AHS Students Prepare for Second Semester
First semester ends after midterm exams which will be occurring from January 15 to January 18, 2019. Arrowhead High School students have a three day weekend before second semester starts on January 22, 2019. Students have already began looking at their schedules and requesting changes before the second semester starts. The Guidance offices will be open during study halls now through Monday, January 14. Students can find their new schedules online on Skyward under “schedule.” During exams, students can change their schedules in guidance from 12:30 to 2:30, and during study halls, lunch periods, and after school on January 23 through the 29th.
“You have to at least try to change your schedule right now or you’ll have to wait in line for hours or get to the counselor’s office super early to get in and out quickly. It’s a mess. I hate it. They should just do this all online. I don’t understand why students have to wait in a ridiculous line that wraps around the whole office block. It makes no sense. They should at least have an online request form and that way you can skip the line and the counselors don’t have to deal with so many students at one time,” says senior Abby Fritz.
Arrowhead High School does not currently offer schedule changes online, and staff has not yet responded to requests about why online schedules changes aren’t available.
“My thoughts on second semester are looking really good. I’m going to get better grades, start new habits again, quit procrastinating, and all that good stuff,” says senior Michael Mikoda.
Mikoda says that while he might say he’ll start the semester with high motivation, it’s probably going to just “fizz out” and be stuck back where he always is.
“ I usually just wish for some good luck and hope it comes to me,” says Mikoda.
College Express lists some tips to avoid procrastination. 1. Get organized. 2. Set simple, achievable goals. 3. Create a timeline/schedule.
“My favorite class I’m looking forward to is American Problems with Mr. [Chris] Skaros. He’s really funny and I’m only taking that class because he’s the teacher. He’s the best. He makes everything you learn really fun and exciting. He has this soap box that sometimes he will stand on if he gets off topic and starts ranting about something. It’s pretty funny,” says senior Giovanni Gambatese.
“At the beginning of this year I was going to take Organizational Communications because I heard that Mr. [Andrew] Freeburg was the best teacher ever and that everyone loved him because he was so different and funny, and actually cared about his students’ work, and encouraged you to always be your best in everything. My friend took his class and said that no other teacher at Arrowhead could ever compare to Freeburg. So, naturally, I signed up for his class. And on the first day, I found out that he actually didn’t work at Arrowhead anymore. I was kind of upset. But instead of taking Org. Comm., I just dropped it because I didn’t know the other teacher, and then I had to go through the painstaking process of switching classes in the office. It was horrible, and stressful, and I hated it,” says senior Marivelyz Caldero.
Senior James Van Gilder says he is ready for second semester to begin. He likes that it always feels like the first day of school, and he likes finding out who is going to be in all his classes this semester.
Senior Ben Skorik, on the other hand, is not excited for the new semester, “You know nobody in class, you’re uncomfortable, you wish you could go back to first semester, etcetera. What I’ve never understood about schedule changes is that, why do [math teachers] start teaching before the deadline is up to switch into a class? I had someone switch into our class on the very last day that it was possible, and she was already five days behind us. I felt really bad. It makes no sense why teachers do that,”
“The end of the semester is my favorite part of the year and my least favorite part of the year at the same time. I like that we get a clean slate and stuff, but it’s honestly so stressful, especially if you don’t know where your classes are. I also cannot stand syllabus week, because it’s the same thing over and over again. Plus, icebreakers are the worst thing in the world,” says Senior Kelly Seibert.
“I’m excited for second semester, it’s like the home stretch for us seniors. We’re so close to graduation, and it’s all smooth sailing from here,” says Cole Treml, a senior at Arrowhead.
“There’s really nothing to look forward to this semester. All my classes are boring, and I’m kind of over the whole high school thing. I came, I saw, now it’s about time I left, you know?” says senior Samuel Meyer.
