School holds pep rally for big test

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — Horace Mann Elementary School Principal Rosa Alonso likens herself to the head coach of a team with its biggest match of the season starting this week.

Students took a practice test Monday in preparation for the California Standards Test, the state performance assessment that measures academic proficiency and growth. Official testing starts today.

But before delving into the one-hour practice test, students gathered in groups on the playground for the kind of pep rally that more often precedes sporting events.

Clad in the school’s red and white colors, cheerleaders performed a routine to Queen’s “We Are the Champions,” district officials offered motivational words, and former Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Bobby Castillo added some encouragement.

“When I was growing up, a lot of people said I wouldn’t make it to the major leagues,” said Castillo, who wore a replica of his 1980s-era Dodgers jersey. “But if you just put your heart into it, you can do anything.”

Students accompanied their screaming approval with small plastic noisemakers resembling a pair of little hands attached to a rod — shaken back and forth, the plastic hands produced a uniform, clap-like cackle.

Schools across the district have different pretest rituals, but every school does something special, said Joylene Wagner, president of the Glendale Unified School District Board of Education.

Revving up the children with a noisy rally like the one at Horace Mann on Monday helps to dampen their nerves, she said.

“It’s really to dispel the idea that is the dreaded test,” Wagner said.

But while school and district officials encouraged students to relax and have fun, they don’t take the test lightly.

Last year, Horace Mann posted a score of 772 on the Academic Performance Index, which is short of the state’s minimum target of 800 but showed significant progress from 2006, when it posted a score of 744. And in 2005 it was at just 702, said Alice Petrossian, the district’s assistant superintendent for elementary education.

“That’s a tremendous jump,” Petrossian said.

Alonso is hoping Mann students make similar gains this year: While the state target is 800, Alonso said the school’s API goal is 825.

The number has been drilled into students’ minds since the beginning of the school year with a motto found on pink posters tacked up throughout the school.

“Bulldogs: API Strive for 825,” it reads.

If they are to reach the goal, the students will have to win as a team, she said. Only a few bad scores could drag down the team’s average, Alonso added.

“We’re a team working together to accomplish the same goal, and that is to win the game of learning,” she said.