Finals Before Break

Story By: Micah Katzenmeier

The time of season is here once again, finals season. Every student is required to take their winter finals this year. Each final must be from 10-20%. The finals schedule can be found in many places around the school and on the internet. But with a year returning from not taking finals teachers and students have mixed feelings.

  Many teachers said that students should not be feeling as much pressure about a final. Students should be eased into final taking, being given a final specialized to exact information learned and what areas would be best for test taking.. 

As a junior/senior English teacher, Mr. Jackson said he felt “Kind of torn, because I think finals are important, the process, preparing for them, using them to gauge what students have learned. My hope for my own students in my classes is that the work that we have done so far this semester makes it easier to succeed on the final. So, I try not to think too much about our experience last year when making our final for this year, I try to think about what we have accomplished this semester.”

But on the other side of things some teachers feel the opposite. Moreover, students should be as ready as any other year. Therefore using a final the same as any other year, in spite of their amount of experience.

“We have been here every day. Students have had the same opportunities as years past, last year they did not have that same opportunity and they [students] need to take responsibility for their work, “ said business teacher, Mrs. Brown.

But what are students’ feelings on the matter? While the decisions related to finals are up to teachers, students still have thoughts and feelings when it comes to their semester grades.

“In general I think that finals are very stressful for a lot of students, but obviously a necessity. I think that there might be a better way to go about them. I don’t know if it would be necessarily easier, but more based on the experience that different students have… the sophomores haven’t even taken a final, so maybe more guidance on what to do and how to study for all of that.“ shared Audrey Shain, Jr.

But, finals are inevitable and each and every student must take one per class. Level of difficulty and weight will be decided by each teacher depending on personal preference.  Each student should study hard and prepare as best as possible.