 billion and counting — you definitely don't want to miss out.

Admittedly, starting the process can be a little daunting. The form itself can be confusing, and there's a good bit of fine print. Plus, all the financial questions can make it seem like you're doing your taxes. But college isn't get-ting any cheaper, and failing to even try for aid could cost you to the tune of several thousand dol-lars a year. Really. According to the American Council on Educa-tion, for the year 2003-2004, an

estimated 1.5 million people who did not file a FAFSA likely would've been eligible for a Pell Grant, which can provide stu-dents up to $5,550 a year that doesn't have to be repaid. So sit down at your computer and get started. It'll be about an hour before your application is on its way to being reviewed by the federal government, your state, and the colleges you specify. With any luck, it won't be long after that before your kid receives a nice, hefty aid package in the mail. Here's how to get started: Understand how your fi-nances are assessed. For the purpose of financial aid, you are trying to lower your expected family contribution. That means that this is not the time to boast about your fat retirement account or fancy new house — in fact, legally, both of these assets can, and should, be left off the form. If you've been saving for college, be clear on how that money will be treated. Money in the student's name is assessed more heavily than that in the parent's. Students are expected to contribute 20 percent of their assets, while parents only weigh in at 5.5 percent. (Note to parents still saving for college: That means if you have an account dedicated to money for college, like a 529, keep it in your name to maximize your child's financial aid.)

Do your prep work. Taking the time to get yourself a little organized will save you a lot of hassle. Pull together all year-end statements detailing your invest-ments, as well as your most recent tax returns. Even the most ambi-tious among us doesn't have his 2012 return completed in January, so it's okay to fall back on last

year's numbers.

Look over the application carefully. "Before you fill out the form, understand why they ask each question, and how different combinations of answers to seem-ingly unimportant questions might have major consequences," says Kal Chany, founder and president of Campus Consultants and author of "Paying for College Without Going Broke," now in its 7th edition. For example, you'll be asked if you're eligible to file a 1040A in place of the longer 1040 form during tax time. If you can answer in the affirmative, Chany says, it could give you an edge. Read the fine print, and don't skip ahead. Granted, this is starting to sound like the SATs, but people actually miss out on aid because they don't follow the directions. Whatever you do, don't skip questions, no matter how irrelevant or unnecessary they may seem. One thing people tend to exclude, says Holler, is how many members of the family are enrolled in college. "Make sure you are counting everyone — parents and children — and get that number right. That num-ber, more than any other item on the form, is going to effect how much money you get to pay for college."

Don't limit yourself. Much like SATs, the FAFSA allows you to list up to six colleges that will receive your information. But these days, students are often applying to twice that, so don't stress out that your schools will be left out. After you submit your application with the first six schools, it will be processed and you'll receive a student aid report. You can then revisit your FAFSA online and add up to six addi-tional schools.

Contact your child's choice colleges. If you're just looking for a Stafford Loan, which is a low-interest student loan, then the only form you need to submit is the FAFSA. But why wouldn't you want to gun for the grants and scholarships out there, which unlike loans, don't have to be paid back? To get in the running for all of these, you need to contact the colleges your child is interested in attending and fill out the forms specific to each school. They'll require much of the same infor-mation as the FAFSA, so the process, though tedious, doesn't require extra research or prepara-tion.

Finally, take note of the fact that this isn't a one-time deal. You'll have to repeat the process each year your child is enrolled. The good news? It gets easier with practice.

Jean Chatzky is an editor-at-large at Money magazine and serves as AOL's official Money Coach. She is the personal finance editor for NBC's "Today Show" and is also a columnist for Life magazine. She is the author of four books, including "Pay It Down! From Debt to Wealth on $10 a Day" (Portfolio, 2004). To find out more, visit her Web site, www.jeanchatzky.com.

College Visitations

Help your teen make the most of campus visits

The best way for your teen to decide on the right college is to see it for himself. But don’t plan to just drive up, get out and have a look around. You should:

 Do some homework. Before visiting a college, your teen should at least review its brochures, catalogs and website.

 Make reservations. Try to book a tour. If it’s possible, see if your teen can stay overnight in a student residence hall.  Act like a student. Try to attend a class or a campus event of

your teen’s choice. The Parent Institute

There are no college

Scholarship Information

Award

Qualifications

Contact Information

William C. Comptaro Educational Fund - Laura E. Elden Educational Trust, Frances L. Lewis Memorial Scholar-ship Fund, Myer H. Sparks and Rose Sherman Sparks

Scholarship Fund of the Pittsburgh Foundation

Resident of Allegheny County; high school senior, plans to attend accred-ited, nonprofit school, demonstrate financial need, complete application and

submit essay; two letters of reference

Deborah L. Turner, Scholarship Coordinator

[email protected]Deadline: March 18, 2012

William J. Wolf Memorial Scholarship Fund - Award will

not exceed $5,000 per year for four years Students of the Lutheran denomination residing in Allegheny County; com-plete application and essay; letters of reference

William J. Wolf memorial Scholarship Program Deborah L Turner, [email protected]

Deadline: April 1, 2012

Irene S. and Harry Louik College Scholarship Fund of the Pittsburgh Foundation

Demonstrate special aptitude, ability, or achievement in performing arts; appreciation of world outside performing arts; resident of Allegheny County; good student who demonstrates pride in educational

accomplishments; financial need; essay

Irene S. Louik College Scholarship Fund Deborah Turner - [email protected]

Deadline: May 15, 2012 Anna M. Smith Art Scholarship Fund

of The Pittsburgh Foundation Plan to study Art, involvement in study of the arts, extracurricular art activi-ties within the school or community, maintain good grades

Anna M. Smith Art Scholarship Fund, The Pittsburgh Foundation

Deadline: TBA

United States Army Youth Leadership

Awards vary Complete essay; must be enrolled in high school, grades 9 - 12 US Army recruiter 877/406-7514 Deadline: None Given

Anna N. Dosen Serbian Educational Fund - Providing educational scholarship to students of Serbian

background in the field of science

Plans to pursue studies in Engineering and Health Studies; 2 or 4 year college or university; preference to students of Serbian ethnicity;

Maintain GPA of 2.00; complete application and submit essay

The Pittsburgh Foundation: Deborah Turner –

[email protected]

Deadline: None given The Christian Connector, Inc - $2500 scholarship

draw-ing for various Christian colleges Students planning to attend a Christian college

www.ChristianConnector.com

1-800-667-0600

Deadline: None listed

Boston University Scholarships, including Alexander Graham Bell Scholarship, The School of Education,

Scholarship, The Dr. Martin Luther King Scholarship Motivated and talented students

www.bu.edu/admissions/scholarships

Deadline: Varies according to award

Oliver L. Johnson and William A. Lester Families Fund: To provide educational opportunities for deserving

stu-dents in financial need

Attend high school in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Washing-ton, or Westmoreland County; demonstrate financial need; preference will be given to black African students born in several African nations or

African-American students; GPA of 2.50

The Pittsburgh Foundation: Deborah [email protected]

Melville Alexander Eberhardt Memorial Fund: To provide scholarship assistance to worthy and deserving Western

PA high school graduates.

Attend school in Western PA, demonstrate financial need, high school GPA

of 3.00 and maintain 3.0 GPA, complete essay Deborah Turner – The Pittsburgh Foundation : [email protected]

Louise Salinger Academy of Fashion Fund; to provide scholarships for high school seniors in Allegheny County

who wish to pursue a career in Fashion Design

Pursue career or studies in Fashion Design; demonstrate financial need;

maintain GPA of 2.0; complete essay Deborah Turner – The Pittsburgh Foundation: [email protected]

Lola G. Duff & William H. Duff, II Scholarship

Senior, Protestant, enrolled in full-time undergrad course of study leading to BA, Cum. GPA of at least 3.0 (merit App.) or at least 3.0

(Merit App.) or at least 2.8 GPA (need based app.)

SMS Scholarshipamerica.org/Duff Deadline: March 20, 2012

Cartwright Scholarship—$500

2 boys/2 girls are chosen

Must be a past or present patient of Dr. Gary Cartwright, an ortho-dontist in Bethel Park and McMurray, must write an essay,

be a senior

412-833-6811 Deadline: April 12, 2012

Washington Area Teachers Federal Credit Union

$1,000 (3 scholarships awarded) Awarded based on academic achievement and potential, character, leadership, service to community, extra curricular activities. CUM. GPA of 2.5 or higher.

Must be planning to enter field of education.

Amanda Imperatore 724-222-8064 Deadline—April 15, 2012

Woman’s Club of Upper St. Clair

$5,000 (3 scholarships awarded) Awarded based on academic standing, participation in school activities, community/church

service and financial need

The Woman’s Club of Upper St. Clair P. O. Box 12601 Upper St. Clair, PA 15241

Deadline—April 13, 2012

Career Research for the Graduation Project

Students will use the career portion of Naviance to fulfill their graduation project requirement for

gradua-tion. By accessing career information under the careers tab on the Naviance home page, the Naviance

Program allows students to research over 1,500 careers.

The following are three components of the graduation project that students must complete in order to

graduate:

Taking three inventories

Before students start looking at a variety of careers, students will take three inventories:

Personality Type

Cluster Finder

Career Interest Profiler

The Personality Type inventory called “Do What You Are” will highlight the student’s personality type

based on Holland’s six personality types: realistic, investigative, artistic, social enterprising, and

con-ventional. It will provide a list of the student’s strengths, blind spots, preferred learning style and

ways that careers should be satisfying to them.

The Cluster Finder will help students to learn what career clusters may be a good match for them

based on activities that interest them, personal qualities that they have, and subjects that they enjoy

studying in school. Ultimately, students are provided a list of the top clusters that are likely to be a

good match for them.

The Career Interest Profiler allows students to discover the types of work activities and careers that

match their interests. The interest profiler has 180 questions about work activities that people do at

their jobs. When choosing responses, students are to think about whether they would like or dislike

doing a particular work activity if they had a chance to do it.

Upon completion of the three inventories, students will receive feedback on their personality type and

a list of careers that closely align with their personality type. Additional information such as career

overview, knowledge and skills, tasks and activities, and wages earned per career will be provided to

the student. Students can also peruse a brief on-line video of the day-in-the-life of the highlighted

ca-reer.

Building a resume

The second component of the graduation project involves the students creating a resume through

Na-viance. The prepared templates make it easy for students to demonstrate their education, work

ex-perience, volunteer service, extracurricular activities, awards/certificates, leadership, as well as any

other relevant information. As their resume will always be a work in progress, they will continue to

enhance their resume as they complete high school.

Career Interest Profiler

The third and final component involves the students in taking a Career

Exploration Survey that allows them to reflect on their results and

per-spectives on future career endeavors.

Fotosearch, LLC

Anxiety can be a normal reaction to stress. It can help us deal with a tense situation, study harder for an exam, or keep focused on an important speech. In general, it can help us cope. But when anxiety becomes an excessive, irrational dread of everyday situations, it has be-come a disabling condition. Examples of anxiety disorders are obsessive compul-sive disorder, post-traumatic stress dis-order, social phobia,

specific phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder. Symptoms of many of these disorders begin in childhood or adoles-cence. YESTERDAY The brain areas and circuitries

un-derlying symptoms of anxiety disorders were unknown.

No targeted psychotherapies for anxi-ety disorders existed.

Clinicians did not have strong informa-tion to help them make treatment deci-sions between a specific psychotherapy, medication alone, or a combination of medication and psychotherapy. TODAY

A large, national survey of adolescent mental health reported that about 8 per-cent of teens ages 13–18 have an anxi-ety disorder, with symptoms commonly emerging around age 6. However, of these teens, only 18 percent received mental health care.

Imaging studies show that children with anxiety disorders have atypical ac-tivity in specific brain areas, compared with other people. For example: In one, very small study, anxious ado-lescents exposed to an anxiety-provoking situation showed heightened activity in brain structures associated with fear processing and emotion regulation, when compared with normal controls. Another small study found that youth with generalized anxiety disorder had

unchecked activity in the brain’s fear center, when looking at angry faces so quickly that they are hardly aware of seeing them.

Brain scans of teens sizing each other up reveal an emotion circuit activating more in girls as they grow older, but not in boys. This finding highlights how emo-tion circuitry diverges in the male and female brain during a developmental stage in which girls are at increased risk for developing mood and anxiety disor-ders.

The Child/Adolescent Anxiety Multimo-dal Study (CAMS), in addition to other studies on treating childhood anxiety disorders, found that high-quality cogni-tive behavioral therapy (CBT), given with or without medication, can effectively treat anxiety disorders in children. One small study even found that a behavioral therapy designed to treat social phobia in children was more effective than an antidepressant medication.

Source: National Institute of Mental Health

Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents

Fact Sheet

What is Depression?

All people have times in their lives when they are not happy. People have different names for this feeling, such as "bummed" or "feeling blue" - or just un-happy. You are going to have good days and bad days, and that's okay because you can usually learn how to deal with these troubles once you understand the problem. Usually these kinds of feelings only last for a few days, and then they usually go away.

But sometimes people continue to feel unhappy - or lose interest or pleasure in their normal activities for longer periods of time - even after whatever caused them to become unhappy in the first place is done or gone. If these feelings last for two weeks or longer, and there are additional symptoms such as prob-lems with sleeping, eating, energy, con-centration, or self-image, this can be sign of a disorder called depression. Depres-sion is a treatable medical condition. People with depression simply can't feel happy, and this feeling gets in the way of normal activities such as school, extra-curricular activities, relationships with

friends or family members, and just gen-erally feeling good.

Sometimes people even resort to drug use in an attempt to make themselves temporarily feel better; but this is a bad move because drug use can actually worsen depression and lead to other mental health problems like anxiety and suicidal thoughts.

Reality Checks

Depression is a mental disorder likely caused by genetic, biochemical, environ-mental, and psychological factors. It is not the fault of the person.

People can experience depression in very different ways, and the same person may experience depression differently over the time of the illness.

People with depression can often have other accompanying illnesses such as: anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), social phobia (fear of being in social situations like a party or school), and alcohol and other substance abuse. Depression, even the most severe

cases, is a highly treatable disorder. As with many illnesses, the earlier that treatment can begin, the more effective it is and the greater the likelihood a re-currence can be prevented.

Depression is a serious medical condi-tion; it's not something that you have made up in your head. It's more than just feeling "down in the dumps" or "blue" for a few days. It's feeling "down" and "low" and "hopeless" for weeks at a time. Before adolescence, girls and boys ex-perience depression at about the same frequency. By adolescence, however, girls become more likely to experience depression than boys.

Keep your teen on track as the calendar

turns toward spring

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 Make a weather

chart. Keep track of the temperature, wind and rain each day of March.

2 Is your teen a visual learner? Have her make posters or flash cards to help with memorizing.

3 It’s not that teens can’t read—it’s that most don’t. Chal-lenge your teen to read more this month.

4 Have your teen quiz you on a home-work assignment. Thinking up ques-tions will help him learn.

5 It’s Women’s History Month. Visit the library and check out a book about a women your teen admires.

6 The next time you drop your teen off at practice or re-hearsal, stay a few minutes and watch.

7 Play Concentra-tion with fracConcentra-tions. Fractions with the same value make a pair, like 1/2 and 2/4.

8 Is your teen choosing courses for next year? A “B” in a tougher course is better than an “A” in an easy course.

9 Encourage your teen to sort her books by subject. She can use the library’s system or invent her own.

10 When was the last time you told your teen you love him? Tell him today.

11 Have your teen type and proofread her resume. It should be updated twice year.

12 Ask your child to tell you about a punishment you gave her that she thought was really unfair.

13 On this day in 1781, the planet Uranus was discov-ered. Take a walk and look for planets and stars.

14 Notice and talk about the good qualities of your teen’s friends.

15 Watch the news on TV with your teen. Choose one story and compare it with the newspaper story.

16 When you watch TV, talk about choices the charac-ters make. What are the consequences?

17 Faced with a thorny situation? Try talking with other parents. Teachers can also be a good source of advice.

18 Share ideas about the best ways to remember facts for a test with your teen.

19 Most teens aren’t up on what’s going on in the world. Make it a point to watch the news and discuss it.

20 Ask your child to tell you what the word success means to him.

21 Help your teen use small chunks of time as study oppor-tunities.

22Invite your teen to bring a friend to the movies. Allow them to sit by them-selves. Discuss the film afterwards.

23 Have your teen rank homework assignments from easiest to hardest. Have her do the hardest one first.

24 Do a crossword puzzle together.

25 When studying for a big test, set the timer for five min-utes. Many short reviews work better than one long re-view.

26 Whether your teen is a freshman or a senior, he should be using the carrier planning services at school.

27 Have your teen draw a window picture. She can look out the window and draw what she sees!

29 It’s Leap Year. Help your teen take a leap into a new project, activity or hobby.

Parent Pointers Calendar

March, 2012

© 2011 The Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc. May be reproduced only as licensed by Parents Still make the difference! ® High School Edition newsletter. 1-800-756-5525

Motivation has a way of going down as the temperature starts going up, especially for seniors. Teens may need more encourage-ment and structure to fulfill their academic responsibilities. It’s not a bad idea to check in with your teen about homework—even if he’s as motivated as ever. He may need help coping with the in-creased number of projects, papers and tests during the last quar-ter of the school. Here’s what to do:

• Make sure your teen has a place to do homework. You and your teen probably did this at the beginning of the year. Still, many fami-lies find their teens start to “spread out” their work all over the place as the year goes on.

• Have your teen write out a homework schedule and post it where he can easily see it.

• Suggest that your teen make lists. These include assignments to be done, materials needed and test dates.

• Ask if you can help. Of course, you should never do homework for your teen, but you can help in other ways. For example, stop by the library on your way home from work and pick up a book your teen needs.

• Remind your teen to “work first.” Teens like to choose for them-selves when they will do homework. But what if homework falls victim to screen time? It’s time to step in.

Source: S.S. Zentall, Ph.D. and S. Goldstein, Ph.D., Seven Steps to Homework Suc-cess: A Family Guide to Solving Common Homework Problems, Specialty Press, Inc.

How do you & your teen communicate?

Sometimes, it seems as if teens and parents speak different languages. Your teen says he’ll be home “soon.” He means, “Sometime before tomorrow.” You say, “Do your homework now.” He hears, “Do it when it’s convenient.”

Luckily, there are ways that parents and teens can learn how to speak the same language. Answer the following questions yes or

no to see if you’re using them:

1. Do you try to find some time each day to spend with your teen? 2. Do you schedule regular times to do something special with your teen?

3. Do you try to spend a few minutes with your teen before bed? Often, teens will say things in the dark that they wouldn’t say dur-ing the day.

4. Do you sit down sometimes to watch whatever TV show your teen is watching?

5. Do you try to listen to some of your teen’s favorite mu-sic?

How did you do? Each yes

an-swer means you are trying to communicate with your teen. For each no answer, try that idea from the quiz.

“In the time it tak es you to understand a

14- year-old, he turns 15.”

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT

Ryan is a current senior who has thoroughly enjoyed

both the academic and extracurricular opportunities

avail-able at USCHS. He maintains a 4.875 GPA and is hopeful

that he will be able to secure a 5.0 by the end of the year.

In addition, he is a member of the National Honor Society,

and was recently named a National Merit Scholar Finalist.

His favorite subjects are English and Social Studies, and

he hopes to attend law school after college. He is eagerly

awaiting admissions decisions from most of his college

choices, but has already been offered the Cooper’s

Schol-arship from the University of South Carolina Honors

Col-lege.

Ryan is very involved in the school’s music department

as an instrumentalist. He is the saxophone section leader

in the marching band and has played saxophone, clarinet,

and flute in the jazz band and wind ensemble. He is a

four-year veteran of the spring musical’s pit orchestra, and is

very excited to be a part of this year’s production of “South

Pacific.” In addition to his musical activities, Ryan is an

attorney on the mock trial team, president of Latin club,

public relations officer of the Invisible Children club, and a

Fort Couch tutor. In the summer he volunteers as a

coun-selor at the St. Louise de Marillac vacation bible school.

Even at home there is never a dull moment with his four

younger siblings, but Ryan wouldn’t have it any other way.

He is looking forward to college next year, but certainly

is-n’t ready for his senior year to end yet.

RECOGNIZING THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF OUR OUTSTANDING

SENIOR STUDENTS—TWO STUDENTS ARE RECOGNIZED

Michele Mellick

Ryan Miller

Michele Mellick is an energetic, busy senior at USCHS, who is involved with school, extracurricular, and community service activities. She is a hard-working, focused student, and at the mid-point of her Senior Year holds the highest GPA possible: 4.875. In addition to being an outstanding student in the classroom, she is outstanding in her school and community involve-ment. Michele’s classmates have elected her to serve as their president each year of their high school careers; she appreciates having had the op-portunity to represent the students as a liaison between administrators, parents, and students. Michele’s leadership qualities have also been recog-nized by her teachers and school administrators, who have nominated her for various leadership programs, both regionally and nationally. For the past two years, Michele was accepted into the selective Duquesne University Summer Institute Program for academically talented high school students. Michele has taken on many responsibilities in addition to those associ-ated with her student council positions. She is co-president of the Future Medical Students Club, is currently in her second year as captain of the dance team, and she is a member of the USCHS Hip Hop Team and the National Honor Society. She also worked with her two siblings, Ricky and Christine, on a service project that promotes early detection of breast can-cer. This project, called “Project Irreplaceable”, is a letter writing campaign aimed at school-age students, in which students write a letter to the impor-tant people in their lives, telling them they are irreplaceable and encourag-ing them to get a mammogram.

When she leaves campus each day, Michele’s attention turns to her pas-sion: dance. She has been dancing at Janet Hays and Co., her family’s dance studio, since she was 2 years old, and she has won numerous Na-tional titles at competitions. She also teaches dance at the studio and at the USC C&RC.

Based on her high school accomplishments, Michele has been recog-nized by the Coca-Cola Foundation as a Coca-Cola Scholarand has been awarded a $10,000 scholarship.

Michele plans to major in Psychology at Seton Hill University, where she has been awarded a four-year full tuition scholarship! Michele is the daughter of USCHS alumni Cathy and Rick Mellick.

IMPORTANT DATES

March 9—AP Registration Deadline

SAT I and SAT Subject Tests

Dates _{Regular Registration Deadline} SAT I and SAT Subject Tests SAT I and SAT Subject Tests _{Late Registration Deadline}

March 10 February 10 February 24

May 5 April 6 April 20

June 2 May 8 May 22

ACT Test Date ACT Registration Deadline ACT Late Registration

April 14 March 9 March 23

June 9 May 4 May 18

U

S A T

A C T E

We’re on the Web!

www.uscsd.k12.pa.us

Upper St. Clair High School Counseling Department 1825 McLaughlin Run Road Upper St. Clair, PA 15241 Phone: 412-833-1600 Fax: 412-851-2069 E-Mail: uscsd.k12.pa.us

“A” Alert!

S

S

R

Federal law requires all young men to register for Selective Service within 30 days of their 18th birthday. Registration information can be obtained in the Counseling Office or on-line at www.sss.gov.

COUNSELING CALENDAR

March 2012

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1

SAT Prep Class

2 3

4 5

SAT Prep Class 6

Study Skills

7 8

SAT Prep Class 9

AP Registration Deadline

- - - Half Day Early Dismissal

10 SAT @ USC SAT I only 7:45 a.m. 11 12 PSSA– Math 13 PSSA– Reading Study Skills 14 15

PSSA– Math & Reading

16

PSSA– Math & Reading 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 NO SCHOOL In-Service 24 25 26 27 8th Level Student Mtg., H.S.– 8:45 a.m. 8th Level Parent Meeting—7:00 p.m. 28 29 30 31

DON’T’ FORGET!

AP Exam Registration Deadline is: