| ACT Parent Night Keeps Parents in the Know |  |  |  |
| Written by Alice Knotts | |
| Monday, 07 February 2011 | |
 One week before WAHI students received the results from their first ever pre-ACT test undertaking, WA-HI GEAR UP and the WA-HI administration created an opportunity to involve parents in their child’s college preparation journey through a pre-ACT informational night designed to give parents an instructional and strategic look into interpreting their student’s pre-ACT test scores. “Self-determination, intellectual curiosity, punctuality and presence, communication skills, and dedication—these are the characteristics of achievers,” said the evening’s primary speaker WA-HI associate principal, Mira Gobel. She went on to explain to parents that the purpose of the two pre-ACT tests (the EXPLORE test and PLAN test) is to open doors for conversations about their student’s educational and career goals, and is only one component among many that may serve as an indicator of their child’s potential for success.  She advised parents to focus on their child’s strengths, to approach lower scoring areas as a way to set educational goals, and not to let less-than-perfect results discourage their student in any way. Gobel then led parents through a detailed tour of the EXPLORE and PLAN score reports explaining the significance and usefulness of each section. She also told parents the many reasons why GEAR UP and WA-HI are one hundred percent dedicated to seeing the pre-ACT test become the long term standard for WA-HI students. All colleges look at some kind of standardized college entrance exam. It only makes sense that the students who have had the opportunity to become familiar with the ACT testing style would score higher on their exams than students who have not had such an opportunity. Additionally, in contrast to state standardized tests which provide only minimal student performance data, the pre-ACT is data rich with useful information that school administrators and teachers may use to improve their understanding of their students’ needs. They may then use this insight to adjust teaching strategies to maximize academic rigor and completeness in each student’s high school education. The ACT testing company even goes as far as to return score reports to each student with an annotated copy of the questions they encountered on the exam, a duplicate of the student’s written answers, and suggested measures they may take to improve their academic performance. Following Gobel’s presentation, parents were encouraged to ask questions or express any concerns they had regarding WA-HI’s choice to initiate pre-ACT testing. Several questions were asked, but overall, parent reaction was clear; all were very pleased with the information they had received. | |
| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 08 February 2011 ) |
The hard work of Walla Walla High School’s assessment team, administrators, and teachers backed by financial support from GEAR UP made it possible to pilot two new, “pre-ACT,” academic assessment tests at WA-HI this year. These tests, known as the EXPLORE and PLAN tests, are innovative, early high school, data tracking and evaluating examinations offered by the ACT testing services. 
Kicking off the start of what is planned to be a five-year project, early this November fourteen hundred ninth, tenth, and eleventh graders successfully completed WA-HI’s inaugural administration of the tests. Teachers and administrators alike are highly optimistic the tests will improve educator awareness of WA-HI’s students’ needs. 
GEAR UP students are working together to pioneer the development of podcasting in education. Last spring GEAR UP sent Chris Plucker, one of Pioneer Middle School’s most dynamic and tech savvy teachers, to attend a daylong seminar on podcasting sponsored by TechReach in partnership with WSU GEAR UP. 
Students work together in small groups, each student voicing a different character. After completing the recording of their scene, the small groups divide into sub-groups. Each subgroup must then complete a section of the podcast by editing and producing their own audio version of that scene. Some of the movie scripts the students have chosen to use in their podcasts are The Incredibles, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Finding Nemo. 
The GEAR UP Academic Lab at Walla Walla High School has been a critical educational resource for several years now, and this school year is no exception. In fact, this year GEAR UP has enrolled additional help and increased the scope of its services to meet the growing awareness of the Lab’s instrumental role in helping students succeed in school. 
The Lab is a focused-attention environment geared towards engaging students in active learning. Students may attend Academic Lab voluntarily, or by teacher referral. For referral students, the Lab works in collaboration with teachers and parents to ensure student accountability and progress in Lab. 
The Lab is in daily contact with parents keeping them up-to-date on their student’s progress and attendance record. Maintaining regular communication with parents has played a vital role, not only in building consistency in Lab attendance, but also in creating relationships with parents which have proved invaluable to the progress of Lab students. 
Average students who have a desire to succeed, or that develop a desire while attending Lab, often see clear, positive results in their grades in as little as two weeks. In due course, even failing students can see passing grades on their report cards, and experience the joy that comes with fulfilling their high school educational requirements and graduating on time. 
After the opening assembly, the freshmen were paired with their Link Crew Leaders who had the pleasure of dressing up with their freshmen in themed costumes and parading around campus. 
By the time the freshmen entered the day’s closing ceremony, there was a distinct sense of community, comfort, and acceptance among the freshmen. Unsurprisingly this camaraderie made them all the more excitable and rowdy (in a good way) when Mr. Shaw began drawing student names to receive GEAR UP’s participation prizes. 
Amidst the last fleeting days of summer leading up to Freshman Orientation and the beginning of the 2010 school year, eighty-four Walla Walla High School juniors and seniors chose to forgo one last summer hurrah, and instead, gathered together with their fellow classmates in the school gym for one very good cause: GEAR UP’s Link Crew Leadership Camp. 
GEAR UP’s Link Crew at WAHI is aimed at creating dynamic relationships between entering freshmen and upperclassmen by strategically pairing them in mentor/mentee relationships using the knowledge and rapport of the older students to connect with the entering freshmen and guide them on their journey into high school. 
Many other leadership qualities were also addressed in training including how to personally be a good leader, how to be confident, but humble, how to really get to know another person, and how to take negative comments and turn them into positive statements. 
Walla Walla High School students are opening doors for their AVID program this year by advocating for AVID outside the school system in an effort to gain awareness and support from local community leaders. 
For their presentation, the students used their stories to show the National Exchange members how AVID had positively influenced their lives and the lives of their fellow classmates.