PARCC Testing & College Knowledge

Andres does a "trust fall" during 3rd hour.

This past week marked the start of PARCC state testing for our scholars at Shaw Heights. We had testing Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (for select groups). Testing went from the first bell until about 11:30, which has made for quite the long week for our YESS mentors and mentees. We spent the short week discussing our new unit, "The Future," in the context of college. On Friday, our mentors lead class and conducted several team builders for the mentees.

5th hour waiting to start the "trust fall" activity.

So many of our scholars began getting stressed last week in lieu of the testing. Several even told me that they fell asleep during the test as they were so worried about it that they cannot even sleep well. We are trying to combat the high level of anxiety by doing team builders and by openly discussing how we are feeling and what habits we are incorporating into our routines.

Sabestian and Andres during the three-legged race.

Friday we had a day of fun with our mentors leading the mentees through exercises like the "trust fall" and "the human knot" (a game where everyone in a circle grabs someone else's hand and then the group must untangle the knot without letting go). We also hosted several three-legged races outside, and did a fun partner sketching activity. All in all, the mentees were thrilled for a day of excitement lead by their mentors.

Anthony and Quan play Twister during 6th hour after completing a worksheet last week.

Next week we continue testing and will delve further into our talks about colleges by getting into the computer lab to do a little research.