Preparing for the future can be a scary thought for students at the high school level.
Decisions on where to attend school and what profession begin to circulate through students’ minds before graduation. Another stressful part comes with the preparation of the ACT test.
The Elizabethton/Carter County Public Library is looking to help students and families prepare by offering a free ACT testing workshop. Space is limited to 20 laptops available. Two workshops will be held — Monday, Feb. 27 and Monday, March 6, from 5 to 8 p.m. – with registration for the event encouraged to be done by Monday, Feb. 13.
“This is the first time we’ve done this type of workshop,” Library Director Renita Barksdale said Friday. “The purpose of this workshop is to get teens who don’t know what to expect out of the ACT an opportunity to practice for the exam. This is a big part of their future. They can get scholarships through Tennessee Promise, and if they can get good enough of a score, they have a chance to have their schooling covered for free.”
The workshops are open to all high school students. Along with test preparation, pizza and drinks will be provided during the events.
High school students looking to register need to email their name, school, and grade to highcountryedu@gmail.com to be included in the sessions. The workshops will be taught by ACT tutor Amy Schaffner.
“She is the instructor and has been tutoring kids about the ACT for years,” Barksdale said. “I have seen one of her students move up by five points going through her program. Five points is a big jump with the ACT. She has tons of experience, worked in the school system before … she knows what the test is all about.”
Barksdale added that the instructor has created a curriculum to prepare the students for the test in a fun atmosphere with their family.
“Amy is so intelligent,” Barksdale said. “She was holding these coding classes, and we started talking about the ACT and tutoring children. I asked her if she would be able to tutor children in this area. Tutoring can very expensive at times, but she agreed to hold these workshops. We’re very excited to see the response from the public.”
The workshops are just another initiative put in place by the library to help stress the importance of education within the county. Barksdale recently announced the library entered into a partnership with Tennessee Reconnect by having McKenzie Todd with Northeast Tennessee Reconnect Community stop by each Thursday to work with adults looking to go back to school.
“Tennessee wants 55 percent of the population to have a college degree,” Barksdale said. “That’s my goal. I want to help Tennessee meet those standards and Elizabethton and Carter County to meet those requirements. If the library can be there to help with that partnership and assist them in achieving their goals, we want to be part of it. For the community to grow and be strong, we have to grow in education.”