As the second year of post-break finals approaches, OHS students and teachers are having to overcome the challenges that come with testing after winter break.

“Curriculum wise, what happens is I’m basically teaching them the material I want them to know for first semester before break, and then, when they come back, I’m reviewing everything,” math teacher Ronda Brown said, “so for a math person, I’ve lost curriculum days.”

For most students, the few weeks before finals are spent recapping the semester or finishing up final projects after a lengthy learning break.

“I feel like having finals before having the semester end at December rather than in January is just a good mental break,” Brown said. “Everybody knows what they’re working toward, we get it done, everyone kind of breathes and they know when they come back it’s a reboot. There’s a lot of good in that.”

Many students feel this exact way.

“I kind of just feel like it’s supposed to be a break from school, but I’m going to worry about finals and stuff,” Brianna Bub (9) said.

Although taking finals before winter break poses the possibility of mourning a bad grade over the course of the break, students, including Bub, realize they would most likely forget about their finals woes until school resumes.

“The last few days of my break were not really like a break, they were just a regular ‘I have to study’ type of weekend kind of thing,” Mackenzie Earney (12) said, “because I knew I was coming back to learn a little bit more content and then take some big tests.”

Because school now begins later in August, first semester ends in January in order to ensure both semesters are equal in length. This means that for OHS students, finals must be in January.

 “I prefer having my winter break be like an actual break,” Earney said. “I like the idea of finishing everything for the semester and not having to worry about it anymore.”