Do not settle for average

If you are a senior at Clyde High School today and plan to enter a four-year college or university in Fall 2009, you should have already taken the ACT and have it on its way to your choice university.

To be average among those going into colleges, you must have a minimum 21 comprehensive score.

Parents and grandparents should get on board to help their juniors and sophomores prepare now to surpass average on the ACT.

Each year we have seen bright CHS students with A-B averages take the ACT once and quit with scores of 15 to 19. Those scores are not adequate in today's world for admissions and are substandard for scholarships.

As one university official said in today's article, a couple points can mean thousands of dollars in scholarship funds. Who can afford to throw that away? Our youths cannot.

If Toledo Public Schools is offering courses in preparing for the ACT, why is there not some training that can be offered locally for our teens?

Yes, our youths already receive many local scholarships and even college awards. But with training and retesting, our students could nearly double the funds they garner in scholarships.

Our students need to know they can and should do more to help themselves. It's time to turn off the MP3 players, and cell phones and get serious. Students need to prepare for the ACT or SAT, take practice tests, read more books and get help from sources at the public library and school.

There are two more ACT test dates before January and any senior not satisfied with their composite score should sign up today.

Visit www.actstudent.org.