Study skills class cleans up A.K. Bissell park
With many pitching in, Oak Ridge High School students recently raked up bags of leaves and picked up trash from along a stream.
The Wildcat Scholars, a class dedicated to academic skills and college and career preparation, helped at A.K. Bissel Park across from Oak Ridge High School on Dec. 8.
“The kids are having a great time; they are so eager to give back to the Oak Ridge community that they live in,” said Elisabeth Denisar, one of the lead teachers for the Wildcat Scholars program.
She said the program teaches about how to give back to others, and how to lead.
“It was really fun; I really enjoyed doing community service, and I got to play around with my buddies while we worked” Brennan Toth, a Wildcat Scholars student, said of the community service day.
“I feel like we got a lot done,” said Noah Metz, another Wildcat Scholars student.
Wildcat Scholars supports students in their academic pursuits, with a focus on preparing them for college and career success, an ORHS news release stated. It teaches academic skills such as note-taking, organization, time management and critical thinking.
“We take students who normally sit in the academic middle, and we push them really hard for college and career readiness so that they have all of the knowledge and skills that they need in order to be prepared for college success and career success,” Denisar said.
“It becomes this beautiful teacher mentoring relationship with students, helping them from freshman year all the way to when they enter college, and so it’s just a really incredible program for kids to learn how to cooperate and how to give back, how to grow as learner,” she said.
“At first, I thought it was a little weird, I’m not going to lie,” Toth said, “Eventually, I’ve grown a bond to the people in my class that I won’t ever lose.”
“I feel like it’s a really great program, and all of the people here are close at least in the individual classes,” said Cole Barriera, another student in the program. “It’s really great to learn about college and stuff like that, but also you get to make a really great group of friends.”
She said the program includes team-building exercises.
“The people in here are great and most of them area are really responsible and it’s a really helpful class,” she said.
The program gives students, many of whom will be first-generation college students, the opportunity to visit colleges around the state. Their teachers remain with them throughout their high school career and serve as mentors and help them navigate postsecondary opportunities.
“Students are challenged to become leaders on campus and in the community while turning their college and career dreams to achievable goals and plans,” the ORHS news release stated.