Challenger

The class of two-thousand and five has a massive amount of stress to deal with. There is the ACT/ SAT to contend with, the decison of which college to attend, college applications, and the exhaustive pressures of a job.

Another tremendous stress that the seniors will have to deal with is the upcoming CATS testing as well as the completion of senior portfoliuos- writing pieces spanning their entire high school career.

Some students are really worried about the portfolio pieces and others don’t see these as anything but the final loose ends to tie up.

Dennae Miller, a senior, said, “I’m not stressed at all. I’m just glad that all of this is about to be finished. It’s one less thing that I have to worry about.”

Four pieces are required for the senior portfolio: personal, transactive, literary and any other piece of the student’s choice. Another required piece is the letter to the reviewer.
Though some seniors don’t worry about senior portfolio pieces, some students find that the workload can be hectic and tiring.

Of the senior portfolios, Dennae stated that they aren’t as difficult as they are reputed to be. If work is completed and if dedication is donated to the cause, then the work is a walk in the park.

For some seniors, writing comes naturally and they see no problems.
“I don’t see why people complain about them because they’re kind of fun,” said senior, Salena Evans.

Rachel Deweese added that“You only have problems with them [senior portfoilio pieces] if you aren’t a very good writer.”

It seems as though good writing skills, flawless work habits, organization, and the determination to do well are the only tools that seniors need if they are struggling with their senior portfolio pieces. With a little luck, the seniors will be able to produce their very best writing by April the eight which is the due date for senior portfoilios.

Another important event that is fastly approaching is the CATS testing. Much like the writing pieces, this is certain to be either a major stress or another loose end.

The CATS testing includes the much hated on-demand writing which usually batters many students with the onslaught of digging for the right words.

As far as on-demand-writing and CATS testing goes, the attitude is the same as senior portfolio pieces.

Senior, Megan Mills, like most of the seniors, just wants to finish everything off before graduation day.

“I really don’t stress over CATS testing. If anything, I just want to finish everything up now so that I can worry more about the more important things that I have to deal with. Like graduation, college applications, finishing my classes at O.C.T.C., stuff like that. The very last thing that I want to deal with at this busy point in my life is CATS testing. I just want to get it over with so I can move on to bigger and more important things,” was Megan’s attitude concerning the upcoming CATS testing.

While many of the seniors just want to get the CATS testing finished with in order to make room for other more imperative responsibilities, some seniors just down-right hate the test. Senior Amanda Walters offered a piece of her mind.

“ I really hate CATS testing. It just proves what the teachers have taught and not what the students have learned. Some students are good test takers so the scores aren’t really accurate anyway. There’s a lot of pressure placed on us and we don’t even get a grade or recognition for our efforts.” Amanda continued by stating that “The only purpose of CATS testing is to make our school look good for the special funding and good noteriety. I honestly think that it’s a bunch of stuff that is a useless as it is stressful. Honestly, and I don’t think that we need to break our backs over it.”
Whether or not the students are looking forward to testing, it’ll be here soon.