The 2015-2016 school year flew by and is coming to a close for the underclassmen this week. With last minute tests, essays, and preparing for final exams, this time of year is a stressful one for students. However, teachers’ stress is often overlooked. They are under just as much, if not more, stress than students around this time of year.

While students are finishing up all of their last minute school work, teachers have up to a hundred tests to grade, essays to read, and grades to update online. To prepare for the end of the year, Mrs. Furlong, a Spanish teacher at Padua, is prioritizing getting her students ready for their Spanish finals. “As a teacher I want to make sure that everyone feels prepared and ready. Spanish is a subject that builds so we review concepts that we learned at the beginning of the year, like present tense, to the more complicated tenses like the subjunctive and future.” She also likes to get her students opinions on activities they did in class throughout the year so she can improve her plans for the 2016-2017 school year. “I like to ask the students for their feedback- did they find the vocab lists helpful, did they enjoy the unit we did on Eva Perón? I take the time to really organize myself- assemble all of my materials so I’m ready to go for next year.”

 Ms. Wrambel teaches several literature and writing courses at Padua Academy. She discussed that although teachers are under stress, they have to cope with it for their students. “Absolutely, teachers are stressed internally, but I don’t think we show it as much on the exterior. Final assignments, compiling exemptions, making sure that all missing work is made up – it’s an exhausting endeavor. We feel it just as much as our students but thankfully, we’re all used to it. “ Mr. Helie, a math teacher at Padua, agrees with Ms. Wrambel. “Teachers are absolutely stressed, but in a different way than students. You have to focus on one thing at a time and keep moving forward.”

With the pressure that teachers are under, they still love to remember all of the fun memories they have had this school year. Ms. Wrambel received a unique opportunity to take her Creative Writing class to Lewis Dual Elementary School where her class read children’s stories they composed to their students. “It was a fantastic collaboration with Mrs. Alinda and Mrs. Jeffers and I think it really allowed our students to see how writing for a specific audience can be very difficult, but also so rewarding.” Mrs. Furlong discussed how she enjoyed taking a break from the Spanish textbook and doing a unit on Eva Perón, who was the first Lady of Argentina from 1946 to 1952. “I love doing the movie ‘Evita’ with my classes. It is a nice chance to incorporate something cultural into the classroom. I love Latin American history, so doing a unit on Eva Perón is something I really look forward to. Seeing how much my students learned from it and how much they enjoyed the movie is a real highlight for me.”

Soon, all of the stress right now for both students and teachers will come to an end and preparation for the new school year will begin.