Guidance Workshop: Beginning the College Search & Finance

On Wednesday, November 30th, from 6:30-7:45 pm, in the Ryle auditorium, the Ryle guidance office will host a session in the Parent University titled . . .

Beginning the College Search & Finance

Students spend hours worrying about what major to take and which college to attend. Unfortunately, in the process they often forget to have the "Money Talk" with their parents.  Come join College Expert Dan Bisig as he shows students and parents together where to hunt for Colleges, Aid and Scholarships. How to work with a mutual understanding between student and parents. Dan will identify the biggest pitfalls students and parents make in the process of searching, deciding and funding their college career.

All attendees will get a chance to register for a future $500 College Scholarship drawing.

Presenter: Dan Bisig from College and Beyond

For more information about College and Beyond, visit their website at College and Beyond.

Knowing where we stand is critical – The PLAN Test

It is no secret that schools are vital pieces of strong and vibrant communities. Boone County is blessed to have excellent schools that have strong parental and community support. To continue our shared growth and success, it is critical that our schools and communities work together even more; as the landscape of education in Kentucky is dramatically changing with the adoption of the common core standards and the new state assessment system.

Most people, if asked, might tell you that they are familiar with the ACT test. Along with the SAT, the ACT test is a generally recognized and accepted college entrance exam. In fact, many adults took the ACT when they were in high school. It is also common knowledge that a student’s scores on the ACT play an important part in their admission to college and whether or not they receive scholarship awards for college.

However, how many people know about the PLAN test or the EXPLORE test? These two tests are precursors to the ACT and can provide a lot of information to help our students, our parents and our schools in making sure our students are adequately prepared for life after high school.

The ACT, PLAN, and EXPLORE tests are all developed by the same organization, the ACT corporation. Kentucky is one of many states where all public schools administer the EXPLORE test in grade 8, the PLAN test in grade 10, and the ACT test in grade 11. Each of these tests is written to assess what the ACT calls the College Readiness Standards. Together these three tests measure students’ progressive development of knowledge and skills on the College Readiness Standards in English, math, reading, and science from grades 8 through 11.

One thing that is very important for every student and every parent to know is that these three tests will provide a measuring stick for whether or not a student is on-track to be ready for college. The results of each test lists the College Readiness Benchmark scores alongside the student’s test scores. Scores above the benchmark indicate a student will likely be ready for college level work upon graduation. These three tests also help us as educators, to monitor our students’ growth through middle and high school.

At Ryle we are beginning to meet with our sophomore students and their parents in order to review their PLAN test results. We will discuss what their scores mean in terms of college readiness in each content area and what predicted ACT score is indicated by their PLAN scores. It is our hope, that by working together, we can stimulate our students’ thinking and planning for their future and give them feedback on their performance towards being ready for life after high school, whether it be going to college, the military, or the workforce.

All sophomore students at Ryle and their parents are invited to attend a special workshop where they will receive and review their results of the PLAN test on Thursday, Dec. 1, at 6:30 p.m. in the Ryle auditorium.

Gatton students recognized by Siemens

Congratulations to Ryle senior Samantha Hawtrey, who is currently attending the Gatton Academy at WKU!

Gatton students recognized by Siemens

Five second-year students at Western Kentucky University’s Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky have been recognized by the Siemens Foundation as national semifinalists in the 2011 Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology.  Lori Lovell, a senior from Florence, and Samantha Hawtrey, a senior from Union, were honored in the team category.

As the nation’s leading original research competition in math, science and technology for high school students, the Siemens Competition is administered annually by the College Board, and awards scholarships to students in both individual and team categories.

An all-time record 2,436 students nationwide registered to enter the 2011-12 Siemens Competition for an unprecedented 1,541 projects submitted. Approximately 300 semifinalists were recognized.
Reaching the semifinalist stage of this competition puts any student into an elite crowd of the nation’s top high school-aged researchers. To achieve this accolade, students each committed hundreds of hours outside their course schedules researching, writing their reports and refining drafts with their mentors.

Derick Strode, the Gatton Academy’s coordinator for research, internships and scholarships, said research not only serves as an important part of the Academy experience, but also is the springboard to future pursuits.

“Independent research allows motivated high school students a chance to explore a passion and try out a possible career path,” Strode said. “While young, these students are also proving they are ready to make serious contribution to research questions that affect our society.”
Hawtrey and Lovell’s project, "Isolation, Characterization, and Annotation: the Search for Novel Bacteriophage Genomes," stems from their participation in the WKU Genome Discovery and Exploration Program, which is currently sponsored by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science Education Alliance.

Bacteriophages, or viruses that infect bacteria, are the most common DNA-containing entities on earth, yet very few have been characterized. The purpose of the team’s research was to increase knowledge of phage biodiversity by isolating and characterizing two previously unknown phages.
Their findings were added to GenBank, the genetic sequence databases administered by the National Institute of Health. To date, 176 of 1,521 mycobacteriophages have been identified, isolated, sequence and eventually catalogued by GenBank.

Research mentor Dr. Rodney King, associate professor of biology and director of the WKU Biotechnology Center, guided the students through the process during the 2010-11 academic year. Dr. King said that Hawtrey and Lovell “demonstrated motivation, responsibility and perseverance throughout the course. These are important qualities for anyone interested in pursuing research and I believe they both have promising futures as researchers.”

Hawtrey sees the benefit of research as far more than just the process and academic outcomes. “Not only does participation in research enable you to apply your knowledge to real problems and gain practical skills, but it can also make a tangible difference,” Hawtrey said. “Most importantly, research is a chance to get involved in something bigger than yourself – something that could one day change the world.”

Ryle High School honor roll

Follow this link to view the 1st quarter honor roll:  Ryle High School honor roll

Ryle assistant coach thrives despite paralysis

Adam Collinsworth is truly an inspiration

by Richard Skinner, Enquirer contributor  Ryle assistant coach thrives despite paralysis

Back in July, during the first week of practice for the Ryle football team, senior linebacker Mac Vollett kept wondering how the guy in the wheelchair was going to help him become a better player.
It didn't take him long to find out.

The guy in the wheelchair was assistant coach Adam Collinsworth, a former standout linebacker at Scott High School and then at Thomas More College who broke two vertebrae in his neck in a diving accident at a friend's pool on Aug. 9, 1998. Collinsworth since has been paralyzed from the neck down.

Collinsworth almost didn't survive the accident, twice going into cardiac arrest and having his heart stop both times. After spending three months in a hospital and being told he would need either a ventilator or oxygen tanks the rest of his life in order to breathe, Collinsworth persevered and became a coach at Thomas More for six years beginning in 1999.

Following a six-year stint as an assistant at Amelia High School in suburban Cincinnati while living with his father and stepmother, he was forced to move into his brother Craig's home in Florence when they became too old to care for him anymore.

That led to a phone call to Ryle coach Bryson Warner asking if he needed any help.  "I told him 'absolutely,' and we'll create a position for you if we have to," said Warner. "I've known him since he was at Thomas More, and I knew how good of a coach he is."

Defensive coordinator Mike Woolf also coached the linebackers, but after spending a few days with Collinsworth, he knew it was time to turn over the reins coaching that position.  "He said, 'Hey, he really knows his stuff and we have to make him our linebackers coach,' " said Warner. "It was a no-brainer."

That didn't keep Vollett and his position mates from wondering how Collinsworth could coach them from a wheelchair.

"I'm not going to lie - that first week I wasn't sure how that was going to work," Vollett said. "But after the first week, we all picked up on what he was teaching and we knew he knew what he was talking about. He's probably the strongest guy mentally I've ever met. We all look up to him."

Before Collinsworth was injured, he had planned on getting a teaching degree and becoming a coach. While he hopes to still eventually become a full-time teacher - he's hoping to become a substitute at Ryle soon - he says the coaching part helps him persevere.

"Without football I don't know what I would do," Collinsworth said. "I wasn't sure if I could find a job or not after the accident and it's been hard, but I love coaching and it has me excited to wake up every day."

On Friday nights he's usually in the press box to provide another set of eyes for Woolf and the rest of the coaching staff, although he is occasionally on the sideline depending on the press box arrangements.  "I got trampled once when I was at Thomas More when I was too close, and I've tried to learn to stay out of the way, but I love seeing the action," said Collinsworth.

Collinsworth's mere presence is a constant source of inspiration for the Raiders.

"I kind of try to play for him," said Vollett. "He had football taken away from him and a lot of people could have given up. I've never seen him give up. I'm not about to do it either."

Veteran's Day

Thank you to all veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces.  We applaud your service to our great country!

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those currently serving our country at home and abroad.  May you come home safely.

Beware of Synthetic Marijuana

Synthetic marijuana or synthetic pot is quickly becoming a major health concern for youths and adults.  Attached below are excerpts from several articles on the spreading problem posed by synthetic marijuana.

Owensboro officials want businesses to stop selling synthetic marijuana
by the Associated Press

OWENSBORO, Ky. — Officials in Owensboro are trying to find the best way to rid the western Kentucky city of synthetic marijuana.

The City Commission on Tuesday decided to ask the Owensboro-Daviess County Steering Committee for a Drug and Alcohol Addiction Free Community to come up with recommendations to get the product off store shelves, the Messenger-Inquirer reported (http://bit.ly/v82v1I ).

The issue came up during the commission's monthly work session. Commissioner Roger Stacy said residents should boycott stores that sell synthetic marijuana until the product is removed.  He said residents should tell the stores that sell it, "until that comes off your counter, your hose won't go in my gas tank."

Stacy said the product is easy to buy and inexpensive. He said he paid $12.95 on Monday for a packet of strawberry-flavored K3.

City Attorney Ed Ray said synthetic marijuana is actually spices sprayed with a psychotropic compound that changes regularly to stay ahead of new laws.  He says the product is labeled as incense and marked "not for human consumption" under such names as K2 and Spice.
"The bottom line is it's killing kids in America," Ray said. "It's dangerous."

Commissioner Jeff Sanford said he received a call recently from a woman whose son and another boy were treated in the hospital after overdosing on the product.

"I want this stuff out of our city," he said. "It's all about profit."  . . .

Comprehensive synthetic drug bans in works
by the Ky Enquirer

FLORENCE - Use of synthetic drugs spread fast across Kentucky and Ohio, and both states have created laws to make them illegal, with varying success. The latest law, in Ohio, takes effect Oct. 17.

"In 2010 we first started hearing about these synthetic marijuanas down around the Fort Campbell area, some in Lexington and Louisville," said Van Ingram, executive director for the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy.

Earlier this year, "We began to learn about what was being called bath salts, which was really a drug to mimic cocaine or methamphetamine," he said.

Those have been known by the innocent-sounding names, dove, or bath salts, and those were banned in Kentucky earlier this year.

Officials also have learned about something known as "plant food," a synthetic drug that mimics the effects of Ecstasy. More recently there have been newer versions of synthetic marijuana, which skirt around the prior chemicals that state law has banned. Updated versions of bath salts also are rumored to be coming.

Kentucky banned the specific chemicals in laws that tried to strike out the synthetic versions, Ingram said. But manufacturers have been quick to adapt by using similar compounds not covered by a ban. Ohio hopes its tactic of banning a broader category of chemical derivatives will avoid the cat-and-mouse process Kentucky has experienced. Ohio's law bans synthetic marijuanas and such materials as bath salts.

"Illicit synthetic drug manufacturers have figured out that substances often are defined as illegal by very specific state statutes," said Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders. "And if their chemists can find a way to produce the same effect as the illegal substance using similar substances, they go outside the legal definition, and they can avoid prosecution because the synthetic substance they produce doesn't meet the legal definition of the substances that are actually illegal."

Some products now being sold in Ohio contain messages like, "This product does NOT contain: jwh-015, jwh-018" and 10 other similar-looking names, or the notation: "DEA compliant," meaning they were not made illegal by a March 1 national ban by the Drug Enforcement Administration. State laws are needed as well because often federal agents go after distributors while local police, using state laws, typically are the ones who charge users with possession.

Officials believe most of the products are imported.

Ingram said Kentucky likely will try to ban larger classes of drug derivatives when the legislature meets for a full session: "Honestly, we're working on coming up with some language that would keep us from having to constantly re-identify these chemicals," he said.  "If we can come up with generic language that will cover all of it, that will handle that," Ingram said.