Entry 8

Today we started testing. One big push for the school as a whole was having 100% attendance. Our class did have 100% attendance. Other classes and grades didn't. Volunteers went out door-to-door to get students. Other staff called homes to find out where students were and to try to get them to school. The reason for going door-to-door (one reason) is a lot of our families don't have phones.

It took a lot to get the students settled to start the exam. Tension was high, but we got started.

I was assigned as a reader to a student identified as being allowed extra help. I had specific instructions to read verbatim all questions, but not to provide any assistance with answers. This student is a young black male. He is very sweet, healthy and cute. His clothing is filthy. His white shirt is probably two or four sizes too large for him. He rolls the sleeves up two or three times. He wears this shirt days is a row. It's not just stained, it's dirty all over. I let Sister know of my concern. She will check and look into getting him a new shirt.

The student I helped did the best he could on his test. I know he did miss (get wrong) many, many questions. I know with a little help, he would have done much better. His score will not reflect his intelligence in my opinion.