What's Happening in the Woo?

Let's Get Ready is proud the present the first program in Worcester, MA. The program boasts 52 enrolled students, 16 Coaches with a Student to Coach ratio of no more than 7:1. Our average attendance rate thus far is about 45-46 students. We received over 90 student applications for the program, however at the point where we accepted 60 students into the program, we only had about 11 Coaches. Needless to say, we were quite scared and preparing ourselves for a student to coach ratio of about 1:10- more than double the ideal. Jess stepped in and suggested drastic measures be taken. She sent us on a crusade to find more Coaches at local country clubs, golf clubs, and fitness centers. However, this did not succeed. The first week of classes was quite chaotic, with large groups and nervous Coaches. During that first week of classes, one person e-mailed me about being a Verbal Coach and I accepted him no questions asked- and then he invited two friends. Then I received an e-mail from a grad student at Clark- she was responding to our listserve e-mail. Turns out she was 45. I let her down easy...Then another person inquired about being a Math Coach, and was accepted immediately (he was under 23), and invited his roommate. Suddenly, we had 16 Coaches- and one was doing both Math and Verbal. All our groups met the ratio requirement and it was our first great success!

As a first-time program, I must admit that we are not fully taking advantage of the many opportunities to be creative. However, we are doing well in establishing ourselves in the Worcester Community. Our Site Contact, Janice Weekes, of the Worcester HERC, has been more than fantastic in every aspect. She helped tremendously in recruiting students, and her flexibility towards our program and strong relationship with the community and its people has proved invaluable. I sometimes struggle in how much to tell her and how much not to tell her. Not in a secretive way, but in a way that is me deciding "How annoying should I be?" I don't think she is interested in keeping up to date with every little thing, but there is clearly some information she would like to have. I plan on sending her Diag 2 results, and other obviously important information, however it is difficult to find the balance between keeping her updated and inundating her inbox with e-mail after e-mail. Any suggestions?

Class are currently going well....for the first 2 hours. If there is no College Choice involved, the last hour is an excruciating lesson, where Coaches desperately try to scrounge up what is left of the student's enthusiasm and energy. If the last hour of the session is College Choice, the students AND coaches both fail to take this seriously enough. The varying interest, previous knowledge and engagement between students is far more than in the SAT Instruction portion of the class. Furthermore, Coaches, who were not trained specifically in the College Choice instruction, fail to recognize its importance OR are uncomfortable teaching it. Right now, I am working through the idea of performing a coup and taking the College Choice portion from the Coaches. My idea is to hold the College Choice in the large room, with each team and their Coach at a table. The Directors would ultimately lead the session, but each task would be overseen by the Coaches. For example, the Director would say, "Now we are going to go around and discuss __________" and then each team and Coach would go around and discuss. What do you all think? This may seen to take away from what would be the ideal College Choice lesson. Yet it may prove highly more effective than Coaches who continue on SAT Material during the last hour, or who do not know what to talk about with regards to College Choice. Some may suggest I be more strict with the Coaches or take time to train them more specifically, but I can't do that. Let me explain...

Due to the fact that we were in such desperate need for Coaches, and we ended up taking nearly every college student that applied, it resulted in the fact that the Directors have little control over the Coaches. How can we punish them if they miss a class? We can't. We are at their mercy, essentially, and they know this. They are volunteering, and the program would not be able to run without them, and they know that the Directors have no substitutes, no backups and no alternatives. So, we have had trouble getting the Coaches to help outside the classes- for example in grading SATs, preparing new ideas for class, etc. Honestly, I feel guilty asking any favor of the Coaches, as I also realize how I am indebted to them for offering their time to LGR. Just this issue in itself completely alters the dynamic of the program and the ability of the Directors to demand more of the Coaches- particularly in the College Choice arena. Any suggestions as to how this issue can be addressed would be so, so helpful! Having said all this, nearly all of our Coaches are FANTASTIC and have done an amazing job doing the fundamental tasks required of them. They love the students and really like coming, and I am very lucky that the few that applied for our program have been so great.

Overall, I feel this summer has been very successful in many ways. Yet it is overwhelmingly clear to me that this summer 'suffers' in a way by being a first-timer. I wish I had a dollar every time I tell myself how I would do something differently the second time around...Despite the imperfections of our program, I have no doubt that the students are gaining significantly from it, and not only in their SAT scores, but in their knowledge and attitude towards college as well.