Dawson students are displeased with the school’s implementation of first semester “finals” this school year. For the first time at Dawson there will be a more final type assessment for all classes at the end of the first semester. It will be worth 15% of your semester grade so studying is essential.

I asked several Dawson high schoolers what they thought about the new implementation and I got a unanimous response of overwhelmingly negative. Seniors like Trey Larson, Adam Fitzgerald, Shan Amin, and Charlie Long had very strong opinions against the semester finals saying things like “It’s dumb.” and ‘They suck.”, before having even experienced them. Junior Canon Montgomery and freshman Henry Smith didn’t like the idea either, but didn’t seem nearly as opposed as the seniors.

I spoke with Mr. Lopez to get more information about the tests and why they were implemented. Mr. Lopez started our conversation by addressing the tests being called “first semester finals”, saying that they really shouldn’t be thought of as a final type exam. As for why these tests have been put into place, he said that Dawson faculty had heard from various alumni that they felt really well prepared for college, except for the testing, especially the big midterm exams. With juniors and seniors already not having too many finals with AP classes and such, these first semester exams will really just serve as more practice for the really rigorous tests that students will most likely find themselves taking when they attend college in the not too distant future.