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THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, October 27, 2023 Page 13 Malden High School goes all out for success on ‘Get AHEAD Day’ Over 400 seniors take SAT test; nearly 1,000 juniors and sophomores take PSAT exam; and 515 freshmen storm the ‘Freshmen Olympics’ By Steve Freker H ere’s what you get when you cross free college access testing for nearly 1,500 local high school students with trivia, pushups and a good, old-fashioned tug-of-war: Get AHEAD Day at Malden High School! The annual “Get AHEAD (Access to Higher Education) Day” was held on October 11 and the main event – depending on your MHS class year – was one of these “Big Three”: free SAT exam (Scholastic Assessment Test) for Seniors (Class of 2024); free PSAT (Preliminary SAT), for Juniors and Sophomores (Classes of 2025 and 2026) and Freshmen Olympics for members of the Class of 2027. The entire day is a joint effort planned between the Malden High School administration and staff and the Malden Public Schools Guidance Department as a whole and the Malden High School guidance staff. “Providing equitable access to higher education and supporting the transition to high school are priorities for MHS, and the Get AHEAD [program] provides these vital opportunities for our students at no cost or additional time out of school,” said MHS Jenkins House Principal Jayson Payeur, who served as Lead Coordinator for Get AHEAD Day 2023. Malden High School seventh-year Principal Chris Mastrangelo said one of the most valuable takeaways from the annual Get AHEAD Day activities is the fact that everyone under the MHS roof participates in some way – all students, all staff. “Our whole school community is involved, everyone,” Mastrangelo said. “Every one of our students is either taking the SAT or PSAT, or if they are in the ninth grade, participating in the acBOYLE HOUSE WINNERSThe Boyle House freshmen were the winners of the MHS Freshmen Olympics on Get AHEAD Day. ademic or physical challenge competitions. “All of our 170 staff members also have a role to perform on Get AHEAD Day as well, whether it is administering one of the tests, assisting in monitoring the building outside the classrooms to ensure adherence to the SAT and PSAT protocols or spending the day with our students involved in our Freshmen Olympics,” Mastrangelo explained. The Malden High principal extended special thanks to Payeur, who was the Lead Coordinator of Get AHEAD Day overall, and Malden Public Schools Director of Guidance Erin Craven, who helped plan and oversee the college access testing aspect of the day. “Jayson Payeur began working on the planning of this day over the summer and spent many, many hours putting it together and he did a tremendous job,” Mastrangelo said. “We are also grateful to every member of our high school staff, including our guidance counselors and Ms. Craven, who helped out a great deal with planning and preparation for this day as well.” All of the tests were adminisGET AHEAD DAY: Equitable testing for higher education testing included free SAT and PSAT tests on Get AHEAD Day at Malden High. tered free of charge to the Malden High School students, a savings of $60 per student for the seniors who took the SAT test and $18 per student for the juniors and sophomores who took the PSAT exam. The day began in conjunction with the regular start of the school day at 7:45 a.m., with all of the students in grades 10, 11 and 12 beginning their testing day in either their regularly assigned homerooms or in another assigned testing room. All ninth-graders began the day in the Jenkins Auditorium before being split up according to their MHS House groupings: Boyle, Brunelli, Holland and Jenkins. The day did not go off “without a hitch,” as a “hitch” arrived in the form of a delay in administering the test due to some technical difficulties from the national College Board end of the onBRUNELLI POSTER: Catchy slogan and artwork by Brunelli House freshmen. SAT EXAM: The Scholastic Assessment Test is a twopart, mostly multiple choice question exam for higher education access and evaluation. What are the SAT and PSAT Exams? The Scholastic Assessment FRESHMAN TUG-OF-WAR: Malden High freshman Ken Lin leads the way in the tugof-war competition. TESTING: Almost 1,500 students in three grades took the PSAT and SAT tests at Malden High. al houses earned points for the number of students wearing the school colors of Blue and Gold that day, Best Posters and Slogans, Knowledge Bowl, Pushup Contest, Tug-of-War Contest, Relays, Free Throws and Over-Under. The Boyle House won the Freshman Olympics with a total of 40 points, edging out Holland (38 points), Brunelli (35 points) and Jenkins (29 points). “The atmosphere in the gym DO NOT DISTURB: Testing of three grades took place at Malden High. line testing. The ninth-grade house students then went on to participate in a variety of activities, including Knowledge Bowl, poster-making and preparation for the physical challenge contests – Freshmen Olympics – which were held in a loud and supportive Finn Gym. The individuduring the Freshmen Olympics was very loud and very inspiring to see our youngest students so excited and competitive,” Mastrangelo said. “Many thanks go to the freshman events leader Shauna Campbell, one of our Science educators who, with the other staff members, make it such a fun, rewarding, and challenging day for our ninth graders.” The day concluded with a lunch period and one full class period for all MHS students. Test (SAT) is an entrance exam still used by most colleges and universities to make admissions decisions. The SAT is a mostly multiple choice question assessment test created and administered by the College Board. The purpose of the SAT is to measure a high school student’s readiness for college and to provide colleges with one common data point that can be used to compare all applicants. College admissions officers will review standardized test scores alongside your high school GPA, the classes you took in high school, letters of recommendation from teachers or mentors, extracurricular activities, admissions interviews and personal essays. How important SAT scores are in the college application process varies from school to school. The SAT is approximately three hours long and has three tests: (1) the Reading Test, (2) the Writing and Language Test and (3) the Math Test. The highest score attainable is 1600 (800 for Reading and Writing/800 for Math) and the average combined score in 1020. **** What is the PSAT Exam? The Preliminary SAT, also BRUNELLI HOUSE TUG-OF-WAR: MHS Freshman Ryan Bowdridge is shown pulling the tug-of-war rope for Brunelli House in the Freshman Olympics on Get AHEAD Day. (Photos Courtesy of the Malden Public Schools) known as the PSAT/NMSQT® (National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test), is a practice version of the SAT exam. You can only take the PSAT once per year, and many students take the test in both 10th and 11th grade. If you earn a high score on the PSAT in your junior year, you could qualify to receive a National Merit Scholarship – $180 million dollars in merit scholarships are awarded to students each year. The PSAT is two hours and 45 minutes long and tests your skills in reading, writing and math. Unlike the SAT, the highest score possible on the PSAT is 1520.

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