WASL practice sessions makes perfect

Hiawatha Elementary holds Saturday sessions to prepare students to take WASL

OTHELLO — At 9:30 a.m. Saturday morning, sixth-grader Sonia Millan and her brother, seventh-grader Carlos, eagerly stepped into the library at Hiawatha Elementary.

No, the Millans didn't come for Saturday school or a weekend field trip with classmates.

They came voluntarily to spend part of their weekend studying for the Washington Assessment of Student Learning test.

"I think the WASL is important," Sonia said. "It's an assessment the government has made so we need to try and pass it."

The Millans were two of 11 children who came for a WASL prep at Hiawatha Elementary this past weekend, the second of two sessions held so far.

Beginning this school year, sophomores are the first high school graduating class that is required to pass the WASL in order to graduate.

The WASL is a state standardized test administered each spring and required for students in grades three through eight and also 10th grade. Students are tested in the areas of reading, writing, math and science using multiple choice and short answer questions and essays.

Inside the library, WASL flash cards are placed at each table according to subject and grade level.

Before Hiawatha Elementary began holding the WASL prep in the library, parent Rita Gerber practiced WASL test questions with her son Michael, a sixth-grader, and the Millans at her Othello home.

Without grade appropriate practice materials available to her, it became a challenge for Gerber to provide adequate practice sessions from home.

It was then that she approached Hiawatha Elementary principal Heather Franklin.

"I said 'why don't you come here (to the elementary school) so I can be a resource for you as well,'" Franklin recalled telling Gerber.

Gerber said she feels so strongly about advocating for the WASL because of the necessity to prepare children for a competitive work force.

"We face an international challenge," Gerber said of the U.S. "Children everywhere in the world are surpassing us, and American children are lagging behind them and that is what has prompted education reform which the WASL is an important part of."

The first WASL prep Saturday was held March 18, inviting students in grades three through six and their parents.

Students of all grades, however, have been coming to the study sessions and neither Gerber or Franklin are about to turn them away.

"Older kids ask me 'what about us,' and I said 'come on over," Gerber said.

High school junior Spencer Hymas came to tutor students.

"I just thought it would be a good thing to help these guys learn," Hymas said.

Hymas's younger sister Rebekah, a ninth-grader, decided this would be a good opportunity to take a practice version of the WASL before entering her sophomore year.

Rebekah isn't surprised though that other students her age are not taking advantage of the opportunity to study up for the big test.

"'It's gonna be hard, but we really don't want to practice,'" Rebekah said of the perception other students have about taking the WASL. "That's their attitude about it."

Making sure students know how to take a test and fill out test information correctly are other reasons Franklin and Gerber want students to come for the sessions.

"Too many of our kids have lost points because they're not thorough with their answers," Franklin said.