LGR @ Colgate

Hi everyone!

It sounds like all of your programs are going great! LGR here at Colgate is having a so-so semester so far. Our positives would be that we had a huge number of coaches interested, and even had to turn some down, so the coaches we do have are all very enthusiastic and motivated to help their students succeed. Our lesson plans are going smoothly because our head math and verbal coaches are great and really on top of things. The students were all very on top of getting their deposits and contracts in, though we're still missing just a couple. We had a few students join a little late, which is a good sign because they had heard good things from their friends! So we were glad to let them in.

Unfortunately, we have been struggling a bit this semester with the high school students. For some reason, this particular group seems very unmotivated-- we're having major attendance problems and complaints from parents about the program, and while I would take these complaints seriously I am simultaneously getting some wonderful feedback from parents who say their kids are benefitting tremendously from LGR. It seems the ones complaining are the certain students who really don't want to be there, and there is only so much my co-director and I can do to motivate them. Last week we sat down with them and tried to have a stern talk without scaring them away, and did "threaten" that we would have to kick people out who weren't showing up. The hardest part of it is that the "trouble" kids also tend to be the kids with the 280s, whereas the ones who are benefitting most have the higher scores.

We've also had a couple complaints about coaches from students, but it is difficult to tell if it is the student or the coach who is really at fault. And because of snow days and students' absences, there hasn't really been consistent groups each week of coaches with students, not really allowing the coaches and students to get comfortable with one another.

All in all, my co-director and I are putting more effort into these pettier things than we thought would be necessary, such as attendance and getting the students to do their homework, bring in registration money, etc. We are getting through it, however, and with the second diagnostic coming up this week we will see how much the students are progressing. We are really working on motivating the students-- we have our college visit to Syracuse coming up, so hopefully that will spark some interest. We hope that if we can improve attendance, we will be able to have consistent classes and get these kids' scores up.

Good luck with the rest of your semesters' programs!

Thanks,
Rebecca