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Schools

FCAT overachievers rewarded with a game

By PAULETTE LASH RITCHIE
Published October 19, 2006

LECANTO - It had worked elsewhere, so when English teacher Zulay Perdomo, 35, came to Lecanto High School, there was no reason it wouldn't work there as well.

Perdomo is concerned that her students may be apprehensive about taking the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. She is convinced they would benefit from some kind of incentive. But what?

She presented the question to her 10th-graders last year. "What can I do for you as a teacher to help ease your worries? What can I do to motivate you? If you do well, what do you want me to do for you?"

The answer turned out to be a pre-FCAT pep rally and a post-FCAT Devil Rays game.

Before last year's FCAT, Perdomo had an incentive show in the auditorium. She wrote an FCAT rap presented by students and there was a presentation by the school's step team. On the day of the test, the students and their teachers were treated to breakfast.

The Devil Rays game was the reward for students who did very well. They knew early in the year they were working toward some kind of trip, but they couldn't collect until this year, as juniors, because results are released so late in the year.

To be eligible, students had to improve at least one level in reading and one level in math. Students who already were at the top level in math and reading also met the trip's requirement. About 60 students qualified, although not all made the game.

About 30 students and nine adults traveled to St. Petersburg for the Sept. 18 game. They were expected. Perdomo had contacted a Devil Rays representative and the students were able to receive a few perks.

They got caps and were able to go onto the field for a group photo and they sang Take Me Out to the Ball Game during the seventh-inning stretch.

The students were invited into dugouts to get autographs from Devil Rays players and Orioles. The school paid for admission and food vouchers using proceeds from the school's snack and juice vending machines.

"They really had a blast," Perdomo said. "They had so much fun. It was wonderful watching them and seeing their expressions." This was the first professional baseball game for some students.

There were more than 140 students who raised their scores one level. They will be rewarded, too, but probably with a local activity which has yet to be determined.

Even as Perdomo is working on rewarding the juniors for a good job done last year, she is working on incentives for this year's sophomores who will be tested later in the year. She expects her incentive program to work again raising FCAT scores.

"It's a way of motivating them, so if they do a good job, they'll be rewarded," she said. "Thank you for a job well done."

[Last modified October 19, 2006, 06:36:32]