Palo Alto High School administrators are wrapping up preparations for College Awareness Day, which will take place next Wednesday, Oct. 13.

The administration hopes that College Awareness Day will encourage students to plan beyond their high school studies.

“The purpose of College Awareness Day is to inspire all of our students, especially those who will be first generation college students, to see college as more than a dream, but to embrace it as a reality,” Assistant Principal Kimberly Diorio said. “It’s to heighten the awareness of college and career options, and to give students more insight in terms of their own college readiness.”

Freshmen, sophomores and juniors will will take standardized tests on College Awareness Day, while seniors will participate in a workshop of their choice and hear a guest speaker, Dr. Fred Luskin.

All freshmen, sophomores and juniors should arrive at school by 8:15 a.m., prepared to take the test scheduled for their grade level.

“The freshmen are going to be taking the Explore test: it’s a standardized test part of the ACT testing program,” Diorio said. “The first 65 minutes of the test is an introductory survey, then comes the academic achievement portion, which tests English, math, reading and science. Sophomores will be taking the Plan test, also run by the ACT. [Explore and Plan] are very similar, they’re just based on the grade level. The [Plan] test questions are going to be more challenging and more in line with the sophomore curriculum.”

Diorio recommended that freshmen use their scores on the Explore as a reference for areas that might need more work. Similarly, sophomores can compare their Plan and Explore scores to gauge improvement.

“We will get the score reports back in a couple of months, which will benchmark each student’s scores in terms of how they would’ve done on the ACT,” Diorio said. “The idea is to be able to see your strengths as well as the areas you need to develop. If you’re a current sophomore, you’re going to be able to compare the Explore scores from last year to see where you improved.”

Juniors, who will be taking the PSAT, will be situated in areas of campus that have less student traffic in order to optimize the testing environment.

“The stakes are a little higher for the PSAT because those scores count towards the National Merit scholarships,” Diorio said. “It’s also a chance to practice taking the SAT and to see what areas to work on, should you take the SAT later on in your junior or senior year. We want to make sure that the testing environment is really conducive to taking that type of an assessment, so we’ll make sure that we have the juniors taking the test in a part of campus that won’t have a lot of [student] traffic.”

Despite the voluntary PSAT registration process, Diorio emphasized that all juniors will be taking the PSAT on College Awareness Day, regardless of whether or not they registered.

“We’ve ordered a test for every single junior, so it’s our expectation that all kids will take the test,” Diorio said. “We are going to make sure every junior is registered for the PSAT; Ms. [Assistant Principal Kathie] Laurence will be tracking down juniors and getting them to sign up and pay their fees. For students who can’t afford the $30 fee, we have scholarships available, so funding shouldn’t be an issue for anyone.”

Seniors can enjoy a little bit of extra sleep, and should arrive on campus by 9 a.m. for the workshop of their choice. Individual workshop descriptions can be found here.

“Seniors have eight different workshops to choose from,” Diorio said. “This year there will only be one workshop session because a lot of the students from last year said that they couldn’t find a second workshop that fit their needs.”

Diorio encouraged all seniors to register for a workshop ahead of time to streamline the planning process.

“Seniors should log on to Naviance and register by taking the [workshop] survey,” Diorio said. “It’s only a one question survey. I can then view the responses and we can tally who’s going where and make sure we have enough chairs set up.”

Following the morning workshops, guest speaker Dr. Fred Luskin will discuss the social aspects of planning beyond high school.

“We will be bringing in a keynote speaker that will begin at 10:30 a.m.,” Diorio said. “He’s going to talk a lot about how to lead a stress-free life, your mental and physical well-being. It’s a little more of the social component of College Awareness Day, but it’s important.”

Unlike previous years, dismissal times will be more lenient this year, with students being released once testing is completed.

“Mr. [Principal Phil] Winston’s thinking is that when students are done with the test, we’ll release them a little earlier,” Diorio said. “I don’t think we’re being as rigid with the time this year; we’re going with the flow, being a bit more laid back. We’ll see how it goes.”

Free lunch and music on the quad will follow the morning activities.

“We’re planning on having some food and music out on the quad,” Diorio said. “As students are being dismissed, they can hang out and get some food.”

In addition to the student-oriented activities, Paly staff members will also have a bit of college-related work of their own.

“The staff will all be wearing their college gear: where they went to college or where their children are going to college,” Diorio said. “If you see someone wearing college gear of a school they might be interested in, I encourage you to stop that staff member and talk to them. That will be a highlight for staff members, it’s a really great day. We learn a lot about ourselves and our campus.”