BY JOHN H. WALKER
L’Observateur

A carpenter can’t build a house without the proper tools and a student can’t prepare for state-mandated testing, which begins on April 1, without the proper tools.

That’s why St. John Parish school officials have spent the month of March helping students get ready. LEAP, iLEAP and GEE exams will be given Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with make-ups scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, April 6-7. Results will be released in May.

One of the tools used all year is the book, “12 Powerful Words” by Larry I. Bell. One of Bell’s theories is that students can’t answer questions that include words they don’t understand … hence, his book.

Supt. Courtney Millet agrees.

“The way we communicate is the key,” she told a group of pastors at a recent mentoring breakfast. “We don’t talk the way our kids are tested. How can they summarize something when they don’t know what summarize means?”

Millet told the group, “We’ve got to make sure our students have the skills they need. If they aren’t hearing the words they will see on the tests, they aren’t going to know what they mean.”

In order to help students prepare, school officials are holding the final of two “Super Saturday” sessions today. Officials have printed a testing history of all 1,400 students who will be taking the tests to see where they need help and sorted them by achievement level for the five-hour sessions

“We’re running buses, providing food, and the first 100 participants are eligible to win a laptop,” Millet said. Additionally, a contest to compose a rap song using the 12 powerful words is being held.

But Millet said one of the things that has impacted students the most is the fact the district — utilizing grant money — has been sending the 30 most at-risk seniors to after-school training at Huntington Learning Center.

“That means we’ve really gained ground,” Millet said, “because we had 150 [at-risk seniors] last year.”

Millet said a number of those students have voiced appreciation for the support.