Sophomore Katelyn Nichols looked up at the glass where the bright, fluorescent yellow sheets of paper told her near-future. Those pieces of paper told the room number which she will spend several hours in, working on four different aptitude tests. She is scheduled to take the Plan test, which is a similar to the ACT that she will take when she is a junior. In just a few weeks, Nichols will find out her score and figure out what she will need to improve on.
On Oct. 29, the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors will take preparatory tests, the Explore, Plan, and PACT respectively, to get a prediction of what they could receive on the highly anticipated ACT. The ACT is taken by juniors statewide each spring, but these preparatory tests allow for insight on how the ACT pans out.
This year the responsibility of organizing the test was taken over by new counselor, Tanya Thomas, who has taken the place of retired counselor, Pat Olson-McGee.
Thomas calls the ACT “the mother of all tests,” and she has a reason to. The ACT dictates what colleges students can get into, as well as what jobs students could get in the future.
“Even if students aren’t going to college, employers will look for [your ACT score],” said Thomas. “If you can’t show what you have learned and what you have to offer, how can they make sure you’d be a good part of the company?”
The Explore and Plan are state mandated tests while the PACT is given by Revolution Prep. In trade for this practice test, Revolution Prep is able to talk to current juniors about taking prep courses and about how to improve themselves for the ACT.
“It shows you what is really on the test so you can know and prepare for it in advance,” said Nichols.
Last year, Huntley High School was one of the few schools in the state to pass the Adequate Yearly Progress, or more commonly known as “No Child Left Behind,” put in place by the Bush administration in the early few years of the century. Our school ACT average is a 22.4 compared to the state’s average a 20.6.
According to Thomas, since we passed the AYP, as a district we do not get any resources taken away unlike other schools who have.
Students should not be nervous about this test, but do the best they can do. This test helps indicate what subjects students need to work on to do even better on the real ACT in the spring.
“As long as I get a good night’s rest and concentrate during the test, I’ll be fine,” said Nichols.