Junior Program

The Minds Matter Junior Program is dedicated to preparing high school students for college through SAT test preparation and Writing and Critical Thinking education.

For juniors, the Test Prep Program takes the form of a full year program leading up to the Spring SAT or ACT. Students are grouped into teams based on their individual development needs, with each team receiving personal coaching from math and verbal dedicated Test Prep Instructors. The curriculum familiarizes students with the SAT and ACT exams, provides test-taking strategies, refreshes basic skills, and provides several diagnostic exams to identify student strengths and weaknesses while reinforcing test strategies. In the 2009 – 2010 academic year, the average improvement was more than 230 points for students taking the SAT exam.

The Test Prep Program involves extensive hard work and dedication form both students and volunteers and would not be possible without the generous donations of Kaplan who donate source materials.

In addition to Test Prep, juniors have the opportunity to polish their Writing and Critical Thinking skills. Building on the work done in the Sophomore Year, juniors continue to craft and refine their personal statements. Exposure to and discussion of short-form autobiographical works by writers like Maya Angelou will help students think about different and creative ways in which they can tell their own stories. A debate series in the spring allows students to further hone their critical thinking and public speaking skills.