The partnership between the School of Education and Say Yes to Education Syracuse continues with the start of a new year of SAT Prep classes for Syracuse City School District high school students. Three innovative sessions will run on Saturdays in October, February, and April for an expected 200 students, focusing on character building, confidence building, and life skills beyond the college preparatory test.
Doctoral student Phillip Haddix coordinates the program that brings together high school students and SU students from across campus for four-and-a-half hour programs.
“My role is to continue the tradition of attracting a wide range of SU students in the areas of race/ethnicity, academic skill sets, and a dynamic interpersonal approach to youth relations and rapport building,” says Haddix, a student in Cultural Foundations of Education who previously coordinated the Say Yes tutoring program at Fowler High School.
“We are creating themes for each of our five-week sessions, so parents and schools see a long-term commitment to our program is the advantage, not just a one-stop testing center,” he says.
Session 1, The Age of the Apprentice, focuses on rapport building and student engagement to foster a conducive learning environment. Session 2, My Philosophy on the SAT, will help students develop their unique approach to the SAT experience. Session 3, H.O.M.E. (Here Our Mind Expands, will help students understand achievement as a collective responsibility of family, school, and community and empower them by acknowledging and affirming their successful yearlong commitment to the program as a major achievement.
SU students run the project’s administration and direct service, Haddix says.
Returning to the program are assistant coordinators Rachel James ’16, a graduate student in information studies, and Shantel Jones ’17, an education major. Each session will require four to eight instructors, depending on the number of city students enrolled. Haddix praises instructors like Jacqueline Martinez-Torres ’17, a civil engineering major, as “very accessible to students, just an all-around great role model, as Shantel and Rachel are.”
“For communities often underrepresented, we are making a deliberate effort to make the campus and our staff accessible to all who desire this opportunity,” Haddix says.
All classes are held in the Hall of Languages. City students attend from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. 100 Black Men of Syracuse continues to provide lunch and breakfast for the students.
Session 1 runs October 8, 15, 22, and 29. Session 2 runs February 4, 11, 18, 25, 2017, and March 4. Session 3 runs April 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29. Students can register online.
The SAT Prep workshops are one of many partnerships between the SOE and the Syracuse City School District. Among them are the Syracuse Urban Fellowship Teacher program; collaborative grant projects with SOE faculty members and SCSD teachers and leaders focused on research, curriculum, and professional development; partnerships in preparing prospective teachers and leaders, including the Syracuse University Inclusive Teaching Residents; the Writing Our Lives project for middle and high school students; and the OnCampus program that brings city students who have developmental disabilities and who are between the ages of 18 and 21 to campus for academic, personal, and social development.