If You Build It, They Will Come
by Rose Mary Mares
April 11, 2008
If the attendance at the TAKS Calculator Academy and the TAKS Super Saturday is an indicator of the success one can expect from the students at Lytle High School on the state assessment, everyone should be readying to kick off their flip flops at the beach.
Attendance at the first session of the calculator academy was thirty seven students. Who would have thought that the second session would bring almost double that number! Several students were observed in a math class grinning at each other as if they shared some deep secret. When asked what was going on, they exclaimed that what they had learned at the academy they could already apply to the work at hand. Others around them felt that they had truly missed out on a golden opportunity; thus the increase in attendance for the second session.
While most students like to sleep in on Saturday mornings, fifty-seven students made a commitment to attend the first TAKS Super Saturday. They were welcomed with a hot breakfast and groups of math and science teachers ready to guide them through some fun, interactive and, yes, educational activities that would enrich prior learning. The following Monday, the reviews were awesome! Many of those in attendance quickly spread the word about how much fun they had had, but more importantly how much they had learned.
Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.
We appreciate all the support from parents as we continue to provide enriching activities to boost the students’ background knowledge as they prepare for the final round of TAKS. We hope that these efforts will not only help them be more successful on the test, but that they will find much success in all their future educational endeavors.
Reach the Beach – 2008!
