What you do online does impact your college plans

Today's top story from Education Week is how a high school student's online behavior can jeopardize his or her college plans as increasingly more college-admissions officials are using the social sites to learn about the students applying to their colleges.

Reporter Robin Flanagan writes, "The number of college-admissions officials using Facebook and other social-networking sites to learn more about applicants quadrupled over the past year, according to New York City-based Kaplan Test Prep, the test preparation division of Kaplan Inc."

What are they finding? You may be surprised to hear ~

"In the company’s 2011 survey of admissions officers from the top 500 colleges and universities, 12 percent reported that their discoveries, including photos showing underage drinking, vulgarities in blogs, and plagiarism in essays, negatively affected the chance of admission."

Flanagan further reports how "Eric Sheninger, the principal of New Milford, NJ High School had students in a Digital Journalism class Google themselves to become more familiar with their digital footprints. The students, from freshmen to seniors, were surprised at the “page after page of content” that came up. One girl was astonished when she found a picture of herself she’d never seen before; she couldn’t even remember where or when it was taken. Next, Mr. Sheninger took a poll: 75 percent of the students had accepted a “friend” request on Facebook from someone they’d never met. He had them consider the fact that if they post an inappropriate picture, anyone can easily take a screen shot of that image and post it anywhere online without permission"

What can you do? Among its points, Education Week suggests the following:

Encourage Web Searches
Google yourself; you may be surprised -- and very concerned -- at what turns up.

Repeat the Message
Drill home the potential dangers of inappropriate social-media behavior.Don't post anything online you wouldn’t want the entire world to see.

Get Parents Involved
Chances are that parents are unaware that a child’s digital footprint can affect college applications, and many times what happens outside of school ends up spilling onto school grounds and quickly onto social-networking sites.

Craft a Formal Plan
Develop a formalized plan for encouraging positive social-media choices and stressing the dangers of poor ones.

SOURCE: Education Week

For related stories, read:

• "Revising Facebook Pages Before Applying to College," (College Bound Blog) October 12, 2011.
• "College-Admissions Officers Check Out Students on Facebook," (College Bound Blog) April 22, 2011.

Thanksgiving and a break

Due to the upcoming Thanksgiving break, there will be no weight lifting for JV or Varsity lacrosse players.

Enjoy the holiday and come back ready to work again on November 29.

Lifting has begun

Now's the time to be preparing for the spring season.

LAX is right around the corner and our players are chomping at the bit for a chance to get back out there. In preparation, there will be daily workouts after school overseen by the captains and weight training on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the 6 to 7 time frame. These will be overseen by either Coach Ray, Coach Andy, or Coach Bayer. There will be a sign-up sheet at the door.

See you there!

Indoor Lacrosse starts Nov. 7

Starting November 7, 2011

Indoor Lacrosse at Wilson Ennis
Mondays JV Shooting Clinic Grades (8,9,10) Offense Only on Monday – Just Shooting – Helmets and Gloves Only – Session 1
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

Wednesdays JV Open Play Grades (8,9,10) – Show Up, Strap it Up, Play Ball – Session 2
6 pm - 7:30 pm.

Wednesdays Varsity Grades (Select 10th Graders 11,12- PG's OK)  Big Dogs Only, No Pups – Session 3
7:30 pm to 9 pm
Wilson Ennis Clubhouse
Cost: $75 per player for six weeks.
 
Register Here
Register now. Space will be limited.
We will take the first 25 players registered for each session.

Feel free to share with your friends.

What do you want to see more of posted here?

For our Warrior LAX players, parents and enthusiasts, this blog is for you.

What would you enjoy having included here to make it a worthwhile read? Please take a moment and weigh in with your vote in the poll located at the top right column. If you have suggestions for something that is not noted there, you're invited to leave a comment here.

Thank you for your input!

LAX at CSM? We need your support!

From: Judith Mills [mailto:JudithM@csmd.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 4:27 PM
To: Judith Mills
Subject: Lacrosse at CSM

As many of you are aware, I work at the College of Southern Maryland, La
Plata Campus.  As a result, I am sometimes aware of upcoming events and
changes at the College.

One I have been anticipating (and encouraging) is the establishment of
lacrosse teams.

An exploratory meeting is being planned and the College is looking for
community partners to assist and provide input for the establishment of
these teams.  Please let me know if you, or anyone you know, has any
advise I may pass on, or would be interested in participating in the
meeting.

Please keep in mind that these teams are intended to benefit CSM
students at all three campuses, so we want to encourage participation
from individuals in all three counties.

Please respond to me at this email.  For those individuals who are
interested in participating, I will need contact information.  As best I
can, I will pass on additional information as I am made aware of it.

Feel free to pass this on to anyone you feel may be interested.
Thank you.
Judy

LPHS Athletic Booster update

The La Plata HS Athletic Booster Club meets every month on the second Monday of the month. All parents are invited to attend. The meetings are held 6 to 7 p.m. in the Commons Area. Upcoming meeting dates are November 14 and December 12.

Play for Parkinson's Lacrosse Series, Oct. 15

The second annual Play for Parkinson’s Lacrosse Series will be held Oct. 15 and 16 on the campus of Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va. The Play for Parkinson’s Lacrosse Series is a charity event featuring top men's and women's division I lacrosse teams from around the country. All proceeds from the tournament will help assist the efforts of the ProjectSpark Foundation (www.projectspark.org).  ProjectSpark is a charitable organization seeking to raise funds for the fight against Parkinson’s Disease.

For tickets visit http://www.fanfueled.com/Event/Details/648-the-play-for-parkinsons-lacrosse-series

October 15 – Division I Men’s Tournament (Army, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Penn State, Princeton, Virginia)

October 16 – Division I Women’s Team’s (Duke, Georgetown, Maryland, Northwestern, Penn State, Stanford)

Senior dues Information

During the year, opportunities will be given for students to pay the $50 Senior Dues.
Listed for you below are a few suggested times and places you or your child can bring payment
October 13th – SGA window during all lunches
November 10th – SGA window during all lunches
December 8th SGA window during all lunches
January 12th – SGA window during all lunches
February 9th – SGA window during all lunches
March 8th – SGA window during all lunches
April 12th – SGA window during all lunches
*Please be sure all checks are made out to La Plata High School or LPHS.

Congratulations, Coach Bayer, on US Lacrosse Coach of Year

Congratulations to our own Coach Kris Bayer! We couldn't agree more with the Coach of the Year award presented to our Warriors' Head LAX Coach by US Lacrosse. Excerpts from the report filed by Southern Maryland News Sports Reporter Michael Reid is below, or click on the link for the full article.

Friday, Sep. 09, 2011 Maryland Independent

Trio earns boys lacrosse awards

La Plata’s Bayer among those honored

by MICHAEL REID, Staff writer

File photo by EMILY BARNES La Plata head boys lacrosse coach Kris Bayer, left with son Jake, was honored as US Lacrosse Coach of the Year for Southern Maryland.

A trio of Southern Maryland high school boys lacrosse coaches was recently honored by US Lacrosse as ambassadors for their time and commitment in the sport. La Plata head coach Kris Bayer was honored as US Lacrosse Coach of the Year for the Southern Maryland region, while Calverton assistant coach Kraig Draper earned Assistant Coach of the Year honors for Maryland’s independent teams. Richard Kruckow of Chopticon was awarded Man of the Year honors for the Southern Maryland region.

“It’s pretty humbling,” said Bayer, 39, who also runs the Charles County Lacrosse Club. “Just to even be nominated I was shocked especially with the company that I was in with Joe [Casalino, Northern head coach] and Pete [Kerwin, Huntingtown head coach] and all the other coaches.”
...
The Coach and Assistant Coach of the Year awards are intended to recognize the individuals’ overall coaching performance and contribution, on and off the field. The Man of the Year award honors those individuals whose dedication, commitment and support of the game and its ideals extend beyond his specific team.

Bayer took over the fledgling La Plata program in 2009 and, despite having no junior varsity team, led the Warriors to a combined two-year record of 23-2 during club play against fellow Charles County opponents. “I think a big part of it was the kids’ willingness to learn,” Bayer said of why his team has experienced early program success. “We have a great group of kids and the CCLC is starting to pay dividends now.”

“I nominated Kris because [of] the first-year struggles of bringing a team into the conference,” Casalino said. “Kris did an unbelievable job organizing his team and having them be competitive against some of the more established teams in the league.”

Last season, while competing in a regular Southern Maryland Athletic Conference schedule, the Warriors finished a county-best seventh with a record of 6-7 (6-6 SMAC). "Certainly playing against the SMAC teams is a wake-up call to our kids,” said Bayer, an IT director for a trade association. “The brand of lacrosse we were playing in Charles County those two years was more football with sticks more than anything else.”

The Warriors later were upended 15-7 by Wilde Lake in the first round of the Class 3A-2A South Region playoffs.

“We played them last of the Charles County teams, so certainly we had thoughts of what we would see from every Charles County team,” Casalino said. “And then when we played them they were different and much more organized than anyone else.” Click here for remainder of story.

First year in SMAC

Congratulations on a great first Varsity season of La Plata High School's Lacrosse team!