The first semester of this school year ends January 18; but before then, there are exams. These take place January 16th through 19th, from 7:30am-12:50pm at Arrowhead. Each day consists of three exam slots that are 1 hour and 30 minutes each. 

Each individual student takes exams for their classes to show what they learned over the course of the semester. Exams can range from 15% to 20% of a student’s overall grade in the class. 

Each student studies in their own ways and could be different based on class subject or material. 

Some classes do Scantrons while others are writing focused. Creative Writing, Composition, and Advanced Composition have more of a writing focused final, whereas math, science, and social studies classes are likely to use Scantrons.

Senior Payton Teel said, “I break down each lesson onto notecards and do the most important parts of the units on each card.”

With the exams coming up in about a week and a half, some students have already started to study while others wait until a week before exams. 

Each student has their own way of studying and what works best for them. However, most teachers, especially in math classes, will give students a review packet to follow along throughout the course of two weeks. 

For example, in Mark Leoni’s pre-calculus class, he gave his students the semester review packet on Tuesday, January 2. This gives students in his class 13 to 15 days to study, depending on what day students’ exams fall on. 

Senior Lindsey Washburn says, “I make sure to get enough sleep.”

According to cdc.gov, students who range from ages 13-19 are recommended to get eight to 10 hours of sleep to benefit their attention spans and behavior when learning and taking an exam.  

Senior Taylor Thimmesh, “I study a little bit everyday a week before the exam.”