College Goal Sunday To Help Osceola Students Reach Their Dreams Of Higher Education
The Osceola Counseling Association, in partnership with the Osceola School District, the Education Foundation - Osceola, and Valencia Community College, will be providing a valuable service to assist college-bound high school seniors in our community in reaching their dreams of higher education through support received at College Goal Sunday.  For the fifth year in a row, Osceola County is participating in College Goal Sunday, a national initiative to help thousands of students get the financial aid they need to go to college or trade school.  The College Goal Sunday event will be held on February 12, 2012, at TECO/PATHS, located at 501 Simpson Road in Kissimmee, from 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

During this one-day event, students and families will receive expert help filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).  The FAFSA is the federal government's instrument for calculating need-based financial aid, and the official document used by every college and university to determine eligibility for federal student aid.  The form must be completed by students and parents each year to apply for all types of federal, state, or college-sponsored financial aid, including grants, some scholarships, educational loans, and work programs.

To complete the FAFSA, the following information will be needed:

- 2011 IRS tax returns and W-2 statements;
- Social Security number, driver's license, or alien registration card;
- Untaxed income records for the previous year, such as Social Security benefits, temporary assistance to needy families, welfare, or Veteran's benefits; and
- Most recent bank statement.

To make an appointment with a trained counselor on College Goal Sunday, individuals should call 407-870-4919.    Walks-ins will be taken after appointments have been honored.  For more information, parents and students can speak to their high school guidance counselor or visit www.collegegoalsundayusa.org.

Osceola Students Gearing Up For The Battle Of The Books
The quest towards the reading battle has begun for Osceola students! Once again, the Osceola County School Librarians' Association is sponsoring the Battle of the Books to encourage students to read independently for personal satisfaction from a variety of genres. This marks the fourth year for the annual Battle of the Books, a competition in which third through twelfth grade students answer questions about 15 books they have read. For elementary and middle school students, those books come from the Sunshine State Young Readers list, or in the case of high school students, the Florida Teens Read list. The team that answers the most questions correctly wins the county-wide competition. Elementary students will compete against other elementary students, middle vs. middle, and high school vs. high school.

To prepare, each elementary and middle school picks a four-member team and high schools select five members. The method of choosing the student team members varies from school to school. However, all students will read books from the recommended lists, either Florida Teens Read or Sunshine State Young Reader's Award Nominees. Some schools have multiple teams that compete in mock competitions to choose the students to best represent their school. Additionally, elementary and middle school teams take a Quia test, a random 30 question computer-generated, multiple-choice test that helps to select team members.

School-based Battle of the Book clubs have been meeting since August, and will continue until the final county-wide battle event which will occur on March 5, 2012, at the Kissimmee Civic Center.

Thacker Avenue Elementary School for International Studies Informational Meetings
Thacker Avenue Elementary School for International Studies is a candidate school for the Primary Years Programme (PYP), and is pursuing authorization as an IB World School. These are schools that share a common philosophy--a commitment to high quality, challenging, international education that is important for students. Thacker offers specialized, enhanced curriculum to develop the individual talents of students through intellectual rigor and high academic standards, with an emphasis on the ideals of international understanding and responsible citizenship. Osceola County parents/guardians with children in Grades K-5 have the opportunity to choose this school for their children to attend instead of their home-zoned school for the 2012/2013 school year.