Cesar Chavez juniors took the SBAC last school year and have received the results. During the beginning of January, CCHS students who achieved on the SBAC were placed into a category now known as CCHS Academic Royalty. The royal court received awards, shirts, ice cream, and more acknowledging them as superb academic students.

In March of 2018, every Cesar Chavez junior took the SBAC test. The SBAC stands for Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium and is aligned with Common Core Standards. The test monitors students academic achievement as well as their teacher’s performance.

Many of the juniors were confused as to why they were taking the test and for what reason. Most of the questions that were going through students’ heads were “What is this for?” “Does this even benefit me?” “Will it harm me if I fail it?” One student that was willing to talk about the SBAC test taking experience was Erika Torres.

Erika took the test in March of 2018 in Mrs. Gibbons Junior English class. While taking the test in her English class she was also trying to study for her final in that class. The test was cutting into her teacher’s time to prepare the students for the English final. Mrs Gibbons reassured her students, including Erika, to try their best and to also get it done as fast as possible.

When Erika Torres opened up her test, the first question was hard from the get-go. She didn’t understand many of the questions as she got going, but that didn’t stop her from trying her very best like Mrs. Gibbons has advised. Eventually the questions began to make sense. Mrs. Gibbons announced to her class that it should only take about three days and that’s how long it took the students of her class, just as it did for Erika.

After every student was done being tested, the school wanted to appreciate the students who achieved on the test. When we returned from winter break in January ’19 the test results were back from the state and the Academic Royalty was created. The Academic Royalty award winners received rewards such as a shirt, ice cream, and a pin. Erika felt appreciated and noticed by the school and her peers. She was and is proud of herself for being part of the Academic Royalty.