The Mayor’s Youth Council (MYC) sponsored a free ACT workshop for council members and 7th-12th grade area students. The workshop was held at the McComb Sports Park on Saturday, January 23, 2010.

The morning began with a continental breakfast at 8:30am. Workshop activities began at 9am and ended at 12pm. The facilitatior was Dot McClendon, ACT Coach and Private Tutor. The workshop organizers said that the workshop was implemented to introduce students to the ACT and cover all of its parts. McClendon provided students with test taking tips and math coverage.

McClendon said, “I loved the workshop students...they were incredibly attentive and seemed more appreciative than most I work with.”

Forty-eight students attended from area schools including: 27 from the McComb School District, 8 from Parklane, 4 from North Pike, 3 from Tylertown, and 2 from Southwest Junior College.

The MYC Director Cornelia Gayden said, “As a council, we are going to focus more on academics and test scores. The ACT Workshops will be on a continuous basis and we are lining up an ACT Camp for this summer.” Gayden continued, “We are in the process of setting up a graphing calculator workshop and a scholarship workshop as well.”

One workshop participant and council member, Destinee McGhee, a 9th-grader at McComb High School said after the event, “The ACT workshop was empowering. Mrs. Dot gave us great tips and she taught me a lot of things that I did not know. I am happy that we are able to get an early start.”

Her twin sister, Desiree Mcghee added, “The workshop was very informative. I took good notes and I learned a lot. Can’t wait until we have summer camp!”

Quatavia Winding, a McComb High School 11th-grader said, “The ACT Workshop was a great learning experience for me and others. Mrs. McClendon is an excellent instructor. Now that I’ve done this workshop, I’m confident about taking February’s test. I’m so grateful for this opportunity provided by the Mayor’s Youth Council.”