A little over 50 area high school juniors and seniors were at Arkansas Northeastern College's main campus this week for the ACT Summer Academy, which offers students a chance to earn $350.
"The purpose of the ACT Summer Academy is to address two of the Arkansas Works Performance Measures: reduce remediation and increase ACT scores," Bridget Shemwell, Career Coach, said.
She said employees of Arkansas Northeastern College will provide ACT preparation instruction to generate the skills and motivation necessary for participants to succeed in ACT testing, secondary education, and beyond. Shemwell went on to explain that rising juniors, rising seniors and graduates, who scored below a 19 on the ACT in English, reading, math, and/or science in the 21 Arkansas Works counties, were eligible to receive ACT preparation instruction. Students who have not taken the ACT were evaluated based on their Compass, ASSET, PLAN, or Explore scores.
Two-and-a-half week ACT prep classes were held in June at Rivercrest High School and ANC's Osceola Center. ANC career coaches, which includes Shemwell, Emily Crosskno, C.J. Carthon, Sara Bradberry and Richard Bowden, have arranged college visits to the Burdette Technical Center, ANC's main campus in Blytheville and the University of Memphis for all the students who are participating in the ACT program.
Two classes, which began Tuesday, will be held at the ANC Blytheville campus during July and August. Students who complete the ACT Summer Academy will received a stipend based on the ACT, college and career planning course work as well as participation. Shemwell explained that documentation is collected at each ACT preparation course or activity to track each student's involvement and attendance. She said the stipend base amount is set at $350.