Hodgson Vo-Tech High School "Learn, Earn, Get Ahead" - SAT Success!

Motivating students can be difficult, all teachers know that. They are busy, stressed, and just trying to make it through the day. On top of that, students are worried about so many things: classes, extracurriculars, work, college prep, and, most of all, standardized testing. Hodgson Vo-Tech High School has an incredible way to help mitigate these problems.

HVT wants their students to “Learn, Earn, Get Ahead”. Most schools just prepare students for whatever test is coming up and promptly moves past it. That is not true at Hodgson. HVT is a great place for career minded students as they teach not only academic content, but also focus on specific career skills which help prepare them to be career and college ready. However, they do not just teach skills, they help students get real jobs during their Senior year through their co-operative employment program. This unique school lets them gain valuable work experience and earn career credentials and college credit! It is a two for one!

They do not stop there! HVT has the traditional high school events, like Prom and Homecoming, but also provides opportunities for students to play over sixteen different sports, dozens of clubs, and compete in SkillsUSA competitions at both the State and National level.

So, HVT covers the classes, extracurriculars, work, and college prep, but what about standardised testing? When almost every higher level school requires an SAT or ACT score to apply, how is HVT helping students achieve this goal. Fortunately, HVT along with all public high schools in Delaware provide all eleventh grade students an opportunity to take the SAT for free.

Not only that, they order t-shirts from IZA that were to be worn on March 4th, the SAT day. “The entire staff and Junior class (about 300 students) will all get shirts to wear during the week leading up to the test and on test day,” says Mrs. Kelly Bench, a Hodgson Vo-Tech Social Studies teacher/Curriculum and Digital Lead teacher, National Honor Society and Class Advisor, as well as a member of the SAT Committee Member. “These shirts are EXACTLY what we wanted to encourage our students to do their very best on the test!”

The goal in ordering these shirts was to instill a sense of pride and unity into all the Silver Eagles out there (HVT mascot). It is not that the faculty wants the students to just take the test, they want them to score well. With all of their options for sports, it made sense to go with the slogan “Score Your Best on the Test!,” a line that can work for any upcoming school wide testing.

This is when they turned to IZA. Mrs. Bench wanted a shirt that was bold, easy to read, stayed on theme, and, most importantly, would be a design that students and staff would be happy to wear. Kerry and the design team were on it, sending different design options to HVT and working closely with them to let it fit their vision. Mrs.Bench was so happy that “they would send something I could easily tweak and get a proof right away!” She continued, praising IZA, that the process was “quick and done in a timely manner.” With the test rapidly approaching, time was of the essence and IZA delivered!

This was not the only time that HVT and IZA worked together and not just with SAT related shirts. IZA has provided National Honors Society polos and shirts, Support Our Troops camo shirts, and class t-shirts for several years. They like that “IZA is super professional to work with, speedy, and always works with you to help get your design to come alive!” HVT says they will always recommend IZA due to their ease, the quick turnaround, and their easy to use order form.

The SATs were on March 4th, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. In the lead up to the big day, Hodgson Vo-Tech held a spirit week where students could get pumped and ready for the test. The test results have yet to be revealed, but staff and students are confident that it was a complete success.

Administrators at Hodgson, Dr. Christine Colihan, Dr. Jerry Lamey, Ms. Leah Anderson, Mr. Michael Paoli