Exams this year are going to look a little different from the past, as a lot of classes are shortening the amount of testing students have to do to make everything fit within the hour-and-a-half testing period.

Art Teacher Joel Smigell  said, like many other classes, his class is going to go back to its original format before COVID 19 struck. “I’ve gone back to pre-Covid exams. During Covid, kids would critique their own work so they couldn’t cheat, so my exams are back to normal cause we’re back to regular school,” said Smigell.

English and Drama Teacher Jeffery Steger said that the English classes this year will be somewhat going back to how English exams used to be before Covid. “There haven’t necessarily been any big changes, but the district wants ninth and tenth graders to be assessed on writing and grammar again after it being taken out after Covid. Ninth grade is adding it back into the exam, while tenth grade is doing a different summative assignment, most likely an essay, to assess their writing and grammar capabilities,” said Steger.

Teachers are also preparing their students with short study guides or a big project that covers everything they’ve gone over during the semester. “I have a mix of kids that are finishing their artwork and I have a few kids that finish early and study for other exams, and I take two days before exams to study and go over the exam material since it’s more of a quiz rather than an actual exam,” said Smigell.    

As for how students and teachers feel about the “normal” exams is somewhat of a variety.

Senior Jessica Heiob said, “I really wish exams didn’t have so much weight, like I hope they would make exams only 20-30% of our semester grade.”

“It’s funny because I have different feelings about standardized tests and exams. I find the exams are useful because they are used to enhance your knowledge and not a surprise. So as long as it’s enhancing your experience and knowledge, I think it’s a good thing,” said Smigell.