On the week of May 23rd, 2022 Finals Week at IHS will take place. Due to state testing, there was a tentative schedule to have finals during the week of May 9th. That made it hard for teachers to make their plans for the rest of the year, because the final is when students are supposed to retain information they learned throughout the year. When they still have more information to learn after the finals, teachers have to edit their finals, so students can pass them.
Many students were worried about the testing in early May. When they changed it students and teachers both were relieved. Junior Maycie Lorelli comments, “ I think having finals at the end of May will less interfere with AP testing and give students more time to understand the material. Teachers have been doing a lot of helpful reviews to help us remember what we learned throughout the year.”
Another student says, “Students’ success on finals has much to do with the amount of time they have to review material from the year in the week or two before they are to take the final. This fact should be considered when scheduling finals, as there are certain weeks in May when many students’ study time is consumed with preparing for AP or Keystone exams. The farther away from these other tests we can schedule our class finals, the better, as it allows students to focus on one exam at a time and do their best work to most accurately reflect their knowledge and preparedness. Many of my teachers have not discussed this yet, but I expect there will be review opportunities such as class review days, study guides, or other shared review materials provided to encourage students to review for the final.”
Students have mixed opinions about if finals are important or not. While they show the teachers if the students understood the material and learn what they were supposed to learn, many students think that if you demonstrate good testing scores and A’s on assignments, finals don’t really matter that much.
Maycie Lorelli states, “ I think if you demonstrate all A’s throughout the school year, they should be irrelevant because it’s extremely hard to recall things from the first week of school. I think it is important to pass finals, to an extent. If a student gets all A’s I don’t think it should matter.”
Some students think it is very important to pass finals and others do not. It depends on the mindset of the student and how failing a final will affect their grade.
A student exclaims, “ I personally feel that students should prepare enough to pass their finals and, while the end score may not matter so much, could use their results as a benchmark for what areas they showed growth in and what subjects they’ve mastered the most throughout the year as well as where their retention or practice wasn’t as thorough. This could be a good opportunity for self-assessment and reflection on where we’re at academically and what level of preparation we’re going into the next year with. I know, however, that many students don’t view finals through this lens, and so they turn into just another test to take and an added thing to stress about at the end of the year while yielding little fruit for the student on a personal level. Yes, I think students should at least be able to pass finals in order to demonstrate to themselves and their teachers that they have grown in a subject area and will be taking information from the course with them into the future. However, students can only do so much to review and prepare themselves for the exam; teachers must remember to craft finals in a way that will elicit fair and accurate measures of what they have prepared their students to know and what ways they have hoped to help their students grow throughout the course. Finals should not be made out to be an extra stress for students but an ending measure of their work in the class.”
By IHS High Arrow Staff The IHS High Arrow Staff would like to thank everyone for a wonderful 2023-2024 reporting season! Take a look at the link below for our “year in review.” See you next school year! High Arrow Year in Review 24-25
By Samantha Aljoe Beloved IHS teacher Mr. Eric Brocious is retiring after teaching for 32 years. Mr. Brocious has been a wonderful educator at IHS. He taught Computer Applications, Personal Finance I, Personal Finance II, and Web Page Design. He also advised the Senior Career Seminar and Future Business Leaders of America. Mr. Brocious strives to make sure his classroom is a safe and helpful place in the school. He is always providing students with constructive criticism. Mr. Brocious was able to see his students grow into wonderful people. After Mr. Brocious retires, he has plans he’s looking forward to. He shares that some of his goals are to “work in my business and travel with my wife, and be an IASD school board member.” He is also looking forward to “having some free time to do stuff that I would like to do.” Mr. Brocious has made many memories
By Ella Mosco and Cheyenne Rayba It is finally time at IHS to spring into the new sports season with Spring sports. The season has just begun and the teams have a great season ahead. The Boys’ Lacrosse team currently holds a record of 5-4. The boys’ team has continued to push forward in their season, trying to obtain a good WPIAL playoff seeding. Junior Domonic Lonetti mentions, “We are about to hit a very tough stretch of games, but we feel confident as a group that if we continue to take it one game at a time and do the little things right, those wins will come.” To accomplish this, the team is putting all of their efforts into practice to tie up any loose ends they may have. The Boys’ and Girls’ track team currently hold a record of 1-4. This year, the team seems to be at
By Emma Buterbaugh Many IHS students made the trip to Hershey, Pennsylvania, this year to compete at the Pennsylvania Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) State Leadership Conference (SLC). They competed for the chance to go to the National Leadership Conference (NLC) in Anaheim, California, in June. FBLA is a national organization that prepares students for careers in business. IHS’s FBLA chapter is the second largest club in the school, behind Key Club. Mr. Eric Brocious and Mr. Brian Schreyer, along with a group of officers, run the club. Students in the club often go above and beyond what is required or expected from them. Rocco Cosentino, a senior and the president of IHS’s FBLA chapter, expressed, “The students that made it to the state conference are often motivated and hard working. They go above and beyond to give effort by taking an objective test or making a presentation.” The
By Gabi Isenberg IHS welcomed a new attendance officer this month, Ms. MarCha Ellis. Ms. Ellis will be the new friendly face students encounter when they walk into the attendance office. Ms. Ellis, an IHS alumni, has joined the staff as the attendance officer, a change from her previous occupation as a direct care worker (DCW)/direct support professional (DSP), a profession in which she assisted people with disabilities. Ms. Ellis shares, “Working with people who are younger, going off into the real world afterward is kind of a career switch for me.” At IHS, Ms. Ellis’s daily duties consist of checking in students who come in late or get dismissed early. Additionally, she emails the coaches of student-athletes to inform them whether their athletes are in school for the day. She also commented, “The main purpose of this job is to keep track of kids’ attendance and find ways to
By Cheyenne Rayba IHS is welcoming Mrs. Stephenie Armstrong as the new administrative assistant in the main office. Armstrong joins the staff at the beginning of February and is excited to be part of our school community. Mrs. Armstrong grew up not far from Indiana, in Homer City. She graduated from Homer Center in 1996. After high school, Armstrong attended IUP where she graduated in the class of 2007, with a degree in art education. Prior to working here at IHS, Armstrong worked at REA Electric as a front office manager. Outside of IHS, Armstrong spends most of her time with her two sons and husband. Currently, Armstrong is working to train the family dog to become a bird dog for her sons. She also enjoys skiing in her free time with her family. Previously, she also ran and owned a sugar cookie business. Armstrong hopes to be able to
By IHS High Arrow Staff The IHS High Arrow Staff would like to thank everyone for a wonderful 2023-2024 reporting season! Take a look at the link below for our “year in review.” See you next school year! High Arrow Year in Review 24-25
By Samantha Aljoe Beloved IHS teacher Mr. Eric Brocious is retiring after teaching for 32 years. Mr. Brocious has been a wonderful educator at IHS. He taught Computer Applications, Personal Finance I, Personal Finance II, and Web Page Design. He also advised the Senior Career Seminar and Future Business Leaders
By Ella Mosco and Cheyenne Rayba It is finally time at IHS to spring into the new sports season with Spring sports. The season has just begun and the teams have a great season ahead. The Boys’ Lacrosse team currently holds a record of 5-4. The boys’ team has continued
By Emma Buterbaugh Many IHS students made the trip to Hershey, Pennsylvania, this year to compete at the Pennsylvania Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) State Leadership Conference (SLC). They competed for the chance to go to the National Leadership Conference (NLC) in Anaheim, California, in June. FBLA is a
By Gabi Isenberg IHS welcomed a new attendance officer this month, Ms. MarCha Ellis. Ms. Ellis will be the new friendly face students encounter when they walk into the attendance office. Ms. Ellis, an IHS alumni, has joined the staff as the attendance officer, a change from her previous occupation
By Cheyenne Rayba IHS is welcoming Mrs. Stephenie Armstrong as the new administrative assistant in the main office. Armstrong joins the staff at the beginning of February and is excited to be part of our school community. Mrs. Armstrong grew up not far from Indiana, in Homer City. She graduated
