“The second marking period is rapidly coming to a close,” remarks Penns Valley’s principal Zac Wynkoop. With the second semester rapidly approaching for high schoolers, schedule shifts are imminent as routines will change for the rest of the school year. But with new classes on the horizon, there is still one more obstacle to conquer: the final exams of their current courses. This week, students will have to complete projects and study like they haven’t so far this school year to properly prepare for their exams and due dates on Thursday, January 16th, and Friday, January 17th.

With changes to schedule arriving soon, some more intricate impacts on the community will ensue, such as the arrival of brand-new peer groups on the daily morning announcements. New casts will appear for Drama and Advanced Drama performances, and teachers will finally be able to meet all of the classes they teach. Additionally, the pressure of long-term projects – such as research papers for Honors or AP history classes – will be lifted from departing students and placed on the shoulders of arriving students to the classrooms of Charles Romig and the other grades’ history teachers.

The most prominent new arrival this week is the stress of the anticipation of final exams; they are worth 20% of senior high students’ grades for their classes. With studying becoming a necessity this week, it appears necessary to get some outside help to build familiarity with what you’re supposed to know; a good source of that help comes from the courses and review of concepts at Khan Academy. With a brief review period coming up, and this article being my last this school year, I wish all of my classmates, my grade or not, a successful finals week.