In walks a woman with a large black bag. With a loud voice, Sarah Draine opens up by welcoming the high school students to the ACT Academy at the University of Arkansas.
She asks them how far they travelled from their homes, which are spread out across the state of Arkansas, to get to the U of A. She encourages them to speak up and participate. She has the college students in the front of the room introduce themselves as student mentors and give a piece of wisdom to the high school students. There is laughing and teasing and singing and the room begins to buzz with excitement.
Then, Draine reminds the students why they are here – the ACT. While there are many scores that are important for college admission and success, an ACT score can raise or lower a student's access to opportunities in higher education.
These students come from diverse backgrounds, made up of varying economic and racial experiences. Some come from families with a history of attending college, but many are looking to be the first person in their family to pursue college. They have different backgrounds, different challenges, and different dreams.
What all of them have in common is a want to increase their chances of getting into college. Their want for college readiness brought them to a classroom in the middle of June on a college campus with five days of intensive ACT test-prep ahead of them.
The Center for Multicultural and Diversity Education hosts two sessions of the ACT Academy very summer, hoping to serve high school students from across the state and increase their college access, readiness and retention.
The ACT Academy began in 2010 with an inaugural class of 54 scholars and has grown to serve as many as 250 students each summer.
The purpose of the academy is to improve student participants' ACT scores and provide college readiness skills while exposing them to college academics and campus life.
In 2017, over 200 Arkansas high school students took part in test-taking and college readiness prep at the ACT Academy at the University of Arkansas.
During the academy students received rigorous ACT test preparation lectures throughout the week. They also had the opportunity to engage with faculty and staff and U of A students serving as mentors, participate in cultural activities, and attend lectures encouraging self-advocacy, networking, financial literacy and other matters of college planning. Students used recreation, dining and housing facilities while on campus, getting acquainted with what life would be like while pursuing a degree after high school.
High school students apply to attend early in the year, submitting a short essay expressing their interest in the program and their hopes for their college futures. First-generation and low-income rising juniors and seniors earn priority consideration.
The ACT Academy has established partnerships with key high schools in every region of the state of Arkansas. This summer, over 60 high schools from across the state – from Ashdown to Siloam Springs and Helena-West Helena to Blytheville – were represented in the student participants.
The ACT Academy is part of the university's College Access Initiative – an academic outreach effort established by the university in 2010. The College Access Initiative, through the Center for Multicultural and Diversity Education, provides ACT training and counseling, academic enrichment, and assistance with admissions and financial aid processes, which are all designed to improve college readiness and college access to Arkansas students, especially underrepresented populations.
Draine said students from these communities in the state need help gaining the awareness of opportunities for higher education and a substantial support system to make it to graduation.
On the first day of lectures, students take a full ACT practice test to assess their current abilities and see where there is room for growth.
After group lectures, student break into smaller groups to refresh and overview the material just presented. They also take practice tests during this time, and typically Draine said there is some improvement in these scores from the scores they received at the beginning of the week. While these scores are artificial, these increases some a boost in confidence from the students.
Students learn tactics like "read it as it is" for the English section and "read words, charts, graphs, and questions" for science. The emphasis is put on achieving accuracy but not necessarily speed.
While the ACT score might be one of the most important scores for college admission, some colleges are moving away using this number as a significant factor in admission decisions. An ACT score can unlock scholarship and merit opportunities for students though, even if their admission is not affected by their score. Certainly, a student's grades and other achievements may bring more weight in the admissions process, but test scores are still critical to a student's college opportunities past the admissions process.
The U of A student leaders who mentor the high school students during their time on campus work to connect with them on a personal level and build their social confidence.
Crystal Hall, a senior public health major, attended the ACT Academy when she was a high-schooler with plans on pursuing higher education.
Student mentor Kaylin Oliver, a senior political science major, said a lot of the students just need to gain confidence in the test-taking process.
Oliver said one of the great things about the academy is the diversity of the students. The high school students get to interact with other students they wouldn't have been able to meet, and they can learn from each other's differences.
Hall said it is important for the student mentors to show who they really are to the students and connect with them outside of the classroom, specifically during family time.
Seeing the change in the students is one of Keyanna Foreman's, a junior nursing major and student mentor, favorite parts of the week.
When the students are not in class, Draine and the mentors keep them busy. In the evenings, students take part in an activity night, choosing from playing in the tech center, playing games, or getting active; a lawn night with snow cones and music; and ACT Up, where students get into their mentor family groups and present a message through song, dance, or acting to the group.
Student mentor Enrique Salamanca, a senior psychology major, said the time students are able to spend with each other and with the mentors is important for personal development.
Salamanca and Foreman both said even though they are supposed to be teaching the students, they themselves end up learning a lot from their students.
On the first day of the ACT Academy Draine does not hold back in telling the students just how important the next five days are for them.
She hopes the students will gain some test-taking skills to improve their ACT score, but also hopes they leave with a clearer vision of themselves at an institution of higher learning.
"You're here to improve your ACT scores, you're here to open doors of opportunity with those improved ACT scores, and you're very likely here to change the trajectory, not only of your own future, but that of your family," Draine tells students.
For Draine, the academy is all about providing a ripple effect in the lives of these high school students, their communities, and ultimately the state of Arkansas through their pursuit of and graduation from college.
Want to support the ACT Academy?
Learn more about how your generous gifts can help support Arkansas students through the ACT Academy. For more information about giving to the ACT Academy directly, contact Carolyn Collins at 479-575-5007 or by email at cdc008@uark.edu.
UA4student.uark.edu is the official blog of the Division of Student Affairs.