![Benjamin Williams and Reese Sherman, social studies teachers, explain department information a guest. "This [open house] was, for me, a great opportunity to meet family in the district that will soon be attending the high school," Williams said.](https://www.utimesonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/DSC_9117-1200x800.jpg)
For most sophomores, the ACT test is lurking on the horizon, something that should only be worried about next year or the year after.
The PLAN test, on the other hand, is a more immediate event, one that sophomore counselor Mr. Beezley says should be taken just as seriously.
“The student, the parent, and the district deserve to know what kind of progress the student is making,” he said.
The two- to three-hour PLAN test, which sophomores will take on Wednesday, can be thought of as the ACT’s younger cousin, not quite as difficult or well-known, but still important.
“It is designed to give the student, the parent and the district information on the achievement of the student,” said Beezley. “It’s great, great, great practice for the ACT,” he said, because it can give students an idea of how they will do on the ACT and what they need to improve on.
For these reasons, Beezley said, “I wish sophomores took it more seriously.”
Doing well on the PLAN test, Beezley said, can give students the opportunity to participate in a number of programs, including Missouri Scholars Adademy, Missouri Engineering School, and Missouri Fine Arts Academy.
If a student has trouble with the PLAN test, though, they shouldn’t be too hard on themselves, said Beezley.
“You have to figure out what was the reason that student did poorly,” he said. “You can’t judge anybody on one occasion. Anybody can have a bad day. If a student does poorly every year, that’s when it’s a problem.”
Beezley says the key to success on the PLAN is a student’s reading skills.
“It’s all a reading test. The ability to read comfortably for a long period of time is what holds a lot of people back.”
Benjamin Pomerantz, junior, took the PLAN last year and felt good about his results.
“I was pretty confident on the majority of my answers, but some of them, I was second-guessing myself,” he said.
Pomerantz recommended several strategies for sophomores taking the test.
“I suggest that they get a good night’s sleep the night before, eat a healthy breakfast, and don’t ever give up,” he said.
