Providence LGR: Putting the exclamation point in Let's Get Ready!

This is LGR’s first summer in Providence since 2004, and so far it is going very well. We have 19 coaches and about 39 students. We really can’t say enough about the group of students and coaches we have. Their enthusiasm and commitment to the program has made this a great summer for Providence LGR. We’ve listed a few highlights below.

ATTENDANCE: Attendance has been phenomenal (Student attendance over the past four classes: 34, 35, 36, and 33). We’ve had a couple of attendance-incentive activities including giving candy to students with perfect attendance, raffling off t-shirts to kids with near-perfect or perfect attendance, and creating team names for an attendance competition. (Verbal team names: Erudite, The Huskies, Popeye’s, Verbosity, The Thundercats, The Comrades, Cookies, and The Ghostwriters. Math team names: The Expos, Exponential Growth, Soaring Deep, Team Circle, Hamburger, J-J-Jams, and The Navies).

EXTRA-HELP SESSIONS: This past Wednesday we held our first optional extra-help session from 6:00 to 7:30. Five students and three coaches came. It was a good opportunity for students who have missed class to catch up on material. Coaches said they enjoyed being able to work with students in a one-on-one dynamic.

LIBRARY TRIP: Understanding the relationship between frequent reading and doing well on the SAT Verbal section, one of our coaches arranged a trip to a local library for his students before class. Because many of the students really don’t read much outside of what is required by their schools, we’re hoping to arrange a large group visit to the library one day before class.

FUNDRAISING/DONATIONS: A few of our coaches expressed interest in helping out with fundraising and donations. We created a list of local business, college bookstores, restaurants, etc., and put it in a g-mail spreadsheet which we shared with our coaches. This way, when anybody visits a place and asks for donations, they can mark it on the spreadsheet. They can also add new businesses to the spreadsheet.

UPCOMING EVENTS: This week we will be visiting Providence College. Later on we will also be visiting Rhode Island College, URI, and maybe Brown. We also have a financial aid night planned for July 31, when the Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority will send both an English speaker and a Spanish speaker to give a presentation on financial aid.