Summer calls as students feel heat of final exams

Tuesday, June 4, 2002 | 10:56 a.m.

As rising temperatures cue the start of summer, area educators trying to keep the attention of students in the last week of classes might want to ask if the kids are studying hard or hardly studying.

Local principals said they hope students are hitting the books for all-important final exams, which begin Wednesday, but most teens said the lure of summer shatters all efforts to comprehend Algebra II or U.S. history.

"Everyone's happy because we're getting out," Cimarron-Memorial High School sophomore Brooke Wallace said. "Some people don't even care (about exams). They just want it to be over." Students across town at Green Valley High School are also more concerned with summer plans than exam reviews, freshman Ashley Eriksen said.

"You always have the people who are really stressed out about it, but for the most part people are laid back," said Eriksen, an honors student. "As soon as it gets closer it will be freak-out time. You know how it is the night before exams and you suddenly think, 'I have exams tomorrow.' "

Administrators recognize that attitudes toward exams can be lackadaisical, Centennial High School Principal Carol Leavitt said, but she added overall attendance and attentiveness in the classroom improve during the last days.

"Honor students prepare more in detail, and some kids get very stressed over exams," Leavitt said. "We also have some seniors who must pass an exam to graduate, so they are somewhat stressed. It depends on what their attitude is toward school and toward their success in school."

Some Durango High School students are feeling the stress of final exams and cracking open textbooks during lunch, Principal Elizabeth Fraser said.

"The students know that the final exam can make a difference in their semester grade, so that is a motivating factor to study," she said. A student's attitude toward final exams depends on a number of factors, such as current grades, the type of exam, attitude toward a particular class or teacher and personal motivation, Las Vegas High School Counselor Jennifer Williamson said.

Other factors, such as home life or events such as the car crash that killed two Las Vegas High students and injured three others, also may determine how a student views exams, she said.

"There are a lot of things that could affect it and make a difference," Williamson said.

Western High School Principal Pamela Hawkins said her students often calculate exactly what they need to get on an exam, and that affects how much they worry or study.

"The students are pretty good at knowing where they stand grade-wise and how much the exam will affect their grade," Hawkins said.

Most students said they plan to cram for their exams.

"I'll study for it the night before, and go through all my notes and previous tests," Cheyenne High School junior Krystal Jansen said.

Mojave High School junior Max Green planned to study hard for his math exam -- the most dreaded test among students interviewed -- but said that other duties, such as rehearsing with his punk band True Story -- have drawn him away from cracking the books on other classes.

"That's my problem, I'm too focused on the band to worry about studying," Green said. "But I do OK."

Students hanging out at the Meadows mall Sunday afternoon also said they had better things to do than study for exams.

"I'm worried, but I'm not studying," Palo Verde High School sophomore Sydney Schaffer said. "It's too much work." Others, such as Thurman White Middle Schooler Michaela Lattin and Foothill High School freshman honor student Jillian Pagan, are studying hard despite the distraction of other duties or the call of summer break.

"We have to get past exam week to enjoy the freedom of the summer, so we are all stressed about exams," Pagan said. "I've been studying as much as I can, especially for math, so I can hopefully do better than I usually do."