Next Year Nerves

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="04ba45a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Principal's Corner</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Principals Corner"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Previous Columns"><U>Previous Columns</U></A></div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="04cd2b03.jpg"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Next Year Nerves</I></div> <div> Dear Principal,</div> <bR> <div> My daughter is currently in grade 8 and already nervous about starting high school. What can we do to help her get over the nervousness?</div> <bR> <div>           Mrs. Berlingeri</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Dear Mrs. Berlingeri,</div> <bR> <div> The first step is to ask her why she is nervous. </div> <bR> <div> A study was recently undertaken to find out the major concerns of grade eight students as they prepared for high school. Educators were expecting bullying or academic performance to be the most important issues. They were surprised to find that getting lost was the number one concern of the incoming grade nine students. </div> <bR> <div> Today's high schools are much bigger than they were a few years ago. They can be intimidating and overwhelming to a teenager. Often it is the unknown that causes nervousness in children as well as in adults. </div> <bR> <div> A visit and tour of the school will go a long way towards making her feel more at ease. The more familiar she becomes with the school the less cause for unease there will be. Ask her future high school if they have programs or events in place to welcome new students.</div> <bR> <div> Also ask which extra-curricular sports or clubs are available. These activities go a long way in making a student feel like they are an important part of the school community. They also will give her something to focus on over the coming months.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Questions should be sent to </div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:principal@willowglenschool.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:principal@willowglenschool.com"><U><U>principal@willowglenschool.com</U></U></A><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>   <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" src="http://hv3.webstat.com/cgi-bin/wsv2.cgi?84193"></script> <noscript> <a href="http://www.webstat.com"> <img src="http://hv3.webstat.com/scripts/wsb.php?ac=84193" border="0" alt="Free Web Counter and Free Website Statistics by WebSTAT" /></a> </noscript>   </div> </td> </tr></table></body>