Merry Christmas!

Well, things should be winding down at school, and once all the testing is over, you'll be on the long-awaited Christmas break. I want to with everyone in Talent Search a merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a happy New Year! Enjoy your time off! Seniors, don't forget that once the new year rolls around, you'll be needing to get the FAFSA completed as soon as possible (which means your parents need to do their taxes).

Old Poll, New Poll and MSU Tour

Hey! There is a new poll up, so go vote!

Last month's poll was interesting. I thought there'd be more votes for famous people and politicians. That's good though :) Family is important.

Valley Springs and Bruno-Pyatt seniors, The MSU Tour is scheduled for January 16th. Mark it on your calendar (you are using your planners, right ;), but be on the lookout for updates and changes. I'll give you all more details as they come.

The Final Verdict Is Here

The blog poll closes today, so make sure you cast your vote (look to the right).

Aslo, Seniors at Valley Springs, you all voted for MSU as the college tour. Bruno-Pyatt Seniors also voted the same way, so I am trying to arrange a tour combining both your schools (Kyle take note). As soon as a date materializes you will find it here. In the mean time, be thinking of things you want to know about the university so you can ask those questions when we go. Make a list and write them down. Remember, you can add your own comments to any post on the blog. Just click below where it says comments.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We want to wish everyone a happy eat-lots-of-food-with-your-family day! Take this time to relax and catch up on life. After turkey day is over, it is also a good time to make sure you are caught up on all deadlines school and college related (seniors especially). Check your application deadlines, test deadlines, project deadlines, and don't forget about any homework! It's also a great time to discuss with your family anything you may have decided to do with your life as a result of Talent Search. I know I speak for all the counselors when I say: enjoy the holiday!

FAFSA4caster

Greetings students!!

I just came from a financial aid workshop and thought you might find the FAFSA4caster extremely helpful. This is an especially great resource for juniors but seniors can get some good practice using it as well. The FAFSA4caster will give you an early start on the financial aid process. It instantly calculates estimated federal student aid eligibility and award amounts.

This is important because it helps students determine how much they are going to pay for college and we all know that eligibility for aid influences decisions about where you are going to go to college. This resource helps with the financial aid planning process before college applications are due.

The FAFSA4caster provides information about college planning, admissions, and federal financial aid. It gives a handy timeline of most activities students must complete before applying for college. It will also reduce the time to complete the FAFSA and it will automatically generate and e-mail the Federal Student Aid PIN in time to use with the FAFSA on the Web.

Take some time to explore it and we will talk more about it at our next ETS meeting!!!

The Story of Anne Frank

Attention Twin Rivers Students!!!!

I thought you were extremely well behaved during the presentation of The Story of Anne Frank at the Collins Theater. I appreciated the questions you asked of the professional actors. I hope you enjoyed your lunch at Bonanza and I look forward to seeing you again real soon.

Financial Aid Night @ Hillcrest High School

Thanks to all the parents and students who came to the Financial Aid Night on November 8. I thought the admissions counselor and financial aid officer from the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville did an awesome job providing everyone with very useful information. Even though you can not apply with the FAFSA until after January 1, you can apply for the PIN (Personal Identification Number) right now. This will save time later on. The web address to apply is www.pin.ed.gov

Arkansas State University Campus Tour

I had a wonderful time with the Hoxie juniors and seniors on our ASU campus tour November 8. I hope you enjoyed the tour and listened carefully to what the financial aid officer had to say. Remember that Nicole stated the first scholarship priority deadlines are December 1. Scholarship awarding will begin October 1, 2007 and continue based upon the availability of funds. Chancellors, Deans, Academic Merit, and Beyond Boundaries Scholarships all have the December 1 priority deadline. Also, remember that Nicole said you can include a student resume listing all of your accomplishments to the application. If you are awaiting scores from the October ACT test, you should be able to view them on-line at http://www.act.org/ beginning November 14.

I hope that you will take advantage of all the resources that Student Support Services mentioned. You must apply to that program and the bridge program seemed like an excellent opportunity. Lunch was great and you guys were absolutely wonderful.

Pam Freer

Bruno-Pyatt Walking With Dinosaurs-Alltell Arena

Tomorrow is the big day. The Walking With Dinosaurs Experience bus will leave the school at 6:45am, so don’t be late. If you haven’t brought in your permission slip, we must have it in hand before you get on the bus. Remember, you need a pack lunch because we are eating at Riverfront park. Bring your camera if you want and you might want to bring something to do on the bus because the ride is a good two and a half hours. I’ll see you all in the morning.

Pictures, Podcast, Plus!

Seems as though it's been a while since I posted and I guess it has. Anyway we are hard at work here getting some of the things we've promised done.

First of all, there are some new photos in the photo album. These new ones are of Yellville-Summit high school students playing Financial Aid Scrabble (note, not all words were financial aid related ;)

Second, the first episode of the Talent Search Podcast is finished, we are just waiting on iTunes to review it and accept it into the iTunes Store. To download it directly, right-click on the link above and choose "save as".

Lastly, Bruno-Pyatt seventh graders and seniors: GET YOUR PERMISSION SLIPS IN for Friday's field trip. Remember, you can't go without it. Also remember, the bus leaves at 6:45am; don't be late!

ACT Test Prep Videos (FREE)

I just stumbled accross these ACT Test prep videos on YouTube. I didn't watch all of them, but it appears SuperMagnetMan covers the entire Science portion of the ACT Test. He has some great tips and strategies to use while taking the science portion. Also, there is another person on YouTube who has posted ACT Test prep videos on the math section. If you are going to take the ACT anytime soon, you would benefit from checking out those videos. If you have any tips that helped you on the ACT, post those in the comments by clicking the link below this post.

Halloween!

I want to wish everyone a Happy Halloween! Students, be safe and have fun. Parents, do the same! This is one of my favorite times of the year with the weather and the leaves changing, it's great. What do you all think about Halloween?

New Poll And Bergman Make-Up Visits

The results are in from the most recent poll: "Most Wanted Workshop". 75% said they wanted career exploration workshops and 25% said they wanted test preparation workshops. Since we are always going to do career exploration workshops, I probably should have left that out as an option. Oh well. We're going to take that as a vote for test preparation workshops and try to do more of those. Make sure you vote in the new poll: "Your Role Model".

I said we'd make-up those missed days, and we are :)

Sophomores and Seniors, yesterday was your make-up day where we did career inventories. If you kept your inventory, make sure you DO NOT LOSE IT! We will use the results as part of what we do the next time I visit.

8^th Graders, I will be there today at 11:30 to visit with you all. We will be doing what's called the Career Game. It's an inventory which will help you decide what you want to be when you grow up.

Let me just say: it's great to be back!

Where Have We Been?

Here we are! Or, rather here I am. I was out sick, but I'm feeling better now. I hope no one lost any sleep over the lack up blog updates ;)

Sorry Bergman students. You all missed two workshops while I was out, but don't worry. We'll make them up.

Do It Twice, Free!

This week I went to an ACT workshop where they tell counselors all the latest info about the ACT test. I found out that students can use TWO (2) fee wavers in their lifetime. That straightens out a discrepancy and allows those who have already used a fee waver to take the ACT to use another.

Of course, this is good news for those of you who still need to take the test. Also, if you were putting off taking it a second (or third) time because of the fee, waive it! I will make sure to bring fee waivers every time I come to visit.

Comment Starter: What advise do those of you who have taken the test have for those who have not?

Hey Valley Springs Seniors!

Man, we had a small group today! That's great for you guys that showed up. You all had an easier time with the COPS inventory than my other schools with large groups. Make sure you who were there today tell those that weren't to let me know which school they want to tour this year. So far I have 3 votes for AR Tech, 1 vote for ASU, and 1 vote for C of O. That's only 5 votes! Send me an email or leave comments here and make sure you identify yourself and your preferred school. I want to set the field trip up as soon as possible. You guys can help me make that happen.

If you are interested in seeing the photos from the Bergman UCA tour, click on the photo album. They are there.

How Could We Miss It?!

Somehow, we did. Yesterday was Blog Action Day and the topic was the environment. Today, I want to talk about what you can do to help the environment that relates to ETS. First of all, many students will need volunteer hours for scholarships or college admissions. One great way to spend those hours is working in your community to help the very planet we live on. Some ideas: volunteer for a trash pick-up, volunteer at your local sanitation/recycling center, ask your school administrators if you can participate in and/or organize a community clean up day. These are only some of the ways you can earn community service hours while helping the environment at the same time. It never hurts to have some volunteer hours when you go to apply to a college or institution. If you think of any ideas yourself, leave a comment and let us know. I'm sure other students will want to know your thoughts on this as well!

Bruno-Pyatt Field Trip? You decide!

We are looking into Walking With Dinosaurs as a possible field trip for Bruno-Pyatt ETS studnts. If you aren't familiar with the show, click the link to visit their website. How interested in going to this show are the ETS students at Bruno-Pyatt? Leave your comments by clicking the link below this post.

Bergman Meets UCA

Well, UCA got to meet Bergman High School's juniors and seniors today. Students got to walk the campus, see the classrooms, buildings, and eat in the cafeteria. A good time was had by all. I got to ride down on the junior's bus and back up on the senior's bus. As usual, photos are available in the photo gallery.

FYI: I'm working on Northark Talent Search Blog version 2. Hopefully that will be up and running in the next month. Look for new features and more interactivity in the next implementation. Also, if you hadn't noticed, the comments have been fixed. Leave some of your thoughts!

New Photos In The Album

The last of the photos from the Making It Count field trip with 9th grade have been posted in the photo gallery. Go and look to see if you can find yourself in one of the shots. You never know when you may be famous because of it ;)

Bergman Field Trip

Tomorrow I will be headed to UCA with the Juniors and Seniors at Bergman School. We will leave at 8am Tuesday morning and travel by bus to Conway. The tour will include a guided tour of the UCA campus, opportunities to talk with financial aid and admissions officers, and lunch in the cafeteria. The drive should take about 2.5 hours depending on circumstances, so participants will want to bring something to do on the bus. We will return to school about 4pm the same day.

Students, bring your cameras and be thinking about some good questions to ask the the guides and officers. The trip will be lots of fun and a great opportunity to learn all you wanted to know about UCA.

We Made It Count!

The field trip was a blast! I'd like to thank all the counselors at the schools who participated for helping us to set it up. I also want to thank all those who gave tours and, of course, the bus drivers!

I thought the speaker was great! What did you all think? Click the comments link below to add your thoughts. (Hopefully the Blog comments glitch will be fixed shortly.)

I know there will be a lot of new visitors to the Blog, so make sure you all vote in the poll. The photos (well, some of them) are already in the photo gallery, so check 'em out. Eventually all of them will be there for your viewing pleasure. [OMG are you picking your nose in that picture?!]

9th Grade Field Trip

Here's the scoop for tomorrow: We leave the schools and arrive by bus at Northark South Campus. Next we participate in the Making It Count Presentation in the JPH Conference Room. When the presentation concludes, we split into two groups. One group (group 1) will go to Pizza Pro to eat lunch. The other group (we'll call it group 2) will tour one of the Northark Campuses. After that, group 2 will go to eat at Pizza Pro while group 1 will tour one of the Northark Campuses. Finally, The two groups will each tour the only campus they have not yet toured. Of course, we will then return to the buses and head back to school. We should arrive back at school somewhere between 2pm and 3pm. A final reminder: if your talent search couselor does not have your permission slip in hand, signed by a parent/guardian, then you will not get on the bus to go to Northark. Do bring your ETS Member card. I'll make a note of those at Yellville School who don't have a card and make sure you get one.

It's going to be a great trip. There will be lots of good information and interesting things to see. I can't wait!

Yellville-Summit School Visit

I hope everyone had a great weekend. The weather was sure nice!

9^th through 12^th graders: I will be at Yellville School tomorrow. we will be doing career exploration. Make sure you bring your planners and something to write with to the meeting. 9^th graders: I will go over all the field trip details when I see you. Make sure you get your permission forms back in. You will not be able to go on the trip without it.

New Student Aid Legislation

Today, Bush signed into law the new legislation on student aid. The bill will decrease federal student loan interest rates over the next few years. It will also increase the Pell Grant amount gradually. As far as i know, next year's Pell Grant will still be 4,800, but we'll see how that changes over time. This is mostly good news for students who are trying to get a post-secondary education. I mentioned this legislation a while back, but now it's official!

Lead Hill School Visit

Considering today was picture day (and students were getting their pictures taken while they were scheduled to be at the Talent Search meeting) things went pretty well. 7th graders, next visit I will bring your personalized career lists based on the Career Explorer. 10th through 12th graders, DON'T LOSE YOUR COPS INVENTORY! We will extend what you found in the inventory to our next visit. Speaking of the next visit, unless things change, I will be there on the 10th of October. Until then, keep checking The Blog for updates.

New Poll and Analysis

Last month's poll was the first for the ETS Blog. The clear winner was "podcasts". Podcasts will come soon. We hope to put the first one up at the beginning of October (we'll see though). If you aren't sure what a podcasts, is click here. As for free stuff, expect to see that here from time to time. This month we want to know which type of workshop is most wanted by you, the students. It's right over there (near the upper right corner of the web site). Go, click, vote - it's that simple :)

Need Help With the FAFSA?

The first thing you must do in order to qualify for financial aid (of almost any kind) is to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This application can be intimidating and confusing. If you or your child is/are graduating this year, you'll want to be thinking about this form. With that said, let's move onto the good news.

College Goal Sunday is a program that will help parents and students fill out the FAFSA. On March 2, 2008 College Goal Sunday will take place in the JPH building on the Northark South Campus. There you will be able to fill out the FAFSA electronically and with assistance. Make sure you visit the College Goal Sunday website now to see the list of items you need to bring with you. This program is completely free and available to everyone, so attend and take the headache out of the FAFSA.

All the Information You Can Stand!

Well, College Planning Day sure went well (and as of right now it's still going on)! I was glad to see you talent search students there. I hope you got all the info you needed. Click here for photos from College Planning Day.

A new feature I'm adding to the blog is a web album. That's right, our photos are available to view from any computer. The address is http://picasaweb.google.com/northarktalentsearch/ or you can click the link at the top of the page. As we have more events and activities, there will be more photos to view.

Yellville and Bergman students, be on the lookout for the latest ETS field trips. The information should be coming from your schools by next week. More details from me to follow later.

Reminder: College Planning Day

Tomorrow is College Planning Day at Northark. If you haven't heard me say that yet, you must have been sleeping :) Here is a schedule for the day:

9:00 – 10:00          Jasper, Valley Springs, Cotter, Kingston
9:15-10:15            Mount Judea, Green Forest, Bruno-Pyatt
9:30 – 10:30          Berryville, Deer
10:00 – 11:30         Leslie, Marshall
10:15 – 11:15         Lead Hill
10:30 – 11:30         Omaha, Clear Spring, Bergman
11:30 – 12:30         LUNCH BREAK
12:30 – 1:30          Eureka Springs, Grace Christian
1:00 – 2:00           Saint Joe
1:30 – 2:30           Alpena, Western Grove

Come prepared with questions and something in which to put all the flyers you get. Look for your Talent Search Counselor when you come. We should all be there.

Bruno-Pyatt Field Trips

7th graders, I was happy to meet with you new members for the first time, but I was disappointed there are so few of you. Mrs. Stokes and I are working on a plan to incorporate 8th grade into Talent Search as well. Don't worry, we will grow in numbers and do lots of interesting things this year (be thinking about a field trip destination).

Seniors, I am working on a trip to Missouri State University. I will talk with your administrators to see if two trips are possible this year. That way we can get both a tour, and a recreational trip in this year. I am looking into the Jones Center and Silver Dollar City. If any of you have more suggestions, send me an email (my address is at the bottom of the page).

College Tours and Valley Springs Middle School

Thank you Mrs. Roberts for getting me such a good setup for Friday's ETS meeting! Besides a few technical difficulties, we had a productive workshop. Also, thanks to Mike (your last name escapes me) for ironing out the technical quirks. 8th graders, bring those forms back! You don't want to miss out on any of the activities.

Two of this year's field trips are scheduled to go already, including a college tour (that's you Bergman). Be thinking of where you want to go this year and have suggestions ready when I visit next. Juniors and seniors should know which college they want to tour.

there are only a few days left to vote in this month's poll. Make your voice heard before it's too late!

New Legislation and Bergman School

First of all, big thanks to Mrs. Sharp and Mrs. Clouse for letting me use their classrooms for Talent Search. Another big thanks goes to Mrs. Hastings for her warm welcome at Bergman Middle School. I was happy to see that there are so many Talent Search students at one school! Seniors, I've started work on the UCA tour. Hopefully we will be taking that trip next month.

I attended ArkACRAO today at Arkansas Tech in Russellville. ArkACRAO is a gathering of local colleges and financial aid represenatives. They get together to update counselors on new information which their students will want to know. I did find a few schools that take the ACT "superscore" for those at Bergman who asked me about that. I will give details on my next visit.

One good thing to come out of the new legislation which recently cleared Congress is: federal student loans will begin decreasing in interest percentage gradually each year until the rate reaches 3.4%. That will make it lest costly to borrow money from the government for your education - great news! I just hope some of the negative things that have been predicted about the legislation don't happen. Click here if you are interested to know more details about the bill.

Scholarship Updates and Yellville-Summit

I was looking at the adhe website and I found a scholarship that was previously unknown to me [not hard to do because I'm new at this stuff :) ]. This one is for you high achievers. It's called the Governor's Scholars Program. It has high academic requirements, but offers up to $10,000 per year! That would get you into some schools including room, board, and books. Woah!

I enjoyed meeting the Talent Search students at Yellville-Summit School. I especially want to thank Mrs. Nowland who worked hard to get me set up with the right classrooms (if you read this, tell her I said so)! Students, bear with me as I try to remember all your names ;) I hope you are all using your planners! I will see you all on October 2^nd, unless you get to College Planning Day at Northark (which I hope you do).

Academic Challenge Scholarship

I want to remind students that are looking to get the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship to make sure they are taking the required courses. The complete list can be found here. Remember: 2 years of the same foreign language and 4 years of math (at least one beyond geometry and algebra II). Check with your counselor if you think you may not be meeting the requirements. This is a really great scholarship that will provide about $3000 per year for up to four years at a college or university.

On a casual note, try to stay positive with all this gloomy weather we've been having this last week. Things should clear up by mid next week :) Enjoy the weekend!

GO! Opportunities Grant

I just found out about a new state grant available to students who will or are attending an Arkansas college or university. It is called the Go! Opportunities Grant and it provides $1,000 per academic year for a total of up to $4,000. Here is the website if you want to apply, and here is a direct link for the information packet with all the details you crave. Definitely get the details before you apply. My recommendation? Apply as early as possible. Some grants have a finite pool of money to pull funds from. If you wait too long the pool may be empty and nobody likes diving into an empty pool (ouch) ;)

Saliva Concert and Lead Hill School

If you like rock music, specifically rock alternative, then you'll be interested to know that Saliva is coming to Northark on September 29^th. Also playing will be 12 Stones and Kind. Tickets are available from Alternative Body Creations, Edward's Grocery, Guitarsmiths, Music Games & More, and Uncommon Grounds in Harrison. It sounds like it's going to be a big show and should be a good time. More information is available here.

I want to thank all the Lead Hill teachers and administration for allowing me to speak to the students during such a busy week. I also want to thank all the students for participating in the presentations today. It looks to me like the Talent Search program at Lead Hill will be bigger than it has been for a long time - and that only makes it better. Students, remember to get those forms singed and returned ASAP. Seniors, I will see you on September 20^th, College Planning Day at Northark.

College Planning Day and Valley Springs

I want to remind students that College Planning Day will be at Northark on September 20^th. I will be there along with Lisa Cox to support the students and help where needed. Come prepared with questions and ready to get lots of good info (something to put fliers and pamphlets in is a good idea).

Thanks to all the seniors at Valley Springs who were very attentive and enjoyable to meet. I look forward to making your last year at Valley great, and to get you all set up to achieve your goals. Remember, I want your feedback and questions! I'll see all of you at College Planning Day.

Volunteer Hours and Bruno-Pyatt Visit

I just recieved information about a great way to get some volunteer hours for scholarships and college applicaitons. Tobacco Free Boone County and the Run for Your Life Group are doing a 10K and 15K run/walk on October 27th. Click here to download the application and get info on volunteering. The run/walk will be at the First National Bank Soccer Complex in Harrison.

I'm fresh from a school visit this morning. Thanks to all the 7^th graders who attended the introductory presentation. I hope all of you will decide to join the program and participate! Thanks to all the seniors who met with me today. You guys are almost there, and this year is crucial! Make sure you keep up your planners. They really will help you stay on top of things. Don't take my word for it - try it for yourself.

Email me feedback/suggestions about workshops and field trips here (rhoffman @ northark . edu [without the spaces]).

Career Exploration

Have you been wondering which career will make you happy? Which occupation suits you best? Well, try these career assessment tools which are free (make sure you avoid accidentally subscribing to something you don't want, though).

One is LiveCareer which will let you take their assessment free as long as you create an account with them. Make sure you watch carefully as you take the assessment because there is a possibility of signing up for mailings you may not want.

The other is called MAPP which will also let you take their assessment for free after signing up. The catch with this one is that it will not give you the full results until you pay for it. So you can see only some of the outcome of the test.

For each of these assessments I would recommend using a new, free email account to sign up - just to make sure you don't get a bunch of spam on your regular account. Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft all offer free email accounts.

ACT Test

Seniors, make sure you know the ACT testing deadlines for the year. The next registration deadline is September 21^st. If you want to know more about the ACT, check their website out: http://www.actstudent.org/. They also have a blog with feeds and a podcast from real students.


On another note, if you need help getting set up with a feed or podcast, check out the Wikipedia article on podcasts or this page from loadaverageZero on feeds(RSS). If you have more questions, email me.

Here we go!

This is the beginning of a blog that will hopefully contribute to the success of the ETS students at Northark College. This space will hold information for Talent Search students, parents, teachers, and administrators. Feel free to contribute, comment, view, and/or loiter here. As a first post, here is a link to a useful site to search for Arkansas scholarship information.