South’s Sensational Saturdays Support Students’ Test Prep
South Intermediate and North Intermediate students have an opportunity to gain additional preparation for the upcoming End of Instruction () State Test for English II thanks to “South’s Sensational Saturdays” April 10, April 17 and May 1 from 9 until 11 a.m. at South Intermediate High School.
South English teachers will host the free Saturday morning test prep opportunity that will also feature breakfast, door prizes, and the chance to win a grand prize all thanks to the generosity of the English teachers, area businesses, and the South .
“We sat down in one of our English meetings last year and collaborated together to come up with ideas that would help our students achieve proficient or higher on their English II test,” South English teacher Kristin Gillespie explained. “Ms. Hudgins ( Assistant Principal Jennifer Hudgins) suggested Saturday test prep sessions because she had done them at her previous school district and they had been a success. We thought it was a wonderful idea and started planning!”
Last year’s South Sensational Saturdays were so popular with approximately 100 students taking part in each session that South teachers decided to offer the Saturday gatherings again this spring.
“This is a program that grew out of needs identified by our teachers to offer extra Intensive focused test preparation for our Language Arts End of Instruction tests,” South Principal, Dr. Richard Dale said. “The teachers developed this program and are donating their time. Local businesses and our are providing refreshments and door prizes.”
South teachers presenting at the Saturday sessions are Stacey Mitchell, Diana Phillips, Marla Watts, and Gillespie (as well as Ms. Hudgins). The teachers say all levels of students will benefit from the Saturday preparation opportunities.
“It is open to all English II students,” Gillespie said. “Our hope is to reach all students- Advanced Placement, Special Ed, at-risk, etc. We want to increase every student’s score on the test.”
South students can sign up for the Saturday offerings in their English class. The teachers are looking for some kind of realistic count of participants ahead of the Saturday sessions so they will know how much food to have on hand for the students.
“We had students from North attend last year and we would love for more to attend this year,” said Gillespie.
The first Sensational Saturdays schedule of events will be a General Session titled- “Writing up a Storm”. This session will deal with brainstorming.
The breakout sessions will include “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”- Analyzing past writing responses; “Getting Cozy with Commas”- a lesson on punctuation; and “Writing like an Artist”- a lesson on writing descriptively. The students will choose two breakout sessions that they would like to attend. Each breakout session is 25 minutes and the general session is around an hour.
“I am very proud of our teachers’ efforts and the program they have developed to help our students do their very best on the states End of Instruction exams!” exclaimed Dr. Dale.
For more information, parents may contact South Intermediate High School at 259-4330.
Updated 04-05-2010
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