For the first time in school history, Heritage has been declared as the official Rogers Public School testing center for the ACT, and along with this achievement, Heritage is using all resources possible to prepare students for testing.
The ACT is an exam that prepares students for college with their scores being able to save them thousands of dollars in scholarships. For example, the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship is granting 15,000 dollars for students with an ACT score of 19 and above who plan to attend a four year institution. Even if college is not aligning with the present, ACT scores are valid for five years and can be used at any time during that period.
This year, Heritage signed a contract with ACT to host the Rogers test here at campus for the foreseeable future. Having the test here not only provides convenience for Heritage students but also the feelings of security and familiarity makes testing more comfortable. Admin reports that they have seen “record numbers” in sign ups since the ACT has been provided here.
“We have been working on creating a more robust ACT system in which we are supporting our students through the ACT development. We’ve done the mock ACT in years past, but we [have] adjusted [it],” said Assistant Principal Jayna Moffit.
Moffit went on to say that as of 2025, students have done the mock ACT with individual scores that students get back to see what improvements need to be made. They then attend one of the ACT workshops provided at Heritage to grow in the subjects they struggled in. “The Mock ACT is something that aligns directly to how we’re targeting specific support to them. We’re talking with them in their [one on one] conferences so that we can target their needs and their goals just for them,” said Moffit.
These mock ACTs are a great way to prepare for the free ACT provided by Heritage in February, another way Heritage provides a path for success since the burden of paying for the test is relieved.
Additionally, teachers who educate juniors have been specially trained at their own workshops to mend the ACT curriculum into the every day classwork. This is to make sure students are aware of the specific questions ACT focuses on.
“[The workshop] talked specifically about math strategies, how to help students, a little bit of strategies [that are] on the ACT in general [and] a little bit about the types of questions [on the exam]. It was helpful for me since I’ll now know what types of questions [there are] to help prepare students because we’re going to get data from the mock ACT back,” said math teacher Logan Siems.
Many juniors have found that the workshops, mock ACT and ACT classwork has caused them to improve their score and overall feel better about the test itself.
Sam Camargo, a junior at Heritage, saw improvement in her first ACT score, to her mock ACT score. “When I first took it I got a decent score, and then on the mock ACT I saw a 2 point difference because of using the tips I learned in the workshops. I hope to see a bigger difference in the February test,” said Camargo.
As more and more opportunities open up at Heritage, students are encouraged to use these new resources to better the path for their future.
