Merit Scholar Program
Student Application for Participation
Student name ___________________________________________ Grade _________
Best way to contact you:
_____ Send text on cell phone # ___________________________________
_____ Via Email @ ______________________________________________
Completed forms are
due no later than
September 25th.
_____ Other ___________________________________________________
Proposed Action Plan of Activities
__________1. Academic Challenge (all year)
__________2. Independent Study (all year)
__________3. All Mini-Classes
1st nine weeks: Choice of Career Paper, Biography Paper or Biography quizzes*
*If Bio quizzes: Circle the two choices you want: Walton, Roosevelt, Labelle, Orbach, Warhol,
Robinson, Bach, Avalanche, Tornado
2nd nine weeks: Choice of GEMS class**, Career Paper, Biography Paper or Biography quizzes*
*If Bio quizzes: Circle the two choices you want: Walton, Roosevelt, Labelle, Orbach, Warhol,
Robinson, Bach, Avalanche, Tornado
3rd nine weeks: Choice of GEMS class, Career Paper, Biography Paper or Biography quizzes*
*If Bio quizzes: Circle the two choices you want: Walton, Roosevelt, Labelle, Orbach, Warhol,
Robinson, Bach, Avalanche, Tornado
4th nine weeks: Choice of GEMS class, Career Paper, Biography Paper or Biography quizzes*
*If Bio quizzes: Circle the two choices you want: Walton, Roosevelt, Labelle, Orbach, Warhol,
Robinson, Bach, Avalanche, Tornado
** If you chose GEMS classes for any of the 9 weeks, please circle the class period that you
can get permission to miss: PD1 PD2 PD4 PD8 PD9
No other periods are available at this time. If you cannot fit GEMS into your schedule, choose
another alternative.
Date Submitted ____________________________________________
Student Signature _____________________________________________________
Parent Signature ______________________________________________________
*** Senior final grade will be an average of the three grades received in Merit Scholar all year. However,
If a senior wants to bring up the average grade, he/she can hand in an extra assignment. Each additional
assignment will raise final grade by one letter, as long as quality work is presented.
This page left intentionally blank
GEMS CLASS: Face to face (Meets once a week) Can choose 1-3x per year:
Students will participate in a variety of different activities each week such as: Jeopardy type contest,
Whodunit, puzzles, Stories with holes, Game competitions and so on.
*****Students who choose to take the GEMS classes MUST hand in a copy of his/her schedule with
this signed form. Students are not guaranteed a spot in one of these classes as class space is limited
and only certain class periods are available. (Refer to page 1 to see which classes are open.)
Independent Study:
During the first nine weeks, student must complete application and receive approval to begin.
Second nine weeks, student must complete and hand in an outline of the final paper. If you need
help with this, check out some online resources such as http://explorable.com/how-to-write-an-outline
http://www.ehow.com/how_2052571_write-outline.html
Third nine weeks, student will write a 25-page paper culminating the project. Paper must be
typed, double-spaced using 1-inch margins, 12 pt type, Times or Times New Roman. Must include a title
page with your name, date and project title. Include a reference page citing all references in APA format.
(See Citefast.com for help.)
Do not plagiarize: Yes, I will check.
Fourth nine weeks, students grade will be an average of the first three grading periods but no
work is due.
Career:
Student will choose a career in which he/she is interested, then research it and write a paper at
minimum of 4-pages. Paper must be typed, double-spaced using 1-inch margins, 12 pt type, Times or
Times New Roman. Must include a title page (not included in the 4 page length requirement) with your
name, date and project name. Students should address questions/issues such as:
Job requirements, education requirements, job locations, job conditions, long-term career outlook,
salaries, pros & cons, which colleges offer training, nature of the job, working conditions, Companies
which hire these candidates, etc.
Do you know anyone with this job? Interview them. Can you shadow someone in this career for
a day? (If you want to do this and need help, see me.) If you’ve taken a career-aptitude test, you can
include the results. Then, create a career plan.
***** DO NOT WRITE THIS PAPER IN FIRST PERSON. You can add your own thoughts in the final
paragraph/s but the majority of the paper should be an informative- Just the facts.
Academic Challenge:
Quiz bowl type competition. This is a year long assignment. All students will participate in
practices and matches. You must make every effort to participate. If you must miss practice, please see
Mrs. Bolock with your excuse. She will have makeup work for you to do. If you miss consistently, you
will have to choose other assignments to complete.
All written papers MUST be submitted to my email (Kimberlysue.smith@omeresa.net)
paper copies will be accepted.
No
Title pages do not count towards the total page count.
Biography:
Student will choose any individual in which he/she is interested, then research him/her and write a
paper at minimum of 3-pages plus a cover page. Paper must be typed, double-spaced using 1-inch
margins, 12 pt type, Times or Times New Roman. Title page must include your name, date and project
name.
OR
Students can choose two of the following topics, read the articles and/or videos associated with
them, then go to Virtual Classroom and complete a quiz on each. Topics include:
1. Sam Walton (founder of Walmart): Read bio from Biography.com (no video)
2. Jackie Robinson (baseball player): Read bio from Biography.com (no video)
3. Andy Warhol (Painter & Filmmaker): Read bio from Biography.com (no video)
4. Jerry Orbach (actor): Read bio from Biography.com (no video)
5. Patti LaBelle (film actress and singer): Read bio from Biography.com (no video)
6. Theodore Roosevelt (President): Read bio from Biography.com (no video)
7. Johann Sebastian Bach (composer): Read bio and watch 3 minute movie on Biography.com
8. Avalanches: Go to http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/avalanche.htm and read
the article titled, “How Avalanches Work”. Then go to
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130422-avalanche-safety-tips/ and read the article
5 Tips for Staying Safe in Avalanche Country.
9. Tornadoes: Go to Howstuffworks.com and read the following articles: How Tornadoes Work, Can you
really outrun a tornado?, and How Storm Chasers work
These can be found at:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/storms/tornado.htm
http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/storms/storm-chaser.htm
http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/can-outrun-tornado.htm
****DO NOT LEAVE YOUR FORMS IN MY ROOM.
YOU MUST GIVE THEM TO ME PERSONALLY OR
HAND THEM IN AT THE JR. HIGH OFFICE.
I will be in my Junior High office on Tuesdays and Fridays this year.