All sophomores and juniors on campus were enrolled in a free SAT Prep Course on Canvas. Students will link their College Board account to a Khan Academy account, which from there will take them to the lessons and unlock potential scholarship opportunities. 

“I think that anything that helps with extra practice on the SAT can really make a big difference,” science teacher Richard Sabatier said. “It can help for getting into the schools you want or for scholarships. It’s linked to how you did on your PSAT, so the fact that it’s specifically targeted towards you and your strengths and weaknesses will help to bring up the low stuff and sort of amplify the already high stuff.”

Once junior students complete 6 hours of practice each month, they will be automatically entered into a drawing to have a chance at a $1,000 scholarship. College Board will be awarding 150 practice scholarships every month from January through October 2020. 

“The idea of the opportunity scholarships only launched in 2018, so it’s a very new idea,” student ambassador, sophomore Shreya Jagan said. “It’s giving people that don’t have a chance to go to college or that need financial aid an easier way to get money for something that they’re interested in. It’s really exciting to see how the scholarships will affect people’s lives in various ways.” 

Through the course, students will have access to 8 lessons resembling the Reading, Writing and Language, and Math pieces of the SAT. Each lesson aims to help teach the structure of the test and its questions, different strategies to use, and ultimately hopes for mastery of content on the test.

“I think by doing this kids will receive more preparation and there will be more awareness of the available opportunities,” science teacher Holley Mosely, a big advocate of the program, said. “Especially at Liberty we have a lot of students who are highly academically motivated, so I think a large number of people will be able to use the resource.”