One Round Done. One to Go.

By David Mohimani-

Two weeks down, two more to go.

Penn Manor High School completed its first round of PSSA testing this Wednesday and overall school officials said it went rather well. But with reading and math in the bag there are still two categories that will be tackled in April.

Juniors have completed six days of grueling testing in math and reading, the two subjects most critical to the success of students.

Penn Manor has been preparing with daily enrichment and remediation sessions aimed at raising the basic skills of students before the testing dates.  Enrichment sessions will continue until the rest of the year.  This is the first year in Penn Manor when students will have to prove proficiency to graduate.

Junior Ali Khan isn’t going to be losing sleep over his results.

“They are so easy. I think I did pretty good,”said Khan.

Although Khan is confident he did well, he still did not enjoy taking the test.

“They are too long, (I) just sat there for an hour and a half. They suck,”said Khan.

Khan also noted that he did not really feel that enrichment helped prepare him for the test.

Khan hated the entire PSSA process.

“The best part of the test was leaving,” said Khan.

Well, Khan will be less than thrilled to hear that the test is only a little more than half complete.

In April the juniors will be back at it on the 18th and 19th, they will be completing the writing  portion of the exam.Then a week later on the 25th and 26th of April, the students will finally finish the PSSA’s with the science section.

One group of students that is sad to see the first set of tests come to a close is the seniors.

“I am extremely mad that I have to come in at 7:40 now, when I was learning just as much coming in late,” said senior Alex Cummins.

Cummins is counting down till the next round of PSSA testing days.

“I’m looking forward to the next set of PSSA’s so that the seniors get to sleep in again,”said Cummins.

While some are ecstatic and some are depressed about the upcoming assessments, they are going to come just the same.

Preparation and focus will be key to success on the writing and science portions.

Hopefully the added emphasis on the PSSA performance will increase Penn Manor’s scores which have been on the decline reccently.

Vice principal Krista Cox was more than optimistic about how the tests’ went.

“Very well,” said Cox on how the first round of tests went,”attendance was fantastic, student effort was fantastic.”

Cox also believed that the extra enrichment sessions will pay dividends.

“Absolutely, anything extra to get ready (for the PSSA’s) is better than doing nothing,”stated Cox.

Although the first round went well, that does not ensure that the exams in April will go as smoothly.

Cox pointed out some key factors that will hopefully help the students be as prepared as possible for next month.

“It’s always good to get a good night of sleep and eat a good breakfast,that’s research based. Also (its important to) apply what you already learned,”said Cox.

 

 

 

 

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