Summer was once a time to enjoy the sun, lounge at the pool, and relax until the next school year; yet it is not so carefree anymore. Now, summer is a time to finish all of the assignments students have acquired before school starts again. The necessity of all this work is an unanswered question to students and the assignments become worries lingering in the subconscious as summer vacation carries on.
Summer work is generally required for most AP or honors classes. Some students struggle to finish all of the given work in this time as many juniors and seniors have to juggle summer jobs, studying for SATs and ACTs, choosing and applying for colleges, and keeping up with other extra activities, such as sports and musical interests. “[summer work] is just a stress,” said senior Amy Harwath who had to complete summer work for three AP classes. “You have to worry about actually finishing it before school starts.”
Students are taking more time out of summer sitting at a desk, working in front of computers, or reading numerous books. Annotations are a household name during high school and are perhaps the biggest of these complaints. They are also a large part of grades. Teachers constantly tell students that these are supposed to help them understand by allowing them to develop analytical thinking as they read the text. According to Karen Pierros, head of the English Department, it has been proven by Roger Farr, a reading expert, that students who are not thinking as they are reading are not actually reading and that the annotations force students to think and interpret as they read. “The reading students do in blogs or People magazine is not the same type of reading required of students in English courses,” said Pierros. “The English courses require a higher level of comprehension and thinking skills.”
Even without procrastination, summer work can take well around the whole summer break. The homework students are assigned is not light, but believe it or not, these assignments given are not as bad as it seems. “We do keep in mind that some students have other required summer reading,” said Pierros. “In fact, compared to many schools, our assignments for students entering honors or AP are minimal.”
By Hong-Ah Do, Echo staff writer
