As Thanksgiving break approaches, so do midterms – wait, this early? For freshmen, Sacred Scripture midterms are extremely early, being held the week before Thanksgiving break. Why are these midterms so early? What are some opinions on this?

Mr. Stopyra has been a Sacred Scripture teacher for 29 years at Padua. The idea of having the religion midterm earlier was to “lessen the burden on freshman so they would have fewer midterms at a time,” said Mr. Stopyra.

Ms. Lammert, a Sacred Scripture teacher for thirteen years, agrees with this and said Padua “wanted to give freshmen a chance to experience a midterm that did not have as much material on it” giving them an idea of what midterms are like.

Stopyra feels his midterm was scheduled “way too early in the semester.” He wishes he could cover more material and said, “Topics like adolescence had to be put off to cover other topics earlier in the year.” Stopyra ends up “cramming work in to meet the early deadline of the midterm,” he said.

On the other hand, Lammert likes her midterm being earlier in the year because it’s “looking out for the freshmen.” Considering freshmen are “brand new here” and have “a lot going on” with the adjustment to high school, she feels it’s most beneficial to them. “They don’t realize it when they’re studying and taking the midterm but do appreciate it afterward,” she said. Like Mr. Stopyra, Lammert realizes she cannot be “as ambitious” and must be “efficient in the material covered.”

Mrs. Vavala is also a freshman Sacred Scripture teacher. She agrees with Lammert and believes an earlier midterm “helps freshman get comfortable with midterms and helps with study skills for  greater exams and tests.”  She thinks this leaves a “positive effect” on students.

Freshman Cassidy Becker feels freshmen “haven’t covered a lot of material.” However, she does like how “it takes away stress” from later in the year. She said she’d rather “get it [the midterm] out of the way now” than have to do it during the regular midterm season in December.