I support students in grades 9-12 with career development and college access activities by operating a College & Career Center in the library of an urban high school (1100 students) in Oregon. Students drop in on their own time and I visit classrooms with lessons on applying for scholarships, researching colleges, etc.
About 20% of the students from my high school will attend a four year college. Another 15-18% will enroll in a community college. That means that more than half of my graduates leave without a plan for post-secondary education. I know that high skilled, high wage jobs require more than a high school education and I aim to inspire more and more of our graduates to develop and implement a plan to continue their education. Many students lack a belief in themselves and I have heard negative self-talk including "people like me" or "people from this school" don't go to college. This is unacceptable.
College entrance exams loom large in the high school student's mind as an insurmountable obstacle. "I heard they are, like, four hours long and really hard!" If you already don't believe in yourself or your abilities, why would you pay to take a test that will tell you how unprepared you are for college?
Test prep materials (vocabulary building novels, flash cards, strategy books, etc.) help hesitant test takers become confident and skilled. This project will add a library of ACT and SAT test prep materials to the College & Career Center. I will use the materials with small groups and make them available for check-out.
The doors to most four year colleges are still closed to the student without a decent college entrance exam score. Your support of this college-prep project will prepare many young people for the road to higher education. Having access to self-help test prep materials at school is critical to the journey ahead, especially to the many low-income students who do not have these resources at home. Thank you for considering this project.
Kaplan SAT in a Box Kaplan Publishing Staff, Kaplan
• Barnes and Noble
$15.16
1
$15.16
The Laugh Out Loud Guide: Ace the SAT* Exam Without Boring Yourself Charles Horn
• Barnes and Noble
$10.39
1
$10.39
Hack the SAT: Strategies and Sneaky Shortcuts That Can Raise Your Score Hundreds of Points Eliot Schrefer
• Barnes and Noble
$12.00
1
$12.00
Vocab Rock! Musical Preparation for the SAT and ACT Peterson's, Rebecca Osleeb
• Barnes and Noble
$15.30
1
$15.30
Up Your Score: The Underground Guide to the SAT, 2009-2010 Larry Berger, Manek Mistry, Michael Colton
• Barnes and Noble
$9.56
1
$9.56
SAT Critical Reading (SparkCharts) SparkNotes Editors
• Barnes and Noble
$4.45
10
$44.50
Bob Miller's Math for the ACT Robert Miller, Bob Miller
• Barnes and Noble
$12.76
1
$12.76
Kaplan ACT Strategies for Super Busy Students 2009 Edition: 15 Simple Steps to Tackle the ACT While Keeping Your Life Together Kaplan
• Barnes and Noble
$15.25
1
$15.25
ACT All-Nighter SparkNotes Editors
• Barnes and Noble
$8.95
1
$8.95
Dissecting The Act Raju Raju, Silpa Raju
• Barnes and Noble
$8.95
1
$8.95
The Real ACT Prep Guide: The Only Official Prep Guide From The Makers Of The ACT (Real Act Prep Guide Series) ACT Inc., Wallie W Hammond (Editor)
• Barnes and Noble
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