The end of the trimester panic
Spring Lake Park students and staff scramble as the second trimester comes to an end.
By Sofia Arana and Leena Darwish | Freelance Reporters
Ashley Morales sat in her chemistry class Feb. 17 when the P.A. system blared at Spring Lake Park High School. The office attendant finished her announcement by reminding everyone there were 15 days left in the trimester.
“It was just like this moment of panic,” said Morales, a junior, “just sitting in silence, just figuring out that like, there’s only a certain amount of days left.”
Morales wasn’t the only one feeling this way Thursday, the last day of the trimester. Biology teacher of 25 years, Sara Crofton, had received four emails by 10:30 a.m Thursday, all from students asking for re-grading, extra credit or to have their grade rounded up. She has already been through about 75 crazy end-of-trimesters since she began working at SLPHS. She was used to it.
Crofton said she could tell from the beginning of the year who would always put in the effort, who would slack off all year, and who would slack off most of the year, just to put in all their effort during the last week of the trimester.
“Usually (I) try to make something work, but they have to show some effort and put in some time, It’s not like I’m going to excuse them from everything.” — Sara Crofton, Spring Lake Park high school biology teacher
But Crofton knew that contrary to some of her students’ beliefs, grades matter. She was willing to put in the extra time to grade late assignments, to round up grades and to go over students’ grade books with them to point out exactly what assignments they could redo to get their grades up.
“Usually (I) try to make something work, but they have to show some effort and put in some time,” Crofton said. “It’s not like I’m going to excuse them from everything.”
She said she would extend her kindness to everyone, students who were aiming for that barely passing D-. Students who were trying to get to a B-. And those overachieving students who wanted their grade to go from an A- to an A.
“Students will remember your kindness more than they’ll remember your course,” Crofton said.
Some students, such as SLPHS junior Emmie Hannon, were not lucky enough to have teachers like Crofton. Hannon said she had a rough go with one of her teachers this trimester.
“There was more work than the first trimester and years previous,” Hannon said.
Hannon said she had to work hard to finish with no missing assignments and a grade she was happy with. The sad thing is, come the end of next trimester, this would all happen again. This is a never ending cycle. But for students like Morales, it always ends well.
“I guess I kind of just dedicated myself to doing it,” Morales said, “then I just kind of hoped that the teachers had pity on me.”
