The Office of Conferences and Institutes is offering an SAT preparation class in April. The SAT test measures verbal and mathematical reasoning abilities. SAT test scores are often a determining factor in college admissions. This class provides an opportunity for high school students to sharpen critical reading skills, review math skills, and learn problem solving strategies. Feedback will also be given on writing samples. Understanding how a test is structured is a critical step to test-taking success. This class, paired with independent study, has proven to increase SAT test scores.

The class will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-9 p.m. on April 8, 10, 15 and 17, and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 12 and 19. The class fee of $165 includes an SAT study guide. The deadline to register is April 1 and enrollment is limited. Register at www.camps.appstate.edu. Choose the “youth camps” link. For additional information, call 2530.

Appalachian’s Council on the Safety of the Campus Community and the Office of Institutional Research, Assessment and Planning have created a campus safety survey which can be found at http://www1.appstate.edu/dept/irp/Online_surveys/Safety/campus_safety_staff_faculty.htm. Please take a few minutes to complete this anonymous survey, which will help the committee understand the current campus climate regarding safety at Appalachian and suggest programs or activities to address any concerns.

Ricardo Pau-Llosa was six years old when his family fled Havana, Cuba, and settled in Florida. His native country, however, has always been a key part of the poet and Latin American art critic’s life. Pau-Llosa will read from his work Thursday, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m. in Plemmons Student Union’s Table Rock Room. He also will present the craft talk “The Role of Metaphor and Other Tropes in Transforming Common Experience in Poems” from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. in Table Rock Room. Books will be available for sales and signing. The presentations are part of the Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series and are free and open to the public. Call 2337 for more information.

The spirit of American entrepreneurism is alive and well and poised to take Boone by storm Feb. 29 when the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour (EET) visits campus. The event runs from 3-7 p.m. in Valborg Theatre located beside the Walker College of Business.

EET offers free food, giveaways, cash prizes and a great way to learn how to make money and change the world by doing what you love. The event is free and open to everyone but attendees must RSVP at www.extremetour.org (scroll down to the university’s logo and click on RSVP). For more information, contact Julia Rowland with Appalachian’s Center for Entrepreneurship at 8325 or rowlandja@appstate.edu.

Winners of the Hayes School of Music’s Concerto-Aria Competition perform with the Appalachian Symphony Orchestra Feb. 28. The free performance begins at 8 p.m. in Broyhill Music Center’s Rosen Concert Hall. Directing is Dr. James Allen Anderson. Violinist Rachael Elizabeth Kistler will perform “Introduction & Rondo capriccioso” by Camille Saint-Saëns. Cellist Hannah Utley will perform “Hungarian Rhapsody” by David Popper. The orchestra also will perform “Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, op. 36” by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Saxophonist Scott Kallestad performs March 3 at 8 p.m. in Broyhill Music Center’s Recital Hall. Admission is free. Kallestad will perform “Sonata for Soprano Saxophone and Piano” by Charles Rochester Young, “Konsert för Saxofon Op. 14” by Lars-Erik Larsson, “Suite for Solo Saxophone” by François Daneels and “Seventh Healing Song of John Joseph (Blue),” a piece for alto saxophone and electronic tape by James DeMars. Piano accompaniment will be provided by Christina Hayes and Susan Slingland.