This December has brought my family so much joy and I hope it has for you, too.
What a month it’s been! My son sang in the Metea Valley High School Collage Concert held at beautiful Wentz Hall at North Central College and my daughter played violin in the Waubonsie Valley Prism Concert for the last time. Both were amazing concerts, but I was sad during Prism when looking at all those seniors in Santa hats who will not be performing at WV next year.
My son had daily practice after school for Metea Valley’s “12 Angry Jurors” that will be performed at the end of January. He also rehearsed with his music groups at school and an a cappella group he and his friends have started. My youngest worked on her Irish Dancing and attended rehearsals for the children’s Christmas musical at Wheatland Salem Church where she has a speaking part.
Fun events included a surprise gathering for my sister-in-law’s birthday, the annual IPPC School Board Reception, a neighborhood progressive cocktail party, and a Christmas party at a friend’s house. The kids baked cookies with their aunt and later with their grandparents where they also decorated gingerbread houses.
Late on December 12 my family was at O’Hare to pick up our daughter who had been out of the country since August. We were so happy to see her and are so glad to have her back! We had a welcome home gathering for her the next day.
The parties continued with a backwards party for the 4th graders at Brooks on the last day before winter break and Christmas parties at home held by my high school senior, my college sophomore, and my fourth grader for their friends.
It’s been nice to have the house full of young people so many times lately.
We’ve also been blessed this month both with a new baby in the family and news of another on the way.
I’ve enjoyed receiving many cards, photos, and letters from friends and family. It’s astounding how the kids I haven’t seen recently have grown and changed.
As of this writing I’m still looking forward to seeing the musical at church, Christmas Eve church service, and our Christmas gatherings with the Tatars, Haytons, and Hards, followed by a much more relaxing week coming up and my son’s solos at Fourth Street United Methodist on January 3rd.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
2009-12-18 New baby announcements
The birth of a baby is one of the most exciting and happy times in life and the new parents are usually in a big hurry to get the news out to everyone who's been waiting.
Almost twenty years ago when my first daughter was born, technology was nowhere near what we have today. The hospital phones required us to call collect or use a calling card so even making phone calls was incredibly difficult and we made very few. We took pictures and my husband brought the film for one hour processing so he’d have pictures to show at work. I hand-wrote and mailed birth announcements.
Though I had e-mail and internet access at work, very few of my friends and family had e-mail or internet. I was able to announce Jessica’s birth to my internet friends when I returned to work three months later. The internet was text only and my friends and I shared photos by putting together an annual photo album, which required mailing pages, getting color copies made, and having the books assembled and mailed out.
Nearly a decade later when my youngest daughter was born we had a cell phone (one for our whole family) and could easily call anyone from the hospital. It was not a camera phone and we did not yet have texting capability nor did we know why we would even want it.
Though the internet had come a long ways in those ten years, we didn’t yet have a digital camera or even a scanner to get printed photos to the computer. We did have a desktop home computer with dial-up access and knew a lot of people who had e-mail by then, though still not many in our family. I was able to announce Alicia’s birth online from home as soon as I was home from the hospital. We ordered printed birth announcements from an online source.
Now, almost another ten years later, this past Monday night my cousin Sam Hard and his wife Alice gave birth to beautiful baby girl Kimberly Jade Hard. How do I know she’s beautiful? Sam e-mailed a birth announcement with a photo from the hospital just over an hour after she was born.
"I created the template for the announcement days in advance," Sam told me. "On the day of the birth, we brought our digital camera and netbook, so we were able to send the announcement right from the delivery room ..."
Now that almost everyone has e-mail, the good news reached friends and family in nearby and far-flung locations nearly instantaneously. I love that technology makes this possible and can't wait to meet the new baby in the family!
Almost twenty years ago when my first daughter was born, technology was nowhere near what we have today. The hospital phones required us to call collect or use a calling card so even making phone calls was incredibly difficult and we made very few. We took pictures and my husband brought the film for one hour processing so he’d have pictures to show at work. I hand-wrote and mailed birth announcements.
Though I had e-mail and internet access at work, very few of my friends and family had e-mail or internet. I was able to announce Jessica’s birth to my internet friends when I returned to work three months later. The internet was text only and my friends and I shared photos by putting together an annual photo album, which required mailing pages, getting color copies made, and having the books assembled and mailed out.
Nearly a decade later when my youngest daughter was born we had a cell phone (one for our whole family) and could easily call anyone from the hospital. It was not a camera phone and we did not yet have texting capability nor did we know why we would even want it.
Though the internet had come a long ways in those ten years, we didn’t yet have a digital camera or even a scanner to get printed photos to the computer. We did have a desktop home computer with dial-up access and knew a lot of people who had e-mail by then, though still not many in our family. I was able to announce Alicia’s birth online from home as soon as I was home from the hospital. We ordered printed birth announcements from an online source.
Now, almost another ten years later, this past Monday night my cousin Sam Hard and his wife Alice gave birth to beautiful baby girl Kimberly Jade Hard. How do I know she’s beautiful? Sam e-mailed a birth announcement with a photo from the hospital just over an hour after she was born.
"I created the template for the announcement days in advance," Sam told me. "On the day of the birth, we brought our digital camera and netbook, so we were able to send the announcement right from the delivery room ..."
Now that almost everyone has e-mail, the good news reached friends and family in nearby and far-flung locations nearly instantaneously. I love that technology makes this possible and can't wait to meet the new baby in the family!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
2009-12-11 College Prep
Any parent of a college-bound high school senior knows what a busy time this school year is. Most parents are probably wondering what happened to that little baby they brought home not so long ago, and what the next year will bring.
Many seniors are busy with yet another year of difficult college prep classes, all of the usual high school events, and possibly a part-time job or two and volunteer work while keeping up with their friends, extra-curricular activities, and applying to colleges and for scholarships for next year.
Thankfully there are a lot of resources available to help guide parents and students through college preparation. There are many things that need to happen and some of them started years ago. The student needs to decide what college or type of college they want to attend, they need to be well-prepared to get into the school of their choice, and they need a way to pay for it.
My oldest daughter knew that she wanted a school near home, smaller than the high school she attended, with a nice downtown area and a good program for her choice of major. She fell in love with North Central College right away and didn’t even apply anywhere else. She even knew what she wanted to major in. That was easy.
My current senior has a different wish list. She wants to go to school far enough from home to live at school, but close enough to come home for some weekends. She wants a small to medium-sized school in which she can play in their orchestra while not majoring in music. We visited six colleges and she has narrowed her choices to one of those plus one we haven’t yet visited. Her choice of major is still up in the air.
Andrea Purcell, College and Career Center Counselor at Waubonsie Valley High School, says that “choosing the right college is so important because it is really a stepping stone to the rest of your life. The right college might not be what the student initially thought he or she wanted - so it is integral to visit colleges, talk to current students as well as staff, and make sure that the student feels at home so that they can thrive during their time at the school. College is such an important time in the life of a student - they grow academically AND socially AND emotionally - this is the time that we see our kids grow the most outside their infancy. The right school will shape the student into a productive adult and citizen so that they can be successful in their chosen career path.”
There are many ways to find out about colleges. There are college searches available on the ACT and SAT websites that can help narrow down the choices. College representatives visit local high schools on a regular basis. There are also college fairs, usually held at local community colleges, where students can get information about many different schools all at once. Erin Hoover, Assistant Director of Admission at North Central College, adds that "National and state organizations such as the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) and the Illinois Association for College Admission Counseling (IACAC) can also provide students with adequate resources to find direction in their college search."
As for the ability to get admitted to the school of choice, this depends heavily on what coursework the student has taken during their four years of high school, and how well they have done in school and on standardized tests, as well as their extra-curricular involvement.
There are numerous ways to prepare for the ACT and SAT including practice tests, courses designed for test prep, and simply taking rigorous coursework in school.
Talking to high school counselors and college admissions counselors can help a student make the right choices during high school that will help them prepare for their future.
Though next school year is many months away, early decision and early action deadlines have already passed or are quickly approaching for most schools. Students who have not yet begun applying should do so in the next few months.
College costs have gone up faster than most other expenses and it is much harder for students to pay the sticker price for college these days than it was back when I was in college. North Central's tuition has more than quadrupled in the past 25 years, while minimum wage has only doubled, and jobs for teens are harder than ever to come by. The good news is that most students do not pay full price to attend college.
A couple of obvious ways to keep total costs down are to join the military (active duty, reserve, or National Guard) or to attend community college for the first two years.
Illinois state schools are significantly less expensive than private schools, but it’s worth looking at both because when you take into account scholarships and financial aid there may not be much difference.
Almost every school offers some sort of merit scholarship program, even state schools and community colleges. Students should check the websites of the schools they are interested in for scholarship opportunities there, and contact their high school guidance counselor for local scholarship opportunities.
All families that may qualify for any financial aid, or are required to by their student’s school, should fill out the FAFSA each year the student will attend college, as early as possible that year. In most cases a student won’t get any sort of financial aid in the form of grants, subsidized loans, or work study unless the FAFSA has been submitted and shows need.
Local high schools and colleges offer presentations on financing college and other relevant topics to help families as well.
Becky Tatar, Periodicals/Audiovisuals Specialist at the Aurora Public Library, reports that the library “has materials on colleges and financial aid, including the FAFSA forms. There are also SAT, ACT and CLEP test preparation books, which are also available online through the Learning Express Library database. This database can be accessed from home with an Aurora Public Library card. The library also provides programs on financial aid options and mock ACT/SAT test preparation. All the websites listed can be accessed at the library.”
Our local students are fortunate to have such a wealth of valuable resources available to them. Here are some links.
http://www.ed.gov/fund/grants-college.html?src=rt - U.S. Department of Education college aid info
http://www.finaid.org/ - guide to scholarships, loans, and other aid
http://www.fastweb.com - scholarship search site
http://wvhs.ipsd.org/Subpage.aspx?id=89 - WVHS Guidance site, including college and career center and scholarship listings
http://nvhs.ipsd.org/Subpage.aspx?id=349 – NVHS Guidance site, including information about college applications and scholarships
http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ - Free Application for Federal Student Aid
http://www.youseemore.com/aurorapl/about.asp?loc=25 – Aurora Public Library “beyond high school” links and information
http://www.naperville-lib.info/LibServices/teen/collegeServ.htm - Naperville Public Library “road to college & beyond…” links and information
Many seniors are busy with yet another year of difficult college prep classes, all of the usual high school events, and possibly a part-time job or two and volunteer work while keeping up with their friends, extra-curricular activities, and applying to colleges and for scholarships for next year.
Thankfully there are a lot of resources available to help guide parents and students through college preparation. There are many things that need to happen and some of them started years ago. The student needs to decide what college or type of college they want to attend, they need to be well-prepared to get into the school of their choice, and they need a way to pay for it.
My oldest daughter knew that she wanted a school near home, smaller than the high school she attended, with a nice downtown area and a good program for her choice of major. She fell in love with North Central College right away and didn’t even apply anywhere else. She even knew what she wanted to major in. That was easy.
My current senior has a different wish list. She wants to go to school far enough from home to live at school, but close enough to come home for some weekends. She wants a small to medium-sized school in which she can play in their orchestra while not majoring in music. We visited six colleges and she has narrowed her choices to one of those plus one we haven’t yet visited. Her choice of major is still up in the air.
Andrea Purcell, College and Career Center Counselor at Waubonsie Valley High School, says that “choosing the right college is so important because it is really a stepping stone to the rest of your life. The right college might not be what the student initially thought he or she wanted - so it is integral to visit colleges, talk to current students as well as staff, and make sure that the student feels at home so that they can thrive during their time at the school. College is such an important time in the life of a student - they grow academically AND socially AND emotionally - this is the time that we see our kids grow the most outside their infancy. The right school will shape the student into a productive adult and citizen so that they can be successful in their chosen career path.”
There are many ways to find out about colleges. There are college searches available on the ACT and SAT websites that can help narrow down the choices. College representatives visit local high schools on a regular basis. There are also college fairs, usually held at local community colleges, where students can get information about many different schools all at once. Erin Hoover, Assistant Director of Admission at North Central College, adds that "National and state organizations such as the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) and the Illinois Association for College Admission Counseling (IACAC) can also provide students with adequate resources to find direction in their college search."
As for the ability to get admitted to the school of choice, this depends heavily on what coursework the student has taken during their four years of high school, and how well they have done in school and on standardized tests, as well as their extra-curricular involvement.
There are numerous ways to prepare for the ACT and SAT including practice tests, courses designed for test prep, and simply taking rigorous coursework in school.
Talking to high school counselors and college admissions counselors can help a student make the right choices during high school that will help them prepare for their future.
Though next school year is many months away, early decision and early action deadlines have already passed or are quickly approaching for most schools. Students who have not yet begun applying should do so in the next few months.
College costs have gone up faster than most other expenses and it is much harder for students to pay the sticker price for college these days than it was back when I was in college. North Central's tuition has more than quadrupled in the past 25 years, while minimum wage has only doubled, and jobs for teens are harder than ever to come by. The good news is that most students do not pay full price to attend college.
A couple of obvious ways to keep total costs down are to join the military (active duty, reserve, or National Guard) or to attend community college for the first two years.
Illinois state schools are significantly less expensive than private schools, but it’s worth looking at both because when you take into account scholarships and financial aid there may not be much difference.
Almost every school offers some sort of merit scholarship program, even state schools and community colleges. Students should check the websites of the schools they are interested in for scholarship opportunities there, and contact their high school guidance counselor for local scholarship opportunities.
All families that may qualify for any financial aid, or are required to by their student’s school, should fill out the FAFSA each year the student will attend college, as early as possible that year. In most cases a student won’t get any sort of financial aid in the form of grants, subsidized loans, or work study unless the FAFSA has been submitted and shows need.
Local high schools and colleges offer presentations on financing college and other relevant topics to help families as well.
Becky Tatar, Periodicals/Audiovisuals Specialist at the Aurora Public Library, reports that the library “has materials on colleges and financial aid, including the FAFSA forms. There are also SAT, ACT and CLEP test preparation books, which are also available online through the Learning Express Library database. This database can be accessed from home with an Aurora Public Library card. The library also provides programs on financial aid options and mock ACT/SAT test preparation. All the websites listed can be accessed at the library.”
Our local students are fortunate to have such a wealth of valuable resources available to them. Here are some links.
http://www.ed.gov/fund/grants-college.html?src=rt - U.S. Department of Education college aid info
http://www.finaid.org/ - guide to scholarships, loans, and other aid
http://www.fastweb.com - scholarship search site
http://wvhs.ipsd.org/Subpage.aspx?id=89 - WVHS Guidance site, including college and career center and scholarship listings
http://nvhs.ipsd.org/Subpage.aspx?id=349 – NVHS Guidance site, including information about college applications and scholarships
http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ - Free Application for Federal Student Aid
http://www.youseemore.com/aurorapl/about.asp?loc=25 – Aurora Public Library “beyond high school” links and information
http://www.naperville-lib.info/LibServices/teen/collegeServ.htm - Naperville Public Library “road to college & beyond…” links and information
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