Teachers are helping Juniors do their best on the test.

Because the ACT is coming up for juniors, teachers have been working with them in class for the past week to help them do the best of their ability.

The juniors are taking the ACT Tuesday, March 12 during school hours. “The teachers have been preparing the juniors in English class all year doing “‘ACT timed reads’ in class once a week to work on pacing, content, and testing skills,” according to English teacher Erica Capito. In math classes, they are doing different math websites and practicing problems.

“In English, we have been doing timed reads since before Christmas break to prepare for the reading test,” said Junior Bri Tipton. Teachers are doing more than giving the juniors timed reads; they’re also offering a class after school on March 6 to do English stations, which anyone can take advantage of. The practice opportunities are effective because they offer a way of studying and asking questions to have a better understanding of what is going to be on the test.

Teachers are giving students advice on how to get the best test results. “We suggest making sure to get plenty of sleep the night before, eat a healthy breakfast and come to school a little earlier than normal so that they do not feel rushed,” said Capito. Eating breakfast and coming to school early will help prevent distractions for students during the test, including being focused on being hungry, feeling sick, or being behind on time.

Benchmarking on the ACT (in english or reading and math) is one of the ways students can attain Academic Transition Readiness, which is one of the determinants of whether or not they will be accepted into college, so being nervous or anxious is expected. “We remind them (students) that being anxious is pretty natural and that it does not mean that they are going to do poorly on the test,” said Capito. To reduce anxiety about the test it’s recommended that students study efficiently, eat and drink before the test and talk to your teachers about any concerns prior to taking the test.

Although the ACT is next week for juniors, if they don’t like their score or they missed taking it, there are opportunities to take it again this year, but it will not be offered free to them.