A six-year partnership between Innovative and the University of the Virgin Islands was renewed Monday with the presentation of a $26,600 check meant to cover another year’s worth of expenses for the school’s successful SAT prep program.
Run through UVI’s Center for Community Engagement and Lifelong Learning (CELL), the SAT prep course has helped more than 300 public high school students territory-wide and is now taking applications for a seventh year.
On hand to receive the check along with CELL representatives were Charlotte Amalie High School seniors Byron Todman Jr. and Niechelle Wheatley, who said they "highly recommended" the course for upcoming test takers.
"It helped to instill, and helped us to remember, those basic Math and English skills we needed for the SAT," said Todman, who’s hoping to attend Dartmouth University and major in international relations. "And it was a great environment to come to on Saturday mornings and be with your friends — it really was an incredible experience."
Wheatley, who’s been part of the course for the past two years, said it helped her score more than 1500 on the SAT. An aspiring midwife, Wheatley has already been accepted to LaGrange College in Georgia, where she plans to major in nursing.
"The course was fun, even though I had to wake up early in the morning," she joked Monday.
The free program generally targets 10th-graders but will now be including ninth-graders, said Jennifer Matarangas-King, Innovative vice president of public relations and governmental affairs. Matarangas-King said that the younger students have been expressing more of an interest in getting involved with the program, which CELL officials also said Monday is much to their advantage.
"The program provides us with the opportunity to help students in the community improve their SAT scores as much as possible," UVI-CELL Program Manager Debra Stevens said during the ceremony. "They are moving into a very competitive society and need as much of an advantage as they can get."
Both UVI and Innovative said they hoped the successful partnership continues in the future.
"We’re very proud to be a part of this program, and happy that we can help out again this year," said Matarangas-King.
The registration deadline for this year’s application process is Dec. 3, with classes to begin Jan. 15. The three-year program consists of two nine-week sessions each year, with classes held on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon.
For an application, students can see their guidance counselors, call UVI-CELL at 693-1106 or download an application from http://cell.uvi.edu. To be eligible, students must have a grade point average of 2.0 or higher.
