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In honor of Father’s Day this Sunday, President Obama visited Year-Up in order to promote the importance of guardians and mentors. Year Up is a non-profit program and A-List partner that trains 18-24 year olds from urban areas for college and professional work, and teaches personal skills like communication and conflict resolution.

President Obama toured the Washington D.C. Year Up site and spoke with students about the hardships facing young adults in this country today. Praising what works about the program, he expressed interest in learning more about the Year-Up model in order to help him ensure that all young people have a chance for successful careers. To read more about Obama’s visit to Year Up click Here.

The partnership between Year Up and A-List began in the spring of 2008 with a course intended to introduce young adults in the Year Up apprenticeship phase to the college application process. The course was expanded to include college advising workshops that begin during the learning and development phase and continuing through the apprenticeships. A-List’s college advisors have assisted Year Up students in selecting schools, completing applications, perfecting admissions essays, and securing scholarships and financial aid.

In the fall of 2008, Year Up NYC added another A-List course to its Professional Skills curriculum. In Business Math, students learn the fundamental math skills necessary for success in the professional world. The course was designed to meet the specific needs of Year Up students as they enter the workforce and focuses on the real-life applications of math concepts in personal and professional life.

Before the academic year comes to a close and the summer truly begins for your child, we are offering a chance for you and your student to get an early view of how he/she might perform on the SAT. We are offering two free practice PSATs on the following days:

• Thursday, June 25th, 5pm-8pm
• Sunday, August 30th, 2pm-5pm

These practice tests will offer a great snapshot of your student’s performance. When you meet with us after the test, your A-List tutor will provide a computerized analysis of the results that will pinpoint your student’s specific strengths and weaknesses. This is an invaluable tool to prepare for the upcoming year.

Please call our office (646) 216-9187 to let us know if your student plans to attend. If you cannot attend, don’t worry. Working with A-List gives your student plenty of our opportunities to take free practice tests.

Each month our Graham Windham scholars participate in cultural activity that allows them the opportunity to bond in a setting outside the classroom. These enrichment sessions consist of anything from visits to art museums and special exhibits to concerts and dance performances. Below are a couple of essays from the scholars writing about their favorite enrichment activity so far this year.

“Our Day at the Bodies Exhibit” By Laquana

On this late January day, my peers and I were accompanied by two of A-List’s finest, Arthur and Donna, to our monthly enrichment. During this month we went to New York City’s South Street Seaport’s very own Bodies Exhibit.
Although all of the Graham Windham scholars didn’t attend, Demarco, Tamal, Shakeyma, and I enjoyed ourselves. After exploring and learning many things in the Bodies Exhibit, I came to the conclusion that what interested me most was the part that showed the development of the fetus. I took interest in this segment because I had never seen the development of a fetus at such small stages. A fifteen-week baby lay right in front of my eyes; that caught my attention most. Before leaving the exhibit we left comments about our visit in the guest book, and we took a photo to remember our great day that was full of anatomy.

“Our Jazz Night” by Shakeyma

On February 28 we had an enrichment class which was based on Jazz. At this enrichment I learned and experienced a jazz band play live. On this day we all gathered at the A-list site and met two Jazz players. One of the Jazz players played the saxophone, which we were told was VERY hard to play. The other Jazz player played the bass guitar, which is VERY big. As we got to know them, they both told us the background of Jazz as they learned it and how it looked for them. They taught us that there are two different types of Jazz. One type is the slow beat one that after a 7 count began over from the beginning. For example, it would go “1,2,3,4…” and start over. The other type of Jazz is the fast beat one that also has a 7 count beat but faster and you can change the count. For example, it can be counted like 1, 2, 3, 4, etc and start over or 1,2,3,6,4,5,7 which would change the style of the song. They also played a couple of songs. Then we ate and went to a little Jazz Club. At the Jazz Club we saw a live band play many songs. This was very great to see. My favorite part of this day was when we were doing the question and answer (Q & A) part. I never knew how much I knew about Jazz until then. The experience with the Jazz players helped me understand music better.

“Scavenger Hunt” By Sharmaine

In the month of September A-list took us on our first enrichment. We went to to the Natural History Museum. Lisa and some of the other adults from A-list told us we had to go on a scavenger hunt in the museum to find things on a paper that was given to us. Once we were in the museum we were split into two teams and then we were handed the list of things we needed to find. Each team had an A-list guide with us. We then went our own ways to find everything. We had about two hours to find about 25 things in the Museum, from bones to birds and dinosaur to gems. There was a small catch: we had to take a picture with everything we found to prove that we found the item.
When I first got there I did not think it was going to be any fun but once we started to find things I was beginning to have lots of fun. Going to the museum that day gave me a chance to learn a lot of things about the history of the world. My team was made up of four people: Demarco, Laquana, Lisa and myself .As the time started to wind down, there was one thing my team needed to find, so we looked and looked but could not find it. It was time to go and we were downstairs. We finally figured out where the last thing was so Laquana and I ran upstairs to find it. We found what we were looking for, went back downstairs and made it right before the time was up. That day I learned a lot and had loads of fun. When we were all done we summed up the day with dinner and then went home.

“Guggenheim Museum” By Emily

In November, our enrichment was to the Guggenheim Museum, which is located on 89th street and Fifth Avenue. It was very interesting. It all started at about 3. We all met up in front of the museum. There also was a guest named Arthur who works at A-List and is also an artist. We walked around all the way to the top and worked our way down. As we walked down, we looked at different art and got the chance to try and draw it. I really enjoyed this enrichment because I had been wanting to visit an art museum but I haven’t got the chance. I’m also always going to the Museum of Natural History and I’m tried of seeing the same thing. This was my chance. The most interesting thing I saw was a bed and it was like a hotel room. After we left the museum we went to a burger place but surprisingly I ate pancakes. After that we all went home. The day was full of joy. I loved it all.

The debate about the SAT’s predictive value and fairness has raged for decades. Andrew Ferguson takes on this topic with a comprehensive article about the development of the SAT. Impartially laying out the opinions of the supporters and critics of the test, he describes how people’s perceptions of the test have evolved since its inception. While the SAT was created with the intent to standardize the college admissions process in order fight inequality in higher education it is now seen by many as standing in the way of equal opportunity. Why is there such a strong movement to remove the SAT from college admission decisions? And what are the consequences of adopting a test-optional policy? Click below to read this compelling article about the role the SAT has played in America’s higher education.

The SAT and Its Enemies

NYU is changing its standardized test policies for students applying for September 2010.  While all freshman applicants will continue to submit standardized test scores, students will now have additional choices about which scores they choose to provide.  Click here to find out more. 

…Hooking up words and phrases and clauses. Having trouble with grammar? Don’t worry we can help. Click here to rock out to the School House Rock Grammar Videos - amusing little videos that can help you identify the various parts of speech!

If you are having trouble with Chemistry, try watching these videos from a chemistry teacher who recorded some of his lectures:

http://www.teachertube.com/uvideos.php?UID=21388&page=1&type=public

On April 22^nd Scott Farber will be running a workshop for Teach for America corps members to help them better understand how to help their kids prepare for the SATs. He will be giving a general introduction to the test and outlining some of A-List’s techniques and strategies.

We are delighted to be teaming up with this non-profit organization in their mission to help underprivileged kids by eliminating education inequity in the US. You can find out more about A-List’s other non-profit efforts here http://www.alisteducation.com/serving_our_community.html.

The Vocab Videos Team would like to extend our congratulations to Peter Hongisto—the first $100 monthly prize winner of our Vocab Videos YouTube Contest! His video submission for irascible both impressed and entertained us! Be sure to check it!  We would also like to congratulate a few of our close runner-ups—to Chris Thornberry whose video for ostensible received the most points for creativity, to Brian Luman whose video for virulent was voted most humorous, and to Jason McCullough whose video for maverick had? superior production quality! Watch our February winners and all of our impressive entries from around the country at http://www.youtube.com/group/vocabvideos.

Feel inspired? You can still submit your own video and qualify to win prizes including Video of the Month, People’s Choice, and the Grand Prize of $1,000! The contest ends at 11:59PM on April, 30^th, 2009. Choose one of the 100 words listed on our Vocab Videos site, grab a camera, and let your imagination run wild. Check out http://www.vocabvideos.com/youtube.html for contest guidelines.