Week 2 and the Snow Monster

Hey there SEAD Team!

Mid-terms are finally over and it's now time to start off Q3. And what better way is there to start this quarter off than with a snow storm?!?! Isn't that just great? Well, as you may already know, we'll be taking tomorrow, Tuesday the 27, off in preparation for the storm that is supposed to hit. I personally don't mind a day off, but I'd really rather not have a snow storm. So I would definitely choose school over the storm. But, I'm certain some of you are really looking forward to an additional day off. So enjoy.

Anyhow, midterms went well overall, and, for some of you, they went terrifically! It was a tough week and the exams must have been exhausting but you all took them and, hopefully, did as well as you could have. I hope you all had a great weekend and relaxed, or prepared for this new quarter. I know Wes started off the new quarter with a victory over Bow last Friday! Good job, Wes! Keep up the good work.

As of now, I believe that we will be having the traditional Applebee's dinner this Thursday at 6! Let me know if we have to change this for any reason. I'm also looking into our volunteer service for this quarter. For now, we'll probably be at either the elementary school or the middle school. I'll let you guys know more as the plans develop! Have a great week team!



Best,
Roberto

Week 1 and the Mid-Boss!

Hey there SEAD Team!

This has been a pretty interesting and, hopefully, successful first week. I started a little too late into Q2 (the last week) to be of actual use to you. I also didn't really get a chance to work with you guys. However, this past weekend and just talking to you guys has helped me see where I can offer you a hand. Remember that I am a resource for you all, so feel free to use me to all of your hearts' content. (Please let me know if that sounds weird.) With that in mind, yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is time for that dreaded and ever-so-stressful Midterms week! I have, upon your requests and Katherine's suggestion, brought a little bucket of candy, that now sits on the corner of my desk, for you to eat. Feel free to come and grab a piece or two or how many you want when ever you want a snack or want to blow some steam. You are all doing fantastic!


Because this is a stressful week, lets take few moments to reflect on this week. We had a few assignments and exams do last week to accompany the close of the 2nd Quarter. And as you may already know, Cam got a 99% on his APUSH exam last week! That's a great way to start the exam period, particularly for a class as difficult as APUSH! (If any of you took exams this past week, show them to me, especially if you're proud about the score. I'd love to see how you're doing.) Keep up the good work and good luck with exams!

Let me know if you guys need anything!

Best,
Roberto

Just a Quick Introduction

Hi there!

               

My name is Roberto; however, feel free to call me Robert if you find it easier. I’ll be the new SEAD intern for the winter of 2015, so I would like to introduce myself before I get to Raymond this upcoming Friday morning.

I am currently a sophomore at Dartmouth College. I have yet to declare my major, but I will most likely be majoring in psychology. I also intend to minor in educational policy, but I'm still figuring out how to go about modifying a public policy minor with an education minor. On campus, I am primarily involved in programs sponsored by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy, usually social awareness programs, and DRAW, a club that focuses on art, comics, and creative writing.

During my time at Raymond, I look forward to working with each of you to help the SEAD students improve academically. This being said, I will also be available as a resource for facets of their lives that fall out of the realm of academics. So feel free to drop by or contact me whenever you need help with anything. My door will always be open. Parents this also applies to you. If you ever have any concerns or want to check in feel free to contact me. I will be sending a hard copy of this letter out as well as making individual phone calls to introduce myself sometime during this upcoming week.

I am looking forward to spending time in Raymond and working with all of you! See you guys in a couple of days!

Your 15W Intern,

Roberto Lopez Jr

E-mail: roberto.lopez.jr.17@dartmouth.edu

Cell: 323-517-3508

Weekly Update - 11/3-11/14

Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay! But it's that time of week again...

SEAD Weekly Update!!

It's been surprisingly quiet these last couple of weeks. The RHS girls soccer made it all the way to STATE FINALS this year!! I got to watch both the semi-finals and the final match, and boy was that some good soccer. Congratulations ladies!

On both Saturday and Tuesday, I hosted a practice SAT, and we had four students attend between the two dates. Another SEAD student even asked if he could take the test at home since he could not go to either of the two scheduled sessions. Such dedication! I'm very impressed with how all five students showed their perseverance and successfully finished such a long exam.

Things to do:

Students:

• Our individual meetings this week are crucial, so please make sure you come to them! We have a lot of end-of-term things to discuss, and I want to maximize the rest of the time I have left with you.
• As always, please continue to do your WilsonPrep exercises. A few of you are in danger of losing your access because you haven't done an exercise in so long!

Parents:

• Ask your student about their WilsonPrep progress.
• Ask about your student's top three colleges and why. We want to get as much conversation and discussion going as possible.

Upcoming SEAD Events!

• On Wednesday, November 19th, we'll be having our last ever group meeting for the term. I'll bring a lot of yummy goodies to snack on, and the winter intern Roberto will be Skyping into the meeting to say hi!
• Also on Wednesday, November 19th, we're having a group lunch to celebrate. It will take place during 5-3 lunch (we're extremely lucky that everybody has the same schedule!), and I'll get pizza delivered. It should be a lot of fun!
• On Friday, November 21st, we're going to see the Not2Sharp a cappella performance in the RHS cafeteria. Please tell me ASAP if you plan on going so I can get tickets for everyone!

Student Showcase:

Our student showcase this week is Tatiana! She's graduating this year (one year early!) and has been doing an absolutely phenomenal job handling her eight (yes eight!) courses and completing her college and scholarship applications. She plays sports too! Good job Tati, and keep up the great work!

That's all I have for this week. Don't forget to be awesome.

Your friendly neighborhood intern,

Katherine

Weekly Update - 10/27-10/31

Happy Halloween! Do I have a treat for you! It's the....

SEAD Weekly Update!!

Last week was surprisingly calm here at RHS. We didn't have any SEAD events (I know, that's super sad, right?), so it was just business as usual. During our group meeting this week, we discussed the differences between and the pros/cons of target, reach, and safety schools when applying to colleges. We will continue to work on this throughout the rest of my time here at RHS, and the winter intern (Roberto) will work with the students on this as well. Having a balance of target/reach/safety schools in the list of colleges you apply to is incredibly important, and it can make the difference between attending a school you love and a school you hate.

Things to do:

Students:

• As always, continue to do your WilsonPrep exercises! They could be the key between getting a so-so and getting a great SAT score. It's just a couple minutes each day, but it will pay off so much in the end. Also, doing a full week of WilsonPrep by Friday at 9pm is worth FIVE College Knowledge Points!
• Keep updating your College Greenlight profiles! A couple of our SEAD scholars have been excellent about exploring College Greenlight over the past week, and they've both told me that they were really surprised about how helpful the website is.

Parents:

• Ask your students about their target, reach, and safety schools. Ask what we've been talking about during our meetings this term. Ask what their current top 3 colleges are and why. 
• Be involved with their college search process because when your student is deciding where to attend college their senior spring (just a year and a half from now!), you should hopefully be as excited about their choice as they are. 

Upcoming SEAD Events!

• On THURSDAY November 6th (please note the date change!), RHS is hosting their Financial Aid night at 6pm. Even though our SEAD scholars are juniors, it's never too early to start planning for how to pay for college. The presentation will cover the financial aid process and ways to apply for aid (FAFSA and CSS Profile forms), what types of aid are available, scholarship searches, and the importance of deadlines. I'll be there, and please plan on attending if you are able!
• On Saturday November 8th, we will be doing a full-length (~4 hours) practice SAT as part of our College Knowledge and SAT prep curriculum. It will take place at 8am in room 204 in the high school, and it is absolutely expected that all the students attend. Since the SAT is as much about endurance as about knowing the right answer, the more times they practice taking this test, the better they'll do on the real SAT next year - it's like training for a marathon. After the test, we'll go get ice cream (or coffee and hot chocolate if it's too cold for ice cream) as a reward for the students' hard work on the test.
• On Friday November 21st, we will be going to see Not2Sharp, an a capella group from UNH, preform in the RHS cafeteria. A capella is, in my opinion, quintessentially college, and it should be a great experience for all involved. This will be my last night in Raymond, so I would absolutely love for everybody to attend so I can say my goodbyes. I've already had a couple of students RSVP to this, so for the rest of the students: please let me know ASAP if you plan on going so I can buy tickets for everybody!

Student Showcase!

This week's student showcase is Shae! She put in a lot of time and effort last week to get all of her assignments in on time for the end of the quarter, and she has sought me out during her study hall for help when she needs it. Good job Shae! Keep up the good work, and always reach for help when needed! I'm excited to see what you'll accomplish this coming term.

That's all I have for now. As always, reach out early and often, and have a fantastic week! See you soon!

Your friendly neighborhood intern,

Katherine

College Knowledge Prizes!!

Hi all!!

The SEAD Staff have instituted a 

NEW POLICY 

surrounding our College Knowledge Curriculum, and it involves 

FREE DARTMOUTH GEAR 

We're now switching to a point system using the following point assignments:

TWO points for the completion of our College Knowledge worksheets (EACH WEEK)

TWO points for going on our college visit to Boston College

ONE point for attending a college information session hosted at RHS

FIVE points for a full week's WilsonPrep exercises on time (EACH WEEK by Friday at 9pm)

TEN points for attending the SEAD practice SAT (on Saturday November 8th)

Up to FIVE points for Effort and Enthusiasm (awarded at the end of the term)

And the prizes are...

25 Points for a Dartmouth KEYCHAIN

35 points for a Dartmouth LANYARD or BEANIE

45 points for a Dartmouth T-SHIRT

Attendance at the SAT for a Dartmouth WATER BOTTLE

(By going to the SAT, students get 10 points AND automatically get a water bottle too)

EDIT: I'm sorry everybody! These prizes ARE NOT cumulative - I was misinformed. I'm sorry about the confusion on this! If you have 45 points, you can choose whichever prize you want (a keychain OR a lanyard OR a beanie OR a t-shirt) - the only exception is the water bottle. If you do the SAT, you get the water bottle AND another prize (if you're eligible for it).

There are over 60 points available through all of these opportunities and so many free prizes to win!!!

I will calculate each student's CK points throughout the term 

as they complete our College Knowledge tasks. 

At the end of November, the SEAD staff will be notified as to which students 

earned which items, and Roberto (the winter intern!) will bring the prizes 

with him to give to students at the start of January.

Weekly Update - 10/20-10/24

It's that time of week again...

SEAD Weekly Update!!

Hi all! Here's a quick recap of everything we've done over the past week here at the ever lovely RHS:

On Wednesday, we had our SEAD Family dinner! Thank you to everyone who came - I had a blast! I absolutely loved meeting all of the parents and siblings and friends of our SEAD Scholars, and I hope that you had a wonderful time as well. We also covered a lot of information at the dinner, so if anybody has any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

On Saturday, the Raymond, East Boston, and Schenectady SEAD Students and their interns had an amazing trip to Boston College. I hope that everyone got a lot out of the experience - even if BC turned out not to be a very good fit for you, maybe you now have a better understanding of what types of universities will be good fits. 

If you want to see what the other schools and interns have been up to, here are the links to their blogs!

Maggie, East Boston High School: http://seadebhs.blogspot.com/

Erika, Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics: http://seadbcsm.blogspot.com/

Kayla, Schenectady High School: http://seadshs.blogspot.com/

Things to do:

Students: 

• As always, please do your daily WilsonPrep exercises! They're super quick - only five minutes - and they will help so much when you take the SAT in a few months. Also, you'll get five College Knowledge points if you do all five of the weekly exercises by Friday at 9pm.
• And again, please continue updating your College Greenlight profiles. This resource makes the college and scholarship search so much easier - I really wish that I had something like this available to me in high school.
• This is the last week of the quarter, so keep pushing! You're almost there! All of the students have at least one test this week, so study hard, do your work, and finish the quarter strong.

Parents:

• The first quarter ends this Friday, so please continue to encourage your student to complete their schoolwork to the very best of their abilities. They're all wonderful people, and I would love for their grades to reflect this!

Upcoming SEAD Events!

• On Wednesday November 5th, RHS is hosting their Financial Aid night at 6pm. Even though our SEAD students are juniors, it's never too early to start planning for how to pay for college. The presentation will cover the financial aid process and ways to apply for aid (FAFSA and CSS Profile forms), what types of aid are available, scholarship searches, and the importance of deadlines. Please plan on attending if you are able!
• On Saturday November 8th, we will be doing a full-length (~4 hours) practice SAT as part of our College Knowledge and SAT prep curriculum. It will take place in the morning in the high school (exact room and time TBD), and it is absolutely expected that all the students attend. The more times they practice taking this test, the better they'll do on the real SAT next year. Plus, we'll go get ice cream (or coffee/hot chocolate if it's too cold for ice cream) afterwards as a reward for their hard work on the test. 
• On Friday November 21st, we will be going to see Not2Sharp, an a capella (singing without instruments) group from UNH, preform in the RHS cafeteria. A capella is so quintessentially college, and I think this will be a great experience for the students. This will be my last night in Raymond, so I would love for everybody to attend so I can say my goodbyes. Please let me know if you plan on going so I can buy tickets for everybody!

Student Showcase!

Congratulations to Cam this week! He completed all five of his weekly WilsonPrep exercises on time and received 5 CK (College Knowledge) points! You're five points closer to that Dartmouth t-shirt that you wanted!

That's all I have for this week (I know, it was short, wasn't it?). As always, reach out early and often, and have a fantastic week! See you soon!

Your friendly neighborhood intern,

Katherine