The occupants of the Pint Pirates classroom at Brunswick High School have an additional reason to celebrate this holiday season.
Students in the early education pathway, who manage the Pint Pirates preschool program, earn a 100% pass rate for the 11th consecutive year on their end-of-pathway assessment.
“The test has 193 questions and takes a minimum of three hours,” said Lisa Marie McDaniel, early education pathway instructor at Brunswick High, adding that the students who passed this year’s test were among those who have dealt over the past three years with the significant challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the Pint Pirates program, 3-year-olds spend part of the school day at Brunswick High, where the high school students offer education and engagement.
The end-of-pathway test is an assessment of the hands-on early education lessons the high school students learn. The credit also puts them ahead if they choose to pursue an education major at the college level.
“They have worked incredibly hard for this credit by staying after school for study sessions for weeks,” McDaniel said. “Per the college institution, all students will get ‘introduction to education’ first course, and some will receive 25 of the 50 hours required for student teaching, and an additional three credit hours. It also counts toward rank in the military.”
McDaniel said her students were given a different kind of test during the recent lockdown at Brunswick High, when a shooting threat required the school to be on high alert for several hours.
“They were here with the 3-year old Pint Pirates when we had the lockdown,” McDaniel said. “…These students were true adults, and while everything was going on maintained a calm, quiet and protective environment. I could never be prouder of a group of young women and men than I am now.”
Earning a 100% pass rate annually on their end-of-year assessment is no small feat, she added.
“We have a study plan, we review daily, after school study sessions each day the week of the exam, and the students are committed and focused,” she said.
McDaniel celebrated with the students before they left for holiday break, giving each a t-shirt marking the accomplishment and bringing school district leaders together to honor the class.
“They are our future,” McDaniel said. “Without them there would be no future.”
Students who passed the test this year were Rebecca Butler, Emma Harmon, R’Marion Lamar, Savannah Layton, Jordan Smith, Ali Wells, Harley Henderson, Anna Kate Owens, Gracie Ward, Raja Bue, Cassidy Tyson, Molly Forsyth, Jaliyah Adams, Alle Kirby, Mary-Beth Kelly and Ridleigh Rowell.