Students ready to rock the FCAT // VIDEO

PANAMA CITY — They’re going to rock the FCAT.

With the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test starting Monday, students and staff at Oakland Terrace School for the Visual and Performing Arts were celebrating early Friday.

Katy Perry’s hit song “Roar” rang from the Arnold High School’s marching band’s brass and woodwind instruments when they visited the school to rev-up the students, who clapped, cheered and pledged to “rock the test.”

“Just because you don’t get good grades doesn’t mean that you’re not going to rock the test,” said Calista Pantoja, fifth grade student at Oakland Terrace. “Anybody that puts their heart into it and does their best — and if they used the strategies the teachers taught us — they will do great.”

Calista echoed what school staff had pumped into the minds of third, fourth and fifth graders at the school’s FCAT pep rally Friday afternoon.

Signs held up by teachers on a slideshow reel reminded students they’re already equipped to perform well on the test, with messages such as “We taught you how to think,” and “Rock the test.”

“A lot of times they’re scared to take FCAT, nervous to take FCAT, their anxiety levels are through the roof,” said fifth grade teacher and event organizer Kristin King. “We decided we wanted to get our third, fourth and fifth graders really pumped up for the FCAT.”

With the school mascot being an orca, faculty and staff donned “#orcasrock” T-shirts at the rally and a community partner provided all testing students with shirts to wear Monday, which will read: “This orca is going to rock the test.”

“I think if they know that we believe in them and that we do these things because we believe they can do it,” she said, “maybe it’ll get them pumped up and have a better attitude when they come in on Monday morning.”

Testing is scheduled intermittently through May 1.

‘Showing what you know’

There is no magical FCAT to-do-the-night-before list. As with all tests, students have to execute strategies they’ve learned since the start of school.

“What they’ve been preparing on all year long is going to help them on this test,” said Camilla Hudson, assessment and accountability coordinator at Bay District Schools.

“The biggest thing truly for them is to relax,” she said. “This is the time to come to school well prepared and to come to school alert and ready to take their test.”

Students should get plenty of rest this weekend, she added.

“This assessment is all about showing what you know,” Hudson said. “And let others know what they can do to master the standards.”

She added, this year, per state directive: students may not discuss the test after completing it. They should not post in on social media or talk about it with others. Doing so may lead to invalidation.

Last year, test scores caused the district as a whole to drop from a B to a C, and a number of schools dropped a letter grade.

This year is Lendy Willis’ first year as principal at Oakland Terrace, a “D” school.

“They were just below the cut for a C,” Willis said. “So, it is our strong belief that we’re going to get over that hump this year and we’ll become at least a C school; if we become a B we’ll be beyond ecstatic.”

After discovering that students have a tendency to miss questions that require really deep thought, the school has implemented “thinking deeper” strategies.

“The teachers have worked real hard on what we call higher order thinking type questions … taking things to a deeper level so the kids can think through it,” Willis said, adding that good strategies and encouragement from teachers and staff are sure to set the school on a path to “nowhere, but up.”

Test taking tips:

- Listen and follow the directions that are being read

- Do your best

- Take your time; do not rush through the test

- Answer every question

- Get a good night’s sleep

- Eat a good breakfast

- Get to school on time

…Bay District Schools