Heritage gets spirited for academics and AMRT
MADISON – Academic Spirit Week motivated students yet kept perspective for the Alabama Reading and Mathematics Test (AMRT) at Heritage Elementary School.
Starting April 29, “Don’t Sweat the Test Day” allowed everyone to wear sweat suits. Other days were designated for crazy socks to “sock it to the test,” shirts for champion teams and the Heritage Rams and “shine bright” clothing, reading coach Demetria Freeman said.
Academic Spirit Week “motivated our students (and) allowed them to have fun as they prepared for state assessment … and be excited to do their very best,” counselor Kellen Conaway said.
“Champion Day” engendered camaraderie, important in a teacher and student’s long-lasting relationship with “a strong bond that can lead to a lifetime of success,” Conaway said.
“Shine Bright Day” emphasized the importance of breakfast, “the day’s most important meal,” Freeman said. The Food and Action Research Center has determined that nutritious breakfasts enable learning, decrease behavioral problems and lower obesity.
“Test anxiety is actually a type of performance anxiety … a feeling someone might have when the pressure’s on to do well. All anxiety is a reaction to anticipating something stressful,” Conaway said. “Like other anxiety reactions, test anxiety affects the body and mind.”
Conaway and Freeman offered several points for parents to prepare their child for a good day at school:
* Eat at least three well-balanced meals.
* Get adequate sleep.
* Use car time to talk.
* Hold “D-E-A-R” times — “Drop Everything and Read.”
* Constantly tell children what you like about them and that you love them.
* Help kids learn from problems and not be devastated. Avoid the word “failure.”
* Don’t inflict your attitudes. If you hated math, don’t make them hate it.
* Review homework together.
* Make report cards a positive experience. Ask, “What do you think your report card will tell us?” A report card is just one small measure of a child. Find something to praise.
