• All counselors will provide services to grades 6-12.
• Counselors will assist students with academic, college and career, personal, social and spiritual concerns.
• Counselors will provide referrals and serve as a resource for community mental health info as needed.

• Iowa Test of Basic Skills (6,7 & 8)
• Nevada State Writing Proficiency Exam (8)

High School

• ACT Program for Educational Planning - EXPLORE (9)
• ACT Program for Educational Planning - PLAN (10)
• Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Testing (PSAT) (10 & 11)
• Nevada State High School Proficiency Testing (10 - 12)
• Armed Forces Vocational and Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) (11)
• American College Testing (11, 12)
• Scholastic Assessment Testing (SAT) (11, 12)
• Advanced Placement Testing (AP) (11, 12)

• SAT registration http://www.collegeboard.com
• ACT registration http://www.actstudent.org
• College search based on your interests http://www.connectedu.net
• Peterson’s Guide http://www.petersons.com Great search engine. Will allow you to search for a college, then send a message to the college for information. Fill out the instant inquiry form once and then you can send it to as many colleges as you like.
• College and Scholarship http://nvcis.intocareers.org
• Overview of Colleges http://www.collegeview.com
• Overview of Colleges http://www.overview.com/colleges/
• Christian Colleges http://www.christiancolleges.com
• Go College http://www.gocollege.com Another search location also has good advice about colleges.
• Scholarships.com http://www.scholarships.com
• Lutheran Colleges www.lutherancolleges.org
• FAFSA website http://www.fafsa.ed.gov
• More scholarships http://www.fastweb.com
• Register to be a NCAA student athlete http://www.ncaaclearinghouse.net

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Counseling Calendar (2008-09)

September
16 Armed Services Vocational and Apptitude Battery (ASVAB) (11)

October
6-24 Iowa Test of Basic Skills (6-8)
15 PSAT (10 & 11) EXPLORE (9)
20-21 Clark County School District College Fair at Cashman Center
23 Christian College Fair at Faith Student Center

November
3-7 Nevada Proficiency (NHSPE) retakes (12)
5 NHSPE Writing (11)
10-14 Junior college planning meetings
17-21 Middle school guidance on conflict resolution in the auditorium

December
1-5 Sophomore college planning meetings
8-12 High school classroom guidance on conflict resolution in English classes
16 PLAN (10)

January
26-30 NHSPE retakes (12)

February
2-6 Junior scheduling meetings
9-13 Sophomore scheduling meetings
16-20 Freshmen scheduling/college planning meetings
23-27 8th grade scheduling/college planning meetings
27 Peer academic presentation in auditorium (6)

March
2 Peer academic presentation in auditorium (7)
5 Peer academic presentation in auditorium (8)
16 NHSPE Science (10 & 11)
17 NHSPE Math (10-12)
18 NHSPE Reading (10) and Writing (11 & 12)
19 NHSPE Reading (11 & 12)

April
21 High school drug/alcohol prevention speaker in auditorium
27-May 1 MS classroom guidance on drug/alcohol prevention in social studies classes

May
4-13 AP Exams
11-15 NHSPE retakes


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Updates/News

What Do I Do Now?
As the end of the school year approaches, guidance counselors get a lot of “what do I do now?” questions about the college preparation process.  The answer is slightly different depending on the age of the student, but our broad answer to that question is “Do high school; don’t just go to high school”.  There is no better way to prepare for college than working hard in a college preparatory high school. For answers to the question based on the age of the student, refer to the following or contact your child’s counselor directly. 

Juniors: 

• Sign up to take the SAT reasoning test at www.collegeboard.com and/or the ACT at www.actstudent.org.
• Take the SAT prep class run by Mrs. Washington and Mrs. Hagge at Faith in August or some other class if this is not possible.
• Make sure you are signed up for www.connectedu.net by now and complete the college preferences interview.  From there, research the universities that match your preferences and generate your list of 8 to 12 schools that interest you.  If you are not signed up, refer to the directions at the bottom of this page.
• Call, make an appointment with an admissions counselor and visit some of those schools over the summer.
• You will receive the Faith Lutheran Senior Handbook with more information sometime in August.

Sophomores, Freshmen & 8th Graders: 

• Study hard and do well in the classes you are taking.
• Sophomores will take the PSAT on Oct. 15th.  There will be a PSAT/SAT prep class at Faith on one of the Saturdays in September…take it.
• Look at the admissions requirements for some universities that you might want to attend in the future.  Make an appointment with your counselor to make sure you are on the right track.  Consider visiting some of those schools over the summer.
• Sophomores will be signed up for www.connectedu.net in the fall of their junior year so they can do some more in-depth college research.  If you would like to get a jump on this, refer to the sign-up directions below.
• Get involved in school clubs/sports and some kind of community service.
• Don’t worry about the SAT or ACT until you are a junior; just do your homework and study for tests.

How to sign up for Connect!

1. Go to www.connectedu.net
2. Click on “Member login”
3. Click on “Register” on the right side
4. Click on “Parent” for parents or “Student” for students
5. Enter your child’s first and last name and ID number
6. The ID number is the last 4 digits of the number on his/her lunch card
7. Enter your information and follow the instructions from there

COLLEGE PLANNING MEETINGS
In the fall semester, counselors meet with seniors and their parents individually.  Juniors, sophomores and freshmen, will meet with their counselor in groups of eight to ten. Each student is given a copy of his/her current transcript and advice about what to do now in the college planning process.

The following are answers to questions that are commonly asked during these meetings:

- When should I apply for college? Students should apply for college during the fall of their senior year. Each college/university has a different application deadline, but most are between November 30th and March 1st. You do not want to turn in your applications late, so seniors should check the deadlines of the schools to which they are applying and get started on the process as soon as possible.

- How much of this process is my counselor able to help me with? For some universities, the application process is quite extensive. Your counselor can help with just about anything. However, it must be understood that all the work ultimately needs to be done and submitted by the student and his/her parents. In general the college application process involves, filling out the actual application, requesting letters of recommendation, writing application essays, requesting copies of tests scores and transcripts, filling out housing applications, filling out scholarship applications, and filling out financial aid information forms like the FAFSA and/or any individual institutional financial forms (counselors cannot help file financial aid forms as the information involved is personal). Keep an eye on the counselor’s calendar, as there will be a financial aid/FAFSA night during the fall semester hosted by Concordia University, during which parents are free to ask any financial aid questions they have.

- When should I take the SAT? If you are a junior in Algebra II or lower, don’t take it until May or June of your junior year. If you are a junior in Pre-calculus or higher, you can take it anytime in the spring of your junior year. Seniors who have not yet taken the SAT should take it as soon as possible.

- Should I take the ACT? We recommend that you take both the SAT and the ACT because some students do better on one than they do on the other and a higher score can qualify you for college admission and/or various scholarships.

- What is the difference between the two tests? It’s complicated, but the basic difference is the ACT has a science section and includes math questions through trigonometry while the SAT does not have science and includes math questions through Algebra II but not trigonometry.  In addition the ACT does not penalize for wrong answers while the SAT takes a ¼ point away for every wrong answer.

- How do I qualify for the Millennium Scholarship? You must graduate with a 3.25 or better cumulative GPA for all four years of high school. If you do, Faith will send your information to the Nevada State Treasurer’s Office and you will qualify to receive funds up to $10,000 if you attend college or university in Nevada.

- What do I need to be admitted to UNLV or UNR? UNLV and UNR recently increased their admission requirements. Starting with the class of 2008, both universities will require a 3.0 or better GPA in the student’s core classes or a combined SAT Math and Critical Reading score of 1040 or an ACT score of 22. You can check what core classes they will accept on their websites.

- Should I take an SAT/ACT prep. class? Yes, but remember that a prep. class will not teach you the material that will be covered on the test. You learn that in high school. A prep. class will teach you how to get the most out of the knowledge you already have and give you pointers about how to answer the types of questions that will be asked.

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Classroom Guidance

Middle School Alcohol/Drug Lesson

Introduction: Last year we taught you about how to know when someone important to you is having trouble with alcohol or drugs. Today we are going to show you how alcohol/drug use affects the whole family. In fact, the effects on the family are so strong—it’s often called a “family disease”. Before we do that, we want to remind you just how someone becomes addicted. As we taught you last year, nobody wakes up in the morning and plans to have a problem with alcohol or drugs.

• Levels of Use handout—pass it out and go over it briefly with the class, highlighting the main points at each level of use and the signs:             
  
  Use—Early Signs
  Misuse—Middle Signs
  Abuse—Late Signs

• Explain an intervention briefly: the people who are family/friends and love the addicted person need help to lovingly confront the addicted person and get him/her to accept help. You cannot do this alone! You need the help of a counselor, pastor, or someone trained in addiction.
• “Now we want to show you how one person’s addiction affects the other people in the family. If we live with an addicted person we develop ways of dealing with the behavior of that person called “codependency”. Basically, codependency is involves feeling overly responsible for the behavior or welfare of another person. We start to think we can control the thoughts, feelings, or behavior of another person. We try not to show our real feelings, and we try to protect ourselves from the pain of what’s happening in the family. Family members start to take on different “roles” that we will act out for you now. Watch to see how each person acts to try to hide his/her pain and deal with the addicted person.

Addicted Person: Why isn’t dinner ready and why is this house such a mess?! And you wonder why I drink! Now I have such a headache, and it’s your fault! How can I go to work tomorrow!!??
Chief Enabler: I’m so sorry—I was busy helping the kids with their homework, and I forgot the time. (looking very worried) I’ll call your boss for you and tell her you aren’t feeling well—ok???
Family Hero: Don’t worry everyone! I’ll order us some pizza and help everyone else with their homework! I have straight “A’s”, so I can afford to miss doing mine for one night. Now that _________season is done, and my duties as class president are less, I can help with anything around here!”
Chief Enabler and Addicted Person: That’s our Boy/Girl!!!!!
Scapegoat: I hate this family and you (looking at family hero) are so pathetic! I have all D’s and I got kicked out of Algebra today and I’m proud of it!
Chief Enabler and Addicted Person: Get out of this house if you’re going to talk like that. You cause all the problems here!
Mascot: Wait a minute you two! You forgot to take your happy pills today!!! Watch me—this is me being Happy!!! (do a little dance and laugh).
Chief Enabler and Addicted Person: Isn’t she/he so funny!!!! You can always make us laugh!!
Lost Child: I think I’ll just go to my room and read. See you all later—much later (looking sad).
Chief Enabler: Don’t worry about him/her—she/he will be fine. Just chooses to be alone and that’s ok.

• Each family member reads their characteristics to the class. Tell them that sometimes people in the family may react by doing a blend of the roles just acted out. When we hide our real feelings and take on these roles to try to “tippy-toe” around the addicted person—it is called codependency. It makes sense to the family, but looks funny to the outside world. What we are doing is trying to cope with the addicted person’s behavior. If this is happening in your family it is important to talk to an adult you trust. You can talk to your teachers, your counselor, a pastor, or another parent whom you trust. 
• Handout: Someone I Know Drinks Too Much—What Should I Do? Read handout with the class.
• End with Bible verse and prayer: Mark 4: 35—41 (Jesus calms the storm). Always pray for help and guidance, and Christ will hear you. As he calmed the storm; he can help calm you so you’ll be able to see the solution to your problems.

Peer Helpers Roster
Peer helpers are nominated by their teachers typically at the end of their freshman year. Each nominee then fills out an application and the final decision is made by the guidance department.

Seniors:
Wesley House
Alexa Stimson
Sam Thompson
Ryan O’Conner
Nick Brown
Ashley Guerin
Lauren Bacchus
Gioia Rhodes
Heather Lake

Juniors:
Evan Newton
Kesia Ross
Jessica Nelson
Sydney Spoon
Joe Bravo
Tim Heidorn
Madeline Courvoisier
Lauren Gatewood
Scott Rosenbach
Kailey McEvilly
Stephanie DeWyn

Sophomores:
Casey Kolnes
Michael Kinkenon
Nathaniel Zieg
Matthew Kim
Krystal Onyema
Cassie Whalen
Hannah Sunderman
Alexandria Cannito