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Students Hold Pre-FCAT Pep Rally

Even Features Helicopter Flyover

Photo by Nancy Kesselring

Students at Fox Hollow Elementary make a group statement Monday as they send their sentiments heavenwards during a pep rally to gear them up for the annual Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, scheduled to start the next day.

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By KLINT LOWRY | The Suncoast News

Published: March 13, 2009

Updated:

The annual Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test is meant to measure the academic performance and progress of individual students and entire schools. But when March rolls around, the one thing the FCAT tests most profoundly are teachers' and students' nerves.

At many schools, administrators like to loosen things up with pre- and post-FCAT events, pep rallies and parties. This year, Fox Hollow Elementary School raised that idea to the next level with a group activity that raised their spirits sky high, somewhat literally.

"I just had this crazy idea," Assistant Principal Nancy Kesselring said. "I just wanted to motivate our kids. It's something a little different."

On Monday, the eve of FCAT, Fox Hollow students took to an open field outside the school to make their statement - "Beat the FCAT!!!" They formed the sentence, including the three exclamation points, with their bodies, the way marching bands do at football games.

Meanwhile, Kesselring was hovering several hundred feet above in a helicopter, waiting to take the picture that would capture their collective rally cry.

Earlier on Monday, Kesselring was pleased that the stunt already seemed to be having its intended effect. Instead of obsessing over the FCAT, the whole school was looking forward to that afternoon.

"The teachers really ran with it," she said. "I just gave them the idea and they said, 'OK, we can do this.'"

Classes practiced forming their respective letters. On the previous Friday they had a practice run. Some classes even made T-shirts for the occasion.

Every year, Kesselring said, preparing for the FCAT is a two-sided proposition. Students know FCAT is a big deal, she said. Especially for third-graders, who could be left back if they don't score well enough on the reading portion of the test, the stress can be detrimental.

So administrators and teachers want their students to be psyched up to take the test, rather than psyched out from the build-up leading up to the test.

"Last year, our pep rally was good," Kesselring said. "The kids came to the cafeteria, watched a PowerPoint presentation, did a couple of cheers and they were all set and happy."

This year, though, Kesselring saw a chance to do something that had gone over big twice before at other schools she worked at. Parent Ron Beasley is a flight instructor with his own helicopter. Even though his son, Ron Jr., is in second grade and is still a year away from his first FCAT experience, Beasley agreed to take Kesselring up for the photo.

Along with spelling the phrase, the students were prepared to shout out the phrase, "Beat the FCAT!!!"

"They're going to be loud," Kesselring said. "I don't care, I'll be way up above."

Last year, Fox Hollow got a "C" grade from the Florida Department of Education based on its students FCAT scores and related factors. Education professionals understand those grades are based on a complicated scoring system that often leads to misleading results, Kesselring said.

Nonetheless, the 2008 school grade has added extra incentive to do well on the FCAT this year, which is why Kesselring was glad for the chance to do the flyover.

Klint Lowry can be reached at 727-815-1067 or klowry@suncoastnews.com.

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