•All 17 YouthBuild Worcester students participated in the annual TABE Test Day on April 16th with a collective class goal of achieving 20 grade increases in both reading and math scores. At the end of the day, every student had at least one grade increase, and as a group they had a total of 36. This was a huge accomplishment! Students and teachers explored ideas on ways they could work together to continue to see these great results. Their conclusions:
1.Attend School – Currently, as a group, every student has an attendance rate of 80% or better; in aggregate our attendance rate in YB is 85%.
2.Do Homework – This year YB students are doing their homework Monday through Friday. When they are on their worksite week, they are studying class work at home. As of April 2014, 90% of all homework assignments have been passed in this year.
3.READ, READ and READ Some More – So far this year, Worcester YB students have finished two novels and are working on their third book. They also read at least one primary source document a day.
4.Encourage Each Other – This year’s YB students are very close as a group. They care about each other’s success.
5.Have a Great Staff – Nathan Stowell, Counselor/ Case Manager; Francis DeAngelo, Instructor; Gerlad Siplas , Worksite Supervisor/ Trainer; and Wilson Brito, Worksite Assistant, are a great team and encourage the students to reach for their goals all year long.
•YB student Marcus Diaz (at right in the photo above) and Job and Classroom Coach Brian Leonard have been working closely together in the classroom over the last two months. The results: Marcus was able to increase both his math and reading TABE scores from 4.5 to 9.0. Keep up the great work guys!!!
•YB Worcester recently registered 10 students to take the new High School Equivalency Test (HiSET™) in June. Students are now sharpening up their math skills to prepare for the test. The HiSET™ is replacing the GED test in the state of Massachusetts.
•Saint-Gobain Corporation’s Communications Specialist Felicia Melvin (photo above) visited YouthBuild Worcester on April 17th to train students and staff in blogging and to provide some suggestions/ ideas for blog topics. Students are now spending time during their writing class updating the website blog. Two students, Deshawn Ivory and Nicholas Shepardson, helped to write today’s blog!
Nice job guys…and THANK YOU FELICIA!
•YouthBuild Worcester is excited about a new aspect to the SGC/ YB partnership! It’s called Scientists in the Classroom! Beginning this summer, employees from the Northboro, MA – based SGC R&D Center will be teaching science and math in the YB classroom. The intent is to increase focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) practices. We expect it to be a fun and great learning experience for all involved. Stay tuned for future updates!
