The Five-Step Approach to Writing Goals in High School

By: Matthew C. Blair, M. Ed. – Virtual Guidance Counselor

Although you may not have realized it, you have been setting goals since you were very young.  Did you ever climb up on the kitchen counter to get a cookie from the cabinet?  Your goal was to get that cookie, and you worked out a plan to get it, even if it seemed out of reach.  You need to take the same approach to getting your high school diploma online.

Goals are important because they help motivate you to do your work, attend school regularly, and study for tests.  Even though you already may have set some goals for your classes, chances are you may not have analyzed how realistic those goals were.

You can increase your chances for success by learning to set goals that are both realistic and motivational.  Effective goal setting is an important life skill.  Learn to master these skills and watch how the dreams that you are following suddenly begin to chase you.

Four Ways to Overcome Stress

By: Megan Hines, Pinnacle Virtual Guidance Counselor

Starting back to school can be a stressful time for a lot of students.  Learning how to manage and work through stress can help students stay on track and be successful in your online high school classes.  Everyone feels stressed out at some time or another, but how you handle your stress can make a big difference in your day-to-day experiences.  Here are some ways to keep your stress in check:

Pinnacle Principal Profile – Bob Asadi

Originally from Wyoming, Pinnacle Education‘s new Mesa Campus Principal Bob Asadi has lived in Arizona for 25 years.  During his past teaching experience, Asadi taught history, geography and psychology at Cactus High School in Glendale for three years while also coaching football, basketball and baseball.  After his time at Cactus, he became head baseball coach at Holbrook High School in Holbrook, AZ.  He spent the next two years in Holbrook before finding an opportunity to return to the Valley,  accepting a position at Agua Fria High School. His first year at the Avondale school was very exciting because the school won the 4A State Championship in football.

Asadi later received his principalship certification and was named principal of  the school’s North Campus, which was for freshmen only.  Soon the school grew in population, and the North Campus became Millennium High School – now the largest high school in the Agua Fria District.  After seven years as principal, Asadi decided to make a career change and took a position in the insurance and financial services industry.  He worked as an insurance agent, an agency manager, a financial advisor and finally a financial planner; but Asadi really began missing being in a school setting.  In order to get back in the education world, he decided to work as an assistant principal and principal of another charter school before making the move to Pinnacle.  When he’s not on campus, Asadi also teaches online graduate classes to future school administrators at Grand Canyon University.

Today, Asadi lives with his wife, Karen, who is a teacher in the Peoria Unified School District.  They have two sons who are both married and now get to enjoy spending time with their three grandchildren.

When asked why he decided to work at Pinnacle, Asadi  said it was a great fit.

“I am inspired by Pinnacle because it offers students a chance to start over and achieve their educational goals while getting the support they need.” He said.

Stay tuned for more profiles of our other campus principals in the coming weeks.

Inspirational Quote of the Week – 8/22 Edition

The fall semester is in full force. As you finish the first month of classes, here is an inspirational quote I found to help motivate you while you work in your online high school classes.

“In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don’t try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present.” — Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher

We’re Now Accepting Submissions for The 10th Muse

The 10^th Muse Literary Magazine (formerly known as the Pinnacle Periodical) has had great success in its last four issues, and we hope to begin compiling student and staff submissions for the Fall 2011 issue right away.

If you’re not familiar with the 10^th Muse, feel free to check out our most recent issue here: The 10th Muse Spring 2011

If you would like to see your work published, we encourage you to submit any artwork, poetry, or short stories to kboomer@innovat-ed.com.  Teachers may also submit work on their student’s behalf.  This work can come from class work or outside of the curriculum, but must be school appropriate.  Students and staff are welcome to submit as much as they would like, along with the appropriate media release form before October 30, 2011. If work is chosen for The 10^th Muse, students will be informed via email.  We hope to coordinate the issue’s publication with winter graduation, if not sooner!

Our spring issue was great, and I hope to receive even more submissions this time around, especially from STAFF!  If site lab managers get the message out to their students, it would be much appreciated.  Online instructors can also mail the links to old issues students as desired.    We will have a flyer to print/send in the near future.  Thank you in advance for your help in finding our budding artists!

If you would like to look at the another issue for the type of content we’re looking for, feel free to read the Pinnacle Periodical Winter 2010 Issue.

Don’t Forget to be Proactive!

Welcome back students!  Whether you are new to Pinnacle Online High School, joining us to make-up a few credits, or have been with us for awhile, we are so glad you are back! All of the teachers and staff have been working hard this summer to train our team of staff instructors and counselors so that this can be our best year yet!  We’re so excited to support you on this journey through your high school years and help you to reach your goals and potential.  Our tip for you as you start the fall semester is to be PROACTIVE.  This means making an effort to get and stay organized, work hard, stay ahead of pace and reach out for help with you need it.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. As Ellen Bremen wrote in her recent post on relating to students, “There’s no weakness in being the recipient of others’ experience & knowledge.” We don’t know what your questions are unless you ask.  We don’t know how to offer you additional support and guidance unless you tell us.  YOU CAN DO THIS!  We are here to help!

Did You Know? – Part 1

Did you know that at Pinnacle Online High School, we recommend that you create a folder on your desktop for each of the courses you take?  That way, you can save all of your work and assignments directly into that folder, and easily access them when you’re ready to upload the assignment or continue working on it.  It is very important to save all of your work so that you have a backup copy if necessary.   This is a small step you can take in order to become more organized in your courses!

The Top 5 Reasons to Enroll in Online High School this Fall

Summer is coming to an end. It’s the phrase that strikes fear and despair in the hearts of kids everywhere. While kids all over the world wallow at the loss of their seemingly endless supply of video games, pool parties and movie marathons, parents must now get their children back in a learning mindset.

The end of summer may be the end of their child’s vacation, but it also signals the start of another school year. It’s time to turn in those video games for textbooks and swimsuits for back packs. But before your students make the pilgrimage back to the traditional brick-and-mortar classroom, there is an alternative.

Taking classes at an online high school.

As technology continues to become an integral part of our everyday lives, it’s no surprise that it is making an impact in the world of education. With devices such as iPads and interactive whiteboards, students are now seeing more interactive technologies incorporated in the curriculum, and there are even entire classes delivered and taught online.

Inspirational Quote of the Week – July 18

I’m always on the lookout for thoughtful and inspirational quotes. You’d be surprised how a simple quote can get you in the right frameset to finish any task. Here’s the one that caught my eye this week:

“Excellence is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution;  it represents the wise choice of many  alternatives.”

– William A. Foster

Videos of Our 2011 Spring Graduation are Now Online!

Our Spring Graduation Ceremonies for our Site and Virtual programs were held this past May at the Mesa Convention Center in Mesa, AZ. More than 75 students from our online high school participated in the ceremonies to receive the high school diploma. We also had hundreds of family members and friends attend the graduation ceremonies to cheer on and support the graduates. All in all, the night was a huge success!

If you would like to watch or download a copy of our Spring 2011 Graduation Ceremonies, please visit Pinnacle Education’s Vimeo page. You can also watch the videos below.

Congratulations to all of our graduates and good luck on all of your future endeavors!