Fourth-grader Amaya Anderson held her award, standing beside her fellow pupils being honored at John William Decas Elementary on Wednesday evening. These third, fourth, and fifth-graders had placed "Advanced" in the MCAS tests.

“I got worried, I got anxious, I got butterflies, but I did try to toughen up to do [the MCAS tests] completely right,” Anderson said. “I really had to think before I got my answers.”

There were two categories of awards, one for those who earned Advanced status in a single subject and another for those who achieved Advanced status in all subjects. Students were recognized by grade.

“Tonight is about the kids,” Principal Christine Panarese explained.

Panarese stated that the annual tests are challenging, especially for the fourth-grade test which includes a long composition.

Anderson will be facing that long composition this year. She will be helped by teachers such as fourth-grade teacher Kimberly Palker.

In order to help prepare her students for next year’s MCAS long composition section, Palker seeks to improve students’ vocabulary. To achieve this task, Palker will be holding a mock memorial service for overused words.

“One of our beloved friends and companions - said - and his friends- because, so, then, awesome, and a few others- have left us,” Palker explained. “On Tuesday, we are going to celebrate their lives with services at 9 a.m. in the classroom, and in their memory, we’re going to come up with other fantastic words.”

The lesson will feature the overused words written on tombstones. Synonyms written on flowers will be placed beside each tombstone.

Palker hopes this lesson will improve her students’ writing as she prepares them for next year’s MCAS tests.

“The expectations are higher,” Anderson said. “I feel pretty confident with [the long composition] because I am pretty good with writing.

“I know I can improve a lot, though.”

“Ms. Palker is working hard with them, and she told them right from the beginning that it would take a long time to get them ready,” Erica Anderson, Amayas’ mother, said. “I think that they’ll get there.”