by Ashlee Allen
The time has come for the junior class of 2010 to take the GHSGT, better acknowledged as the Georgia High School Graduation test. Teachers and students are preparing in several ways; diminutive groups are held every Tuesday, refreshers are going to be held at the end of February, and homerooms go over works sheets containing the subjects that will be held on the test, to make it definite that the juniors at Osborne High School (OHS) are more than ready for their positive results in the future.
GHSGT, which is held in March, consists of the five basic subjects, Reading, Math, English, Science and Social Studies. The small groups that are held every Tuesday are lead by counselors. When asked how well the juniors were dealing with these small groups, Erin Thaler, OHS's AP Coordinator replied, “The juniors of class 2010 are doing well. I believe that an opportunity such as this opens up a door of predominate able future success for the students.” Each selective group of students congregates in a room and takes knowledge tests on the computer. After the answers are scored, the students identify what areas they are both strong and weak in. Contrary to the smaller groups, the administration here at OHS created refreshers for the junior class that will take place in February; these refreshers are an exact class situation where the teachers refresh the minds of students on what they need to know based on student centered criterion. Collectively, the small group and refresher are positive ideas that will facilitate the juniors in passing.
Georgia Board of Education did not construct this test for fun. They give juniors this test to determine the level each junior in the state of Georgia is at. A 300 is the minimum score a student can make to pass the test and graduate. If an individual does not pass a section, they will be given the opportunity to retake the test as many times as it necessitates to attain a diploma. Lakeshia Clark, a senior of the class of 2009, stated her opinion about the intimidating test when she explained that, “ The graduation test, was not as hard as everyone made it seem. To me, the test was fine because I knew I prepared myself enough to pass."
The writing test that the junior class of 2010 took was taken in early November. After they received their stimulating scores, the administration at OHS made sure that they recognized the level of success the students reached. By increasing the scores 11% from the test that were taken last year, the juniors felt as though they might have a great chance of increasing the test scores in the future. This good news was motivating as well as nerve breaking for many of the students. Hayley Richardson, an OHS junior, said in response to her nerves, “ I hope that I pass because I have a success plan for my senior year. In order for me to do well, I know that I am going to have to play close deliberation at the refreshers.”
All together, the motivation, programs and hope will prepare the juniors minds to succeed in the test. Waiting patiently, the students of OHS's minds are currently pending and waiting for the what could determine the fate of their future.
- Volume 1, Issue 2 -
photograph taken by Ashlee Allen
