Jan. 16, 2024
By Drew Bancroft
Webmaster
For most students, lunch is a break from the grind of academics. However, for college-bound juniors, it is a critical time to prepare for the SAT.
From Dec. 9 through March 6, LHS is offering a free preparation course to juniors registered for the March 8 SAT, which will take place at LHS.
The class, which meets Mondays through Thursdays, consists of two groups totaling 41 students. Group 1 is taught by English teacher Dr. DiMaggio and math teacher Mrs. Isola, while Group 2 is taught by English teacher Ms. Cappiello and computer and technology teacher Mrs. Orth.
DiMaggio, who prepares students for the reading and writing section, said she covers rules and strategies for responding to a variety of questions.
“A big part of doing well on the test or improving a score is familiarity with the test and familiarity with the kinds of answers that the test is looking for,” DiMaggio said.
DiMaggio has taught SAT prep at LHS for 16 years and has 30 years of experience tutoring students for the SAT.
“One of the things I learned is, sometimes students have never had a formal education on some of the rules,” DiMaggio said. “It’s not that they [can’t] do it. They just have never learned how.”
Junior Carley Paserchia said she is glad she enrolled in the SAT prep course.
“I knew that if I signed up, I would be able to hold myself more accountable to set aside time to study,” Paserchia said. “What I have found enjoyable so far is being able to review what I have learned in class and then be shown what it might look like during the SAT.”
Paserchia said the course has helped her set achievable goals.
“I feel that the [PSAT] went well, but I hope to improve on the amount of time each question takes me,” Paserchia said. “I think that as I continue to learn topics in my classes, it will help to reinforce what I’m learning and apply it to SAT questions I might get.”
Junior Charlie Benjamin said he has already seen progress in his ability because of the SAT prep class.
“The course is helping me improve, and I hope to better my skills from the PSAT by studying and learning more,” Benjamin said.
He said he enjoys strengthening his test-taking ability. However, he said lunchtime is too brief to get through all the material.
“I knew that if I signed up, I would be able to hold myself more accountable to set aside time to study.”
“I find it difficult to work quickly in such a short lunch period,” Benjamin said. “You need to do the tests, quizzes and certain practice in the course, though, to improve at all.”
Orth, who is new to teaching the prep class at LHS but has a decade of SAT tutoring experience, said she prepares students by refreshing them on core math concepts and giving them time to practice the types of questions they will see on the test.
“Every student is unique,” Orth said. “Some students really know the material but then struggle with test anxiety, and they feel the pressure of the clock ticking.”
Although Orth recognizes the workload may be daunting to some students, she said she encourages juniors to take advantage of the program.
“There are a lot of students that feel like it’s a big time commitment, but it’s not…. In the grand scheme of your life, it’s really not that much,” Orth said. “A little time and effort now could pay some big dividends in the future.”
