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Counseling
Counseling Corner
We would like to recognize the parent volunteers who staff our Career Center. They perform a valuable service to our students helping them find out information about colleges, scholarships, interests, and financial aid. The Career Center volunteers are: Judy Kreitman, Laurie Meier, Gitta Sanford, Julia Leyva, Andi Eggers, Julie Widman Lorna Boon, and Linda Alexander.
In addition, we would like to thank the parent volunteers who help us manage our main office during the week. Their presence allows us to do our jobs more efficiently. The Counseling Office volunteers are: Nancy Allison, Anita Dickman, Brenda Draper, Julie Widman, Laurie Meier, Carol Musselman, Diana Streitfeld, Laura Tick, Tamara Sprung, Kim Juhasz, and Cynthia Feig.
TEXTING AND DRIVING
According to statistics compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2010, 3092 people were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver and an estimated additional 416,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver. Here are some more statistics as to why texting is so dangerous (from http://www.textinganddrivingsafety.com/texting-and-driving-stats/)
* When a driver texts while driving, his reaction time will decrease by 35%
* When texting, steering capability goes down by a tremendous amount: 91%.
* A driver is twenty-three times more likely to get into a car accident while driving and texting.
* Drivers are also six times as likely to get into a car accident while dialing a number into their cellular devices.
Please take time to watch this video produced by AT&T about texting and driving http://counselingvideos.blogspot.com/2010/12/at-dont-text-while-driving-documentary.html Then watch it with your students.
GATHERING FAFSA DOCUMENTS
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) was posted online January 1. It is important for seniors to complete the form and submit as soon as possible, as financial aid is provided on a first-come, first-served basis. Here are some of the items you will need:
- Your Social Security number and your parents' Social Security numbers.
- Your driver's license number if you have one.
- Your Alien Registration Number if you are not a United States citizen.
- 2012 federal tax information for you and your parents if you are providing parent information. You will still be able to submit your FAFSA even if you have not filed your taxes at this time, but you must still provide income and tax information from the previous year.
- Records of untaxed income, such as Social Security benefits, welfare benefits and veteran's benefits for you and your parents.
- Information on savings, investments, and business and farm assets for you and your parents.
- Federal Student Aid advises families with unusual circumstances, including job loss, to complete FAFSA on the Web whenever possible, submit it and then contact the financial aid office of the school you plan to attend.
- Also, scholarship and financial aid scams are out there; do not pay a fee for FAFSA completion and filing. Help completing the FAFSA can generally be found from the school you are planning to attend, a school counselor or Federal Student Aid.
- To get started, visit www.fafsa.ed.gov. Don't miss out!
The FAFSA must be received by the colleges to qualify for need based and many non-need based scholarships. FAFSA forms need to be filed by February 14th to reach the state schools by their priority filing date.
In order to file the FAFSA both the student and parent will need to have a PIN number for their electronic signatures. You may apply for the PIN numbers at http://www.pin.ed.gov.
If you will not have your exact tax information by the deadlines, use your previous year's taxes to estimate what it will be, file that information, and amend it later, if necessary. The important point is to get the FAFSA in early.
WANT SOME HELP WITH THE FAFSA?
Come to College Goal Sunday and Saturday TOO! where hundreds of financial aid professionals will be on hand February 9 and 10, 2013 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. to help high school seniors, and returning adults complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA is the first critical step in applying for all types of financial aid (grants, loans, etc.) and can be challenging. Get help with the FAFSA or questions regarding the financial aid process. The website below has the locations of the event for Saturday and Sunday.
Don't miss out on the free help or the opportunity to register to win a scholarship for college! Information regarding College Goal Sunday & Saturday TOO! including line by line instructions on how to complete the FAFSA at home is available online at www.collegegoalsunday.com, or you may call the Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education (ACPE) at (602) 258-2435 ext. 117.
SAT & ACT
All college-bound Juniors should take an SAT or ACT Test by June, 2013. Having a score on file will allow students to apply early for college admission and scholarships.
SAT Registration
Test Date: March 9 Registration Deadline: February 8
Test Date: May 4 Registration Deadline: April 5
Test Date: June 1 Registration Deadline: May 2
Register at www.collegeboard.com
ACT Registration
Test Date: April 13 Registration Deadline: March 8
Test Date: June 8 Registration Deadline: May 3
Register at www.act.org
ACT AT SABINO
In addition to these national testing dates, Sabino juniors will take the ACT during the school day on April 23rd. Students do not need to sign up for this test, there is no fee for this test date, and students in other grades cannot participate. ACT Preparation materials will be distributed to students.
AIMS and Stanford 10 INFORMATION
Mark your calendars for AIMS testing! Passing all three sections of AIMS is a graduation requirement in Arizona. All sophomores will take AIMS tests for the first time this year. In addition, juniors and seniors who have not yet passed one or more sections and those who requested us to order materials for them to try to exceed will retest on these dates. All freshmen will take the Stanford 10 test on April 11th.
Monday, February 25, 2013 AIMS Writing
Tuesday, February 26, 2013 AIMS Reading
Tuesday, April 9, 2013 AIMS Math
Wednesday, April 10, 2013 AIMS Science
(Biology students in grades 9-10)
Thursday, April 11, 2013 Stanford 10 - all freshmen
**Please note that this year the AIMS Writing and Reading testing is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday afterRodeo Break. Since there is only one day for each test, please plan any family trips to ensure that students are in school on test days.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT EXAMS
Deposits for A.P. exams can be made in the Bookstore now and are due by February 8th. The $20 deposit is non-refundable. The fee for each test is $89. Final payment will be due by February 28th. Checks should be made out to Sabino High School.
UPCOMING COLLEGE REPRESENTATIVE VISITS
Sign up in the counseling office
Visit the Sabino counseling website or review the daily announcements for upcoming college rep visits! http://sabinocounseling.weebly.com/college-rep-visits.html
COLLEGE INFORMATION NIGHT - SAVE THE DATE!
College Information Night is a time for students and their parents to learn more about post-secondary options. This year's expanded program will be held on Wednesday, March 6th. The Financial Aid Session for juniors and their parents will go from 5:15 PM to 6:15 PM in room 206. The other activities will begin at 6:15 PM in the cafeteria. Participants will have an opportunity to browse information tables and speak with college and military representatives as well as attend information sessions for our state universities. More information will be available on the Parental Access Bulletin Board and Sabino Website as the event approaches - but be sure to mark it on your calendar!
JTED OPPORTUNITIES
Pima County JTED (Joint Technological Education District) offers students the opportunity to participate in career and technical education programs outside of their regular school day at Sabino. These programs are free and can be used as high school elective credit if the student passes the class. The enrollment period for programs for next school year has started. Here are the different programs offered at each grade level:
Current freshmen are eligible to participate in Multimedia Technologies, Culinary Arts, Early Childhood Education, Graphic Design, Agriscience (Plant Systems) and Precision Manufacturing.
Current sophomores are eligible to participate in the programs above as well as Aviation Technology, Cosmetology, Healthcare Foundations, and Law, Public Safety and Security. Sophomores who are interested in participating in the Health Sciences programs (including Certified Nursing Assistant and Medical Assistant) as seniors will need to sign up for the Healthcare Foundations course for their junior year. Sophomores who are considering the Cosmetology program need to sign up for the 2-year program, which will start in their junior year. JTED is phasing out the one-year program, as it is very intense and it is difficult for students to complete their graduation requirements in addition to the cosmetology requirements.
Current juniors can apply to participate in the programs listed above, as well as Fire Science. Current juniors who wish to participate in the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) or the Medical Assistant program need to sign up for the Healthcare Foundations class. There is no guarantee they can be offered the CNA or Medical Assistant Program due to completing the Healthcare Foundations class as a pre-requisite.
Complete program descriptions and program locations can be found in the 2013-2014 Program Guide located in the Programs and Classes section of http://www.pimajted.org/. After reviewing the program guide you can register for the program of your choice online at http://www.pimajted.org. If you have questions, you can contact Mrs. Allen at Jacqline.allen@tusd1.org or 584-7743.
OPEN ENROLLMENT
If you know someone who is interested in attending Sabino and does not live in the attendance area, invite them to the complete an Open Enrollment form. This form can be obtained at Sabino or on-line at http://www.tusd1.org .
We will be offering two sessions for Open Enrollment students and parents to obtain registration information.
USING THE INTERNET FOR SCHOLARSHIP SEARCHES
The Internet Scholarship Search page on the Sabino Counseling website has been updated to include additional opportunities. Be sure to take advantage of the opportunity to discover scholarships that are available to you.
The Arizona Career Information System (AZCIS) includes a wonderful tool to help students search for scholarship opportunities. Start by going to http://www.azcis.intocareers.org. Students who have already created an Education Career Action Plan (ECAP) should use the login they already created. First time users use the User Name: sabinohs and the Password: 4azcis02. After logging on, create an ECAP (an electronic portfolio) by following the link on the upper right of the homepage. This will allow you to save the results of scholarship searches. From the home page, select "Scholarships" on the left side. This presents two opportunities for searching. You can look through the different "folders" to identify scholarships, or you can complete the "Financial Aid Sort," which is a search engine to look for scholarships according to set criteria. Once you have your results, save them to your ECAP so you can come back and look through later.
CAREER ASSESSMENTS
Completing career assessments is a fabulous way for students to get some direction in determining a career path. AZCIS has several wonderful assessments, including the Interest Profiler, Career Clusters Inventory, SKILLS, and Work Importance Locator. To access these, students can follow the AZCIS instructions in the article on Scholarship Searches to log on to AZCIS. The links to the assessments can then be found in the lower left hand corner of the homepage. Creating an Education Career Action Plan before they begin the assessments will allow students to save the results for future reference.
Another fabulous career assessment is the ASVAB test. Keep reading for more information...
ASVAB
Whether you're planning on college, a technical school, military or you're just not sure yet, the ASVAB Career Exploration Program can provide you with important information about your skills, abilities and interests - and help put you on the right course for a satisfying career. The ASVAB combines a top-notch career assessment with an interest inventory to help you determine which careers fit your strengths and your interests. The ASVAB will be given here at Sabino on Feb. 8th. Sophomores, juniors and seniors can sign up now in the Counseling Office.
If you have any questions or problems with the AZCIS website, scholarships, or ASVAB please contact Mrs. Allen at Jacqline.Allen@tusd1.org or 584-7743.
UPDATED COUNSELING INFORMATION
The Sabino Counseling Page http://sabinocounseling.weebly.com/index.html has important information including tutor lists, scholarship information, college visitation information, and much more. This is updated on a regular basis. Visit us!
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