Keepin' busy

Friends of mine at school all warned me…get through October, and the rest of the year should go relatively smooth. Well, I’m ½ way there, and having heeded the warning, I’m definitely looking forward to November 1.


October is THE recruiting month for our school…


2 Saturday Morning Placement Tests
We’ll have over 500 kids take this. Information packets on financial aid and academic scholarships are distributed to all the kids after taking the test.

Sunday Open House
Last week, we had over 65 families tour the school. Here again, I’ve always been just a participant in these. Planning them is somewhat more of a daunting task.

4 Information Nights @ Medina, West Akron, Coventry/ Barberton, and Fairlawn
These are typically hosted by “influential” Hoban parents who in turn invite perspective families to their home to hear our story. So far, the turnouts have been fantastic!

Old Trail’s High School Fair

1500 Count Mailing for the Admissions Viewbook (cover is pictured here)
I had no idea how much work went into this. We began composing the text/ assembling the photos over the summer, and then what seemed like an endless amount of proofs- finally sent it off to the printers at the beginning of September

1200 Count Mailing for Meet the Coaches Night (sponsored by Admissions)
The school’s attempt to educate perspective students/ parents on OHSAA’s recruiting and student athlete bylaws.

Publication of Knight Lights (Hoban newsletter sent to kids in grades 6-8)
I actually got to play a fairly significant role in not only the text, but also the layout design- which was definitely all un-chartered territory for me.

8th Grade Shadow Days
Over 250 eighth graders will spend a day this fall with one of our Hoban kids. As we tell the parents who call to make these appointments, this truly is the best way to get a true sense of how the school operates between the hours of 8-3 p.m.

The Telephone Conversations
This has perhaps been the most surprising part of my position. Still teaching 2-3 Microsoft Office classes a day, I'll arrive back to my office at times with 8-10 phone messages from perspective parents asking about placement tests, shadow days, registration procedures, general info on the school, or at times simply seeking encouragement that their child can succeed at Hoban, regardless of various learning disabilities/ financial situations...it's these conversations that can become quite involved.

Toss in those late night Tribe games, and I think I’ve quaffed (love that word) my fair share of Starbuck’s over the past couple of weeks. Am I enjoying this so far? Absolutely! It is so entirely different from what I have become accustomed to doing over the last 17 years, and the extra events are somewhat of a tradeoff for me no longer staying up till 11:00 each night planning lessons/ grading those beloved English essays.