Finals Week at IHS

Indiana Area Senior High School

By ADDISON MOSCO

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.”

You May Also Like...

IHS welcomes new attendance officer Ms. MarCha Ellis

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

March 28, 2025

IHS welcomes Mrs. Stephanie Armstrong as new administrative assistant

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

March 17, 2025

IHS students raise cancer awareness with nonprofit Cancer Kids First

By Gabrielle Isenberg IHS students are dedicated to the cause of raising money for childhood cancer. Several students are members and organizers of the non-school-affiliated nonprofit Cancer Kids First, which aims to raise money and awareness for childhood cancer through fun activities. Cancer Kids First (CKF) is a nationwide, student-led nonprofit. Branches are formed and led by students to donate money to organized activities and donate money to pediatric cancer students. Indiana, PA’s branch is led by IHS students. Officers include seniors Matthew Blystone, Eve Kuzneski, Vania Ali, and Hannah Cowburn, as well as juniors Chloe Hain, Lelise Allison, Andrew Manzek, and Austin Schawl. CKF Indiana plans fun activities such as Spikeball and volleyball tournaments along with basket raffles to raise funds. Officer Chloe Hain shared, “We raise money and use that money to buy kids gifts off of an Amazon wishlist…[we] plan on doing more in the future to

February 19, 2025

Ms. Davies leaves an everlasting impact on IHS

By Zoiee Cornelius A wonderful 20 years of teaching at IHS is coming to a close for beloved teacher Ms. Dawn Davies. During her time at IHS, Ms. Davies was able to fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher. Along with teaching, she also always ensured that her classroom was a safe space for everybody and was always willing to lend a helping hand. She says her favorite part throughout the years has been the students she has worked with. Ms. Davies was able to see her students’ full potential and how hard they worked. “It has been my pleasure to be their teacher, as well as honored to be able to teach them,” Ms. Davies said. After retirement, Ms. Davies has big dreams and goals she’s ready to fulfill. She says, “I plan to travel out west to see the U.S.” Along with traveling she’s also looking forward to

January 15, 2025

Athena Club reboots at IHS

By Gabi Isenberg After being taken off the club list this year, Athena Club is being revived at IHS. New English 10 teacher, Mrs. Deanne Magolis has dedicated time and effort to restarting the women’s leadership organization for the school, which will meet once a month on Wednesdays during tenth period. Previously advised by Mrs. Juart, Athena Club is a community service organization based largely around women. IHS’s Athena Club is a branch of Athena International, a larger group of members who live by the eight principles of ‘enlightened leadership’: live authentically, learn constantly, build relationships, foster collaboration, act courageously, advocate fiercely, give back, and celebrate. Mrs. Magolis, a new addition to the IHS faculty, is advising the club this year. At Lincoln Memorial University, she was a member of the university’s Athena International organization. She expresses, “My goal is to lead lessons for our members on the Eight

December 18, 2024

Green Team brings awareness to mental health in IHS

By Ella Mosco IHS’ Green Team is comprised of a select group of individuals who dedicate their time to take on leadership roles in creating and implementing activities to bring awareness to mental health in IHS. Green Team’s initiative is to spread mental health awareness and end the stigma that follows it. Members of the team work to plan activities to support and educate students and make them feel less alone. Green Team is a smaller group of individuals who are involved in The Green Bandana initiative. This is a larger organization where students wear a green bandana and vow to help students in need and give them someone to talk to or direct them to their counselor. Miss Cassidy Black is the faculty advisor for Green Team, who accounts for many responsibilities such as helping with the logistics of planning and facilitating school communication. The Green Team also works

November 26, 2024