The SAT preparation sessions will introduce you to the skills and learning tools necessary to prepare you for the SAT. The program will devote class time to both Math and Verbal questions, as well as test taking strategies.
Students are required to purchase The Official SAT Study Guideon their own prior to the first class. Class size will be limited to allow for personalized instruction.
Future dates will be announced.
A high school student who stormed the U.S. Capitol, assaulted a police officer and sat in a Senate floor chair reserved for the vice president was sentenced on Wednesday to one year in prison.
Georgia resident Bruno Joseph Cua was 18 when he attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, making him one of the youngest people charged in the riot.
Before learning his sentence, Cua apologized for his actions and told U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss that he is ashamed of his role in a mob’s “attack on democracy.”
“Everything that day was just one terrible decision after another,” said Cua, now 21.
Moss sentenced Cua to a prison term of one year and one day followed by three years of supervised release. The judge convicted Cua of felony charges after a trial earlier this year.
Moss told Cua that he was prepared to deliver him a longer prison sentence before he heard his statement in court on Wednesday. The judge said he believes Cua is truly remorseful.
“It’s a tragic case for the country. It’s a tragic case for you and your family,” the judge told him. “There are no winners in any of this.”
More than 1,000 people have been charged with Jan. 6-related crimes. Cua is one of at least six Capitol riot defendants born in 2002, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Columbia.
Cua’s attorneys cited his youth as grounds for leniency. His actions on Jan. 6 “reflect his immaturity at the time and the effects that the crowd had on such a young person,” defense attorneys wrote in a court filing.
Around the time of the riot, Cua was finishing online coursework to graduate from high school. Prosecutors said Cua’s age is “only slightly” a mitigating factor in his favor.
“Americans who reach the age of 18 are entrusted with several important responsibilities and duties including voting, joining the military, signing a contract, and serving on a jury. In this way, the law recognizes that an 18-year-old is capable of making mature decisions,” they wrote in a court filing.
Justice Department prosecutor Kaitlin Klamann said at least five Capitol riot defendants were younger than Cua on Jan. 6. Two of the five have resolved their cases and avoided prison terms. Both pleaded guilty to misdemeanor offenses and were sentenced to probation.
Cua planned his attack weeks in advance, brought weapons to the Capitol, tried to terrorize congressional staffers and was repeatedly aggressive toward police, prosecutors said.
They added, “Cua played a unique and prominent role on January 6, opening the Senate Chamber to the rioters, escalating confrontations, and leading other rioters into and through the Capitol.”
Prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of four years and nine months for Cua. His lawyers asked the judge to sentence him to time served: the 40 days he spent in jail after his February 2021 arrest.
Cua said he was “scarred to my core” by his jail time. Another inmate assaulted Cua while he was jailed in Oklahoma, according to one of his lawyers.
“I did something stupid to land myself there, but it was traumatizing,” Cua said.
Other young rioters have received prison terms. In March, for example, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton sentenced Aiden Bilyard to three years and four months of incarceration. Bilyard, of Cary, North Carolina, also was 18 when he stormed the Capitol, pepper sprayed a line of police officers and used a bat to break into a Capitol conference room.
Cua and his parents drove from their home in Milton, Georgia, to Washington D.C., arriving a day before then-President Donald Trump spoke at his “Stop the Steal” rally. The Trump supporters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 disrupted the joint session of Congress for certifying President Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
Cua was armed with pepper spray and a metal baton — weapons given to him by his father — when rioters breached police lines on the west side of the Capitol, according to prosecutors. After climbing scaffolding, Cua entered the building through the Upper West Terrace doors and and walked down a hallway toward the Senate.
“As Cua walked down the hallway, he tried to open every single office door he passed by pulling on doorknobs, pounding on the doors with his fist, and kicking the doors,” prosecutors wrote.
They said Cua intended to intimidate staffers who were behind the doors as he yelled, “Hey! Where are the swamp rats hiding?”
Cua went to the third floor, where he shoved a Capitol police officer who was trying to lock doors to the Senate gallery. After the officer retreated, Cua entered the gallery, shouting “This is our house! This is our country!” Jumping onto the Senate floor, he sat in the chair for then-Vice President Mike Pence, leaned back and propped his feet up on a desk.
Then he opened a door, allowing dozens of other rioters onto the Senate floor. Before leaving, Cua rifled through desks belonging to Senators Charles Grassley, John Thune and Dianne Feinstein.
Moss decided the case against Cua without a jury in February, convicting him of obstructing the Jan. 6 congressional proceeding and assaulting a federal officer. The judge handed down the verdict after a “stipulated bench trial,” a proceeding in which Cua didn’t contest the facts supporting his convictions. He waived his right to a jury trial.
Prosecutors asked Moss to impose a $23,485 fine, which equals the amount of money raised by an online fundraising campaign called “Bruno Cua: An American’s Future at Stake.” The website said the funds will be used for Cua’s “many expenses in his pursuit of his freedom.”
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Sam Downie, 17, is hoping to head to the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games
Most people never forget the build-up on exam results day but not everyone's journey to the exam room is the same.
As thousands of young people find out their results, BBC Scotland spoke to three teenagers who prepared for their exams under unusual conditions.
'I sat my Higher English exam in Turkey, then set a British record'
Sam Downie, 17, from Portobello in Edinburgh, was born with a rare spinal condition but took to swimming from a young age.
He has been competing since he was eight and is now a prime candidate for Great Britain in next year's Paralympic Games.
Sam was in the middle of his exams in May when the world championships were held in Berlin.
"I sat two exams at school, then left to for a training camp in Turkey where I had to sit my higher English," he said.
The teenager's team manager had to train to be an invigilator in order for Sam to be able to sit his exam abroad and still compete.
Sam Downie competing in the IDM World Swimming Championships in Berlin
Sam said: "My team manager had to take the paper in a locked bag in their hand luggage and keep it in a safe and check it each day to make sure no-one had access to it.
"I had to sit the exam at same time as everyone else in my year so we couldn't deliver each other the questions. The team manager had to sit in a meeting room with me to make sure I wasn't doing anything I shouldn't be."
Sam's friends thought he was lucky be sitting his exams away from school but he didn't feel that way.
"I'd rather have done it in a normal classroom where it wasn't as warm and there's a bit of noise going on," he said.
"I was in an empty meeting room, alone, in complete silence. But it's what I needed to do to get everything done."
Sam's hard work paid off because after leaving his training camp in Turkey he went on to set a new British record in the 200m backstroke for his category, picking up a Bronze medal at the IDM World Swimming Championships in Berlin, before coming back to Scotland to sit his Higher human biology exam the next day.
His focus is now very much on his swimming, with hopes of making the Paris 2024 Games if he can meet the qualification time. He is still looking towards his long-term future though, and knows his exams will help him plan for a career outside the pool.
Sam said: "I've kind of accepted these exams aren't going to be what other people might want, but for me there's other routes.
"I am looking at college courses in health and fitness that could potentially act as a stepping stone into university. But for now my priority is finding something that works around swimming."
"I balance caring for my older brother around studying for my exams"
Ailsa Law, 15, is a young carer for her brother and hopes to be a graphic designer
For some teens studying at home during exam time doesn't mean it's a simple task.
Ailsa Law, 15, from Helensburgh, is a young carer and takes on the task of helping her family care for her older brother Euan, who has learning difficulties and suffers from epilepsy.
During exam leave Ailsa didn't have her usual early morning school alarm call but she did have other responsibilities to contend with before starting her revision.
"I'd usually wake up and make sure Euan had his medication by 09:00," she said.
"Then I'd get him settled, pop on the TV and help him play with his cars so he is nice and relaxed.
"I'd then help my mum with bits around the house and then I'd get into my studying."
Ailsa said she tried to find time to take her brother out for walks.
"He's really athletic and likes being outdoors and playing with his remote-control cars," she said.
Keeping her brother safe can come at the cost of spending time with her friends.
Ailsa attends regular activity sessions with Helensburgh and Lomond Young Carers where she can get some respite and meet up with peers who take on similar roles at home.
She said: "It helps me a lot because you get to know there are other people going through the same things and that it's not all that bad. I love Euan to bits but it can sometimes feel like a lot."
Ailsa is hopeful of getting some good grades when her National 5 results come through.
She plans on taking five Highers when the new term starts and hopes to pursue a career in graphic design when she leaves school.
'I got stuck in the North Pole and sat my first exam 10 days later'
Isla Fosbury, 16, spent more than two weeks in Greenland ahead of her exams
Not all exam journeys can be totally mapped out though.
Isla Fosbury, 16, from Arbroath, said 'yes' to a once-in-a-lifetime trip to head to Greenland for two weeks with the Polar Academy, which gives opportunities to vulnerable young people.
But an unexpected storm left her team stranded for eight extra days meaning she had to do some last-minute revision on the Arctic coast.
Isla was one of 20 pupils selected to take part in the North Pole research expedition. Before embarking on the journey she had almost a year of training to prepare her for the cold temperatures and heavy equipment.
"We had pull our own 45kg sleds a couple of kilometres every day," she said.
"What made it interesting was that a lot of the original routes that have been used for years couldn't be used because of climate change.
"We were meant to go over a river that was meant to be completely flat but it had already thawed out so we had to go a completely different way, which meant pulling these sleds ups a massive steep hill harnessed to each other."
Isla's team were there to take DNA samples testing for signs of life in water as part of an Oxbridge science experiment.
They were sent to the east coast of Greenland where no data has ever been recorded before.
Each day involved setting up camp and cutting blocks of snow to melt for water and make a wall for a toilet.
Isla Fosbury [right] with her friends setting up camp with the Polar Academy in Greenland
Isla and her team faced temperatures as low as -16C while studying in the Arctic. They'd form groups to revise and would boil snow for hot water bottles in a bid to keep warm at night.
She wasn't initially sure about taking part in the Arctic mission as she suffered from anxiety. However a push from her family and teachers convinced her it was the right move.
"It's changed the way I think," she said.
"I did struggle a lot with my mental health before but now I feel I've changed.
"It did add a little something, not just to my exam experience or my high school experience, but my life really," Isla concluded.
Isla, 16, says the Polar Academy experience has 'changed her life'
Isla is hopeful of some good results in her National 5s this year and plans to focus on science subjects in her Highers, when school returns, with the hope of becoming a doctor one day.
If you need help or advice, to guide you through your options, after receiving your exam results, the Skills Development Scotland Helpline goes live on Tuesday 8 August: The SDS Results Helpline number is 0808 100 8000.
