My three kids all have Republic Wireless. They have a selection of phones. The plans are super-cheap. You can get 1 GB data, talk, text for $25 per month.

I've had two kids take Advanced Composition at TPS, but it's been two years since they've taken it. At the time compositions had an extensive checklist. No "Be" verbs allowed at all. Other things I can remember: No sentences starting with A, An, or The, Each sentence in a paragraph must start with a different word, and no paragraph can start with the same word. They wrote one composition every 1-2 weeks. The English sequence has been revamped quite a bit in the last couple of years, so the content might have changed.

Just be aware that some colleges require fine arts to be a year-long study, not two separate courses. Here is the University of California requirement: "Students are expected to complete a single yearlong VPA course to satisfy the “f†subject requirement, but they may also fulfill the requirement by completing two semesters of sequentially related and approved “f†courses within a single arts discipline."

Heard from the last one today. My son was accepted at California State University, Long Beach.

Somehow I think this acceptance for my son was dropped off the list, unless I'm looking at it incorrectly. Thanks!

My son received another acceptance: Grand Canyon University, Honors College, Scholarship

My son got his third acceptance: Biola University with scholarship. We won't hear from his last application for a few months, so this is it for awhile.

My son got his second acceptance: Vanguard University with a Presidential Scholarship.

Thanks, FaithManor! If you have time, Azusa is spelled incorrectly in the list. It has one "z" and one "s."

My son got his first acceptance: Azusa Pacific University.

Our small school of around 20 families is trying TreeRing this year. We don't currently have students making the yearbook, but we have a committee of three moms. Once we figure it out, we may involve some of the older students.

My husband was a member of Phi Mu Alpha. I was a member of Sigma Alpha Iota, the female equivalent. klmama described what I remember about it. He should investigate his individual chapter and see if he is interested.

My second son will be a senior this year. He has no idea what he wants to study in college. I have been much more laid-back with this kid, or maybe I'm just in denial. He's done one overnight college visit at the university where my husband teaches. We get free tuition there. My husband commutes, but it would be a little far for a student to commute. He'd live there. My son will apply to a couple other local Christian universities just in case he can get a tuition exchange. He really prefers to live at home. He took the ACT last year and declared himself done. His score is high enough to get him into all the places he's looking to attend. No SATII tests or AP tests. He has taken two CLEP tests and plans to take one or two more this coming year. He took one online Young Scholar's college class at a state university last spring. He is enrolled for another one this fall. He's excited to get college credit. Besides that, he will be filling out college applications, taking community college classes and most likely finding a job this coming year. It will be interesting to see where he ends up at this time next year.

:grouphug: You've been through such a difficult time. I hope you can find some joy in this accomplishment.

Glad to know you had a good experience with Tree Ring. We definitely want to keep costs down. Do you know if there's any way to preview the content of the additional personalized two pages in the book? I could just see the possibility of something objectionable ending up in our school yearbook, even though it would be that one copy only. I've used Shutterfly for my personal books. I like it, but it would be too expensive. Nice to have a second person liking Tree Ring! I've heard good things about Picaboo. For some reason, I figured they were about the same price as Shutterfly. I've never heard of The Memory Book Company. I'll have to check it out. I'm always interested in hearing about the experience of others.