Kansas Educational Enrichment Program
January 3, 2024Get Smarter Prep

Kansas Educational Enrichment Program

Kansas Educational Enrichment Program: Boosting Kids’ Learning After COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education for many Kansas families. To help kids get back on track and embrace new learning opportunities, the Kansas Educational Enrichment Program (KEEP) is here! This program provides up to $1,000 per eligible student to spend on educational goods and services that spark their curiosity and ignite their academic success.

Who qualifies?

  • Kids aged 5 (as of August 31, 2023) to 18 years old (as of May 31, 2024).
  • Students above 18 still in high school with active K-12 enrollment proof.
  • Families with income at or below 300% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (check the chart below to see if you qualify!).

KEEP

What can you spend the money on?

KEEP opens a world of possibilities! Browse an online marketplace filled with educational resources like:

  • Tutoring and academic support: Get one-on-one help for subjects needing extra attention.
  • Enrichment activities: Explore music, art, coding, STEM programs, and more!
  • Summer camps: Immerse your child in new experiences that ignite their passions
  • School supplies and technology: Equip your child with the tools they need to thrive.

Multiple kids in the family? No problem! Enroll them all and manage their individual award funds easily through a dedicated dashboard. Shared custody or foster care situations? KEEP understands. Only one parent/guardian applies per child, and students in foster care are eligible regardless of income. Just provide the necessary documentation.

Getting started is simple! All applicants must provide:

One of the following documents to prove Kansas Residency

  • Current Kansas Driver’s License or ID renewal postcard
  • Current Kansas vehicle registration
  • Utility bill or equivalent no more than two months old
  • Financial institution documents such as a bank statement, deed, or mortgage with a current Kansas address
  • Rent or lease agreement dated within the last 12 months
  • Kansas Voter Registration Card

Head over to the KEEP website and apply today! Let’s work together to give every Kansas child the chance to learn, grow, and reach their full potential.

Remember:

  • Applications are reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis, so don’t wait!
  • Check the website for updates and eligibility details.

For further questions, please feel free to contact us about how to use the KEEP awards for ACT Tutoring. 

 

 

Read More
What is ACT Prep?
February 21, 2023Get Smarter Prep

What is ACT Prep?

What is ACT Prep?

ACT prep refers to the process of preparing for the ACT exam, which is a standardized test used by many colleges and universities in the United States to evaluate a student’s readiness for higher education. ACT stands for American College Testing, and the exam consists of multiple-choice questions in the areas of English, mathematics, reading, and science reasoning, and is typically taken by high school students in their junior or senior year.

The goal of ACT prep is to improve a student’s familiarity with the exam format and content, and to help them develop the skills and strategies needed to succeed on test day. This may include improving reading comprehension, math skills, grammar and punctuation, time management, practicing with sample questions, and test-taking strategies. ACT Prep can also help students gain confidence in their abilities and reduce test anxiety.

Students may choose to take the ACT exam multiple times, and many find that their scores improve with additional preparation and practice. A higher score on the ACT can improve a student’s chances of being accepted into the college or university of their choice, as well as potentially qualify them for scholarships or other forms of financial aid.

Working with tutors or taking courses to improve skills and knowledge in the subject areas being tested is one of the best ways to help prepare for the test. Knowledgeable tutors can help students think differently when it comes to the ACT, especially if students have taken the test multiple times and keep getting the same score. Using proven strategies, tutors are able to unlock new and different ways of approaching the test allowing students to increase their overall composite score.

 

 

Read More
August 25, 2021Get Smarter Prep

ACT Prep

It’s that time of the year again. School is starting, students are getting back into the swing of things, the weather is starting to cool down (okay maybe yet not in the Kansas City metro) and students are starting to think about the next step towards college. To be honest, that’s going to look different for freshman that it is for sophomores than it is for juniors and last, but not least, seniors. We’ve put together a road map to college as a visual to guide students through their high school career. Not sure where to start? Look at the roadmap.

Road Map to College

Freshman Year

A great place to begin is by building a resume as a freshman. Keep track of your classes, make notes of the courses you liked and didn’t like, put a star next to your favorite teacher. Your resume doesn’t necessarily have to be perfect and polished, but make sure you take notes. You’ll thank yourself in three years.

Sophomore Year

As a sophomore, your classes may start getting a bit more difficult and the thought of college a little closer. How best to prepare? Keep going. Keep taking classes that challenge you and keep getting good grades. Join a club, volunteer, try out for a sport. Keep in mind, you should be including all of these opportunities in your resume. If you’ve taken Algebra II as a sophomore, the end of the school year is a good time to start thinking about the ACT. You can take a practice ACT test at Get Smarter Prep to establish a baseline score. We offer Free Practice ACT tests every Saturday morning.

Junior Year – ACT Prep

Okay, we’re going to say it: Your Junior year of high school is important. It’s the time in your high school career when students start preparing for the ACT, put together college lists, and perhaps start visiting colleges. If you didn’t take Algebra II as a sophomore, then you will take it as a Junior, which is important because the math section of the ACT is heavy in Algebra. We have multiple options to start preparing for the ACT including courses with set curriculum, Semi-Private Tutoring and Private Tutoring.

Senior Year

Senior year and the countdown is on! If you still need to increase your ACT score, the first semester is the best time for ACT Prep so you can crush the ACT and get to your ACT goal. Hopefully as a senior, you have a college list prepared, you are working on your college essays, and are ready to start applying to some of those colleges. Then sit back and enjoy the rest of high school!

At Get Smarter Prep, we are here to help. We want every student who walks through our doors to succeed. Whether that means a 2-point ACT increase, 5-point ACT increase or help with college essays, our tutors are readily available to help students reach their goals.

Read More
Choosing ACT or SAT
July 7, 2021Get Smarter Prep

Choosing the ACT, SAT or Both

Choosing the ACT, SAT or Both

This debate may be familiar to many of you. ACT? SAT? Both? Some students and families enter junior year with a perfectly clear answer to those questions, but the reasons behind those decisions may be less clear. Do any of these sound familiar?

  • He’ll take the ACT, of course. He wants to attend a school in the Midwest.
  • We’re an SAT family. Her older brother scored much better on the SAT.
  • Of course I want to prepare for both exams!

The ACT and SAT originated in different places, for different purposes, and developed different reputations over the years. Despite the many changes to each test, some of those perceptions persist.

The SAT, originally developed by the College Board for use in admissions to elite, northeastern schools, remains more popular on the coasts than in the Midwest. The ACT came later, designed to provide an admissions test for regional and public universities that didn’t use the SAT; it is still more popular in the Midwest than the SAT.

Although these regional patterns persist regarding which test students tend to take, the initial reason for those patterns – which test your college of choice might accept – no longer holds. The final school to accept the ACT finally did so in 2007, meaning that the choice of which test to take is really up to the individual student.

So, choosing the ACT, SAT, or Both? There are differences, though, between the ACT and the SAT, that one should consider when deciding between the two exams, and they don’t have anything to do with the geographical distribution of your college list.

First, how strong are you at math? On the SAT, math counts for half of your score, while on the ACT math makes up only ¼. That’s a significant difference. Consider, also, how well you’ll fare without a calculator, as the SAT has a section that must be completed without one.

How much do you want to improve your score? Because of changes to the SAT in 2012, there is much less practice material available than for the ACT, which means fewer opportunities to practice and improve your score. If you’re looking for a significant boost, you might lean towards the ACT.

How much do you struggle with timing? The timing on the ACT is more difficult for some students. The SAT provides more time per question, which might be an asset. Taking a practice version of each will help you to know if that is the case for you.

A final consideration is that the SAT, during and since the redesign, has been a bit unstable. There have been data breaches, score delays, and debates over how the new scores stack up to the old ones.

If you know you’ll be taking an ACT through school, or (for those who haven’t already taken it) you plan to prepare for the PSAT, those factors might influence your choice as well. The goal is to prepare for only one exam.

The ACT (or SAT) is only one part of your college applications, and your college applications are only one part of your life. Preparing for both tests – or choosing the wrong one – is a recipe for doing more work than necessary and taking time away from other activities and classes that make up your high school career.

By Audrey Hazzard, Premier-Level Tutor

Read More
October 16, 2019Get Smarter Prep

We Are Hiring

If you’ve ever had an inkling to teach others, now is the time to get on board. Get Smarter Prep is hiring tutors. We are always looking for great tutors, but we are starting teacher training the beginning of November. If you want flexible hours with great pay, apply online now.

For the most part, we tutor students for the ACT, SAT, graduate exams, and other standardized tests. However, we also work with students on Study Skills and College Counseling. We offer both classroom and private, one-on-one, instruction depending upon the student’s needs. For every class you take on, you’ll be working 2 hrs/wk teaching. This means that your schedule varies depending on the volume of clients we have and on your availability. Some of our teachers have eight hours of availability a week and some have 30 – it will depend on your schedule!

Practice Test

Of course, we want our tutors to also score well on the ACT, so we make sure our candidates score around a 30 composite score before we even consider hiring them. If it’s been a few years since you took an ACT, no problem. We have practice tests available for you to take.

Interview Process

The interview process starts with an audition and interview. For the audition we ask that you prepare a 5-minute lesson on any topic in which you think you’re an expert. Candidates have taught us everything from how to multiply numbers in a less than conventional way to what to do if you encounter a bear in the wild to how to identify a true Wisconsin Cheese Head. Be yourself, as well as demonstrate communication skills that can be extrapolated to a teaching environment! Next, the real fun begins. Training will always begin with the ACT, which lasts 3-4 weeks and consists of a maximum of 10 hours per week. It’s a great time to learn our strategies, practice your teaching, and meet our other tutors!

What some of our Tutors are saying

“I enjoy helping high school students through the worst part of high school. I want my students to know this test is only a part of the big picture. I will help them manage the ACT.” – Austin Motley

“Being a tutor is great because I get to set my own hours. It’s completely flexible with great pay.” – Caleb Pierce

“I love working with high school students, sharing their hopes and dreams for the future, and helping them get closer to their goals.” – Ilana Garon

 

Read More