Williamson rallies for the state OAA

By Denise Dick

denise_dick@vindy.com

Youngstown

Williamson Elementary School fourth-graders Te’Asha Jennings, Aneshi Butler and Lyric Mullins are ready to rock the Ohio Achievement Assessment next week.

The state test measures the knowledge of third- through eighth-graders in various subjects.

The three girls rapped “Rock the Test” on Friday at a rally to encourage students to do their best. The performance concluded with Te’Asha doing a split.

They say they’re ready for the test.

Lyric said the most difficult part is trying “to remember everything you have to remember,” but she’s confident she’ll do well.

Kindergarten through second graders even got into the spirit, carrying signs and chanting, “Do your best, pass the test,” and “We believe in you.”

This marks the fifth OAA rally at the school, started when Wanda Clark became principal. At that time, the school was designated in “academic watch” on the state report card.

On the 2011-12 report card, the designation jumped to “effective.”

Claude Bentley, a behavioral specialist at the school, led the students in thanking Clark for her work in leading the school to the higher rating.

Clark, however, said it was a team effort.

“A leader is not as good as the team,” she said. “We have an awesome parent team. We have an awesome teacher and staff team, and we have an awesome student team.”

The school also had support from the community, the principal said.

She expects student will do well on next week’s test as well. OAA results figure into a district’s report card designation.

“We’re going to do this next week,” Clark said. “We’re going to blow this test out of the water.”