By Carly D'Angelo
Applying to college can be an intimidating process. Luckily, with the help of this timeline, you can feel confident once application deadlines draw near. If you follow this schedule, you’ll be more than ready when the time to apply rolls around! Freshman year Involve yourself with extracurriculars in and out of school. There are so many options. Whether it’s finding a part-time job, joining a sports team, or trying out for the school’s musical, there is always something for everyone. Colleges are interested in students who are well rounded and committed to their school. Being able to commit to activities in high school shows that you will most likely commit to activities in college as well. Sophomore year During your sophomore year, you should begin to research schools that may interest you. Talk to your guidance counselor because they have a lot of free resources for you to use. When choosing a college, always consider location, price, and available majors. Look at the requirements for each school and see where you line up. Junior year Begin preparing for standardized tests such as the SATs and ACTs. These tests compare your level of preparation with that of students from all over the country. You can usually send one or both of your SAT and ACT scores to prospective colleges. Most students decide to take these tests more than once, which will always improve your scores. Senior year Pay close attention to your spelling and grammar when filling out the required materials of the application. Applying early is your best bet. A huge weight will be lifted off your shoulders once you turn everything in early. The hardest part is being patient when you’re waiting to hear the decisions from each school!
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 Hi I'm Sara GingrasI painted this little mouse mural in my kitchen on a floorboard. It’s about 5 inches tall and took me two days to paint. It was a fun way for me to relax and enjoy painting. I am currently working on building my art portfolio to apply to art school, so this will make a great addition!
By Grace Mahony
Images by Lily Miles From Greco-Roman archways to modern abstracts, Central Bucks schools have created the perfect balance of new and old. Before you even walk in the doors, you have already learned to remember the past and embrace the future because when mixed together, they can create something extraordinary. If you are a student at Tohickon Middle School, every morning you are greeted by an abstract arch with obvious Greco-Roman roots. The architectural arch itself is a Roman invention from around 2000 BC, when its original purpose was to make stronger bridges in the Roman Empire. However, Tohickon has used it to create a domed marquee over its student entrance. It was then modernized by adding geometric rectangles. This style fits the decontrsuctivism style of architecture, which encourages freedom from the more functional aspects of architecture shown in the intersecting rectangles that don’t necessarily serve a functional purpose. If you look slightly to the left, you will see an extravagant example of modern glasswork: a bold glass stairwell. Since the beginning of the 21st century, glass wall paneling has become a common embellishment in many new pieces of architecture, like the new Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. If you are a student at Tamanend Middle School, you have seen the school’s main entrance. This entrance is a semi-circle wall lined with brick pillars. In modern architecture, circles are a common geometric base due to their lack of previous ridged corners and aesthetic appeal. The brick pillars, however, have roots as far back as the ancient Greeks, where similar pillars (or columns) were used to hold up ceilings while increasing their overall expandable potential. If you are a student at Central Bucks West High School, you go to a school with a very college-esque campus and building. The green roof of the clock tower is a blatant romanesque revival architecture piece that can be commonly found in Italian architecture. There are also many Greek columns found at most entrances, like at the previously mentioned Tamanend Middle School. The high school building also actively demonstrates the brutalist style with its series of three protruding concrete structures that frame various doors to the right of the grand courtyard. Each Central Bucks School is different, but all have modern, historic and international architecture inspirations. It is a perfect metaphor for what goes on inside the stunning buildings’ walls. Welcome to the Team, Sierra! Hi everyone! I'd like to introduce you to Sierra Zaccagnino. She's a freshman in Council Rock School District and one of the newest members on our Leadership Team. Sierra jumped right in to be a Co-Chair of the Party Planning Committee to help plan our next big event! Some of Sierra's hobbies include different forms of art - such as drawing, painting, interior design, and fashion. She also enjoys playing/composing music on the piano and acoustic guitar. In her free time, sometimes she does creative writing and poetry. Sierra also loves playing volleyball both in school, and travel with Princeton Volleyball Club. In her school she is actively involved in FBLA club (Future Business Leaders of America). I loved photographing Sierra and getting to know her better because she brought amazing props that helped to tell the story of her, including her guitar: 
...and her camera. I LOVE girls who love to take pictures!  We also did some pictures without props of course...
At the end of the shoot we headed outside into the beautiful (although freezing) aftermath of a recent snowstorm. The results were stunning! 
After spending all this time with Sierra in both the Tuesday night Leadership Academy and during her photo shoot, I would describe her as creative, fun, and a natural leader. I am so excited to get to know her better and am so happy to have her on our team!  We were so fortunate to have Inspiring Teens grad Carly D'Angelo return on Tuesday to talk to the current High School leaders about healthy relationships. Carly is now a student at West Chester University and participating in a college activity that requires her to find a platform. While searching a relevant topic, Carly found OneLove and was so motivated by the message she asked if she could share it with us. Equipped with a short video (seen above) and a game to make sure they all understood both obvious forms of control and emotional abuse and very slick, sly methods. After, the girls got in a group picture with Carly before she left. Right on the front of their website, OneLove declares they are changing the statistics around relationship abuse one conversation at a time. Named after a young lady who died as a result of an unhealthy relationship with her boyfriend, OneLove strives to help other young ladies who may not realize their situation. The website gives advice and tips to help not just yourself, but friends who may need help.   How to get into NJHS By: Olivia Bush Getting into the National Junior Honors Society is a great honor. It shows that you have the Leadership, citizenship, service, and character skills to represent your school. You are eligible to become an NJHS member in eighth grade, but what you need to know is that preparation does not just start at the beginning of eighth grade. It really starts at the beginning of middle school, but you just don’t know it. Your grades and attitude toward others from the beginning of your middle school career are considered. One thing that most middle schoolers don’t know is that it is not just based off grades. To get into NJHS you need to have volunteered, taken up leadership skills and maintained a 3.5 GPA. You also need to know what would make you a great NJHS member. On your application, there will be a space for you to list your volunteer opportunities that you have done. You will also have to list the hours that you have volunteered there and you will need a signature from someone who oversaw your volunteering or a parent who drove you there. This place can be a nursing home, or even planting trees. Local public libraries also have some fun volunteer opportunities over the summer where you can shelve books, sign kids up for a summer reading program, and do fun arts and crafts! The library has something for everyone! If you are having trouble finding places to volunteer, my recommendation would be to talk to your Family Consumer Science teacher! Most likely they will have soup kitchen sign ups once a month or a Nova Thrift Shop sign up where you can volunteer. Participating in these events can help you fill up that section on your application form. Even if they don’t have these sign-ups through the school you can always ask your teachers if they know any good places in your area to volunteer. Another section on your application will be a leadership section. Here, you will list all the leadership skills you have acquired. When filling out this part of the form, you will have to list out what activities you were a leader in. This can be anything from choir, Relay for Life, or sports! You will then have to list out the leadership position you had. This can be a lead singer in your choir, a soccer captain, or a Student Council homeroom representative. Then, list your accomplishments from being the leader in this specific activity. It could be having the top per person average in fundraising for your Relay team or it could just be winning a soccer game. You also need to be involved in your school or around your community. This box on your application can simply be achieved by participating in extracurricular activities or summer camps. For example, you can play field hockey and soccer for your school while being involved in your church choir and having done 2 summer camps the previous summer. This will help you check one more box off your list, you just have to think ahead! Moving on to grades, the minimum GPA you must have to get an application letter is a 3.5, so grades do matter. But as you have seen, this is not the only thing they look for out of a contributing NJHS member. Anything lower than a 3.5 GPA and you will not receive an application letter. To get a 3.5 GPA, you do need to put in effort and study hard, do your homework, and pay attention in class. If you don’t understand a topic you are learning, don’t be afraid to ask you teacher for help! The last part of the application is the essay. You will have to write an essay on what makes you a good choice to become a member of the National Junior Honors Society. This essay must be typed and cannot be over five hundred words. Once you have filled out all parts of the application that you can and have proofread your form, you are ready to turn it into your school. Remember getting into this organization might be a lot of hard work but it will only help you grow as a person and make many friends and memories! |
