february 2006
the stentorian I ncssm
Students see problems
with testing schedule
By Mary Kohlmann
D espite the best attempts
of the NCSSM testing
weeks policy, many stu
dents still feel that tteir tests are
bunched too closely together.
The testing schedule posted
on At-A-Glance says that “in
order to effectively distribute
the academic workload and to
allow our students to do their
best work, major assignments
and tests are scheduled through
out the trimester according to a
weekly calendar developed by
Academic Programs.” Students
see this calendar daily in the la
beling of their plaimer pages.
This system, implemented
during the 2004-2005 school
year, is the latest in a series of
attempts to balance the testing
needs of different teachers.
Originally, Academic Programs
had a sign-up calendar for
teachers to post testing dates
in advance. Students were to
check the calendar on a regular
basis, and any person who had
three or more assessments on
a single day could reschedule
the last one. However, this
system was upset whenever a
faculty member forgot to post
a test date or did not know
exactly when a test was go
ing to take place. Also, it was
entirely the students’ respon
sibility to arrange their testing
dates. Approacliing a faculty
member about moving a test
was difficult for students who
were either intimidated by their
teachers or too stubborn to ask
for what they saw as help.
“This was to no one’s ad
vantage,” said Director of Aca
demic Programs Tom Clayton.
“It is best for students to take
tests when they can prepare well
and study, and it’s not good for
faculty because students can’t
actually show what they’ve
learned.”
The current calendar was
designed to prevent bunched
tests. However, most teachers
want to test immediately before
breaks and the ends of grading
periods. In years past, many
students had to take five tests
in the two days immediately
preceding Thanksgiving Break.
Under the new system, only
two departments can test on a
given week.
However, departrUents can
petition Senior Vice President
for Academic Programs Steve
Warshaw for exceptions to the
testing rules. The Physics de
partment did so the week before
Winter Vacation, which was
reserved for Math, Computer
Science, and Humanities.
“I think sometimes it just
conflicts,” said Physics teacher
Jonathan Bennett. “It was just
really important to give a test
to see who needed to switch
[levels]. The students didn’t
need to wait another week to
find out if they were keeping
up in the class.”
But the additional test
left many students feeling as
though exams were happen
ing over again. Clayton said
that the Physics exception was
“unusual” because it involved
so many students. The current
system, he also points out, still
holds to the rule of three: a stu
dent with three or more tests on
a given day can move one with
the help of either an instractor
or Warshaw.
“I feel like many of the
teachers don’t abide by the
[testing] rules anyway,” said
senior Amanda Sadler with a
shrug. “I always end up feeling
like it’s exams right before an
extended. But I’d rather have
two tests [in a subject] with one
of them on the wrong week than
one huge one.”
People on both sides of
the classroom seem to feel
the same, and so the testing
schedule continues to go awry.
Said Physics teacher Jacqueline
Bondell, “I think it’s good in
theory, but in practice...”
New teachers arrive mid-year
Korah Wiley, Jacqueline Bondell join Science faculty
By Grace Kim
I n offices yet to be filled with
the usual clutter of settled-in
teachers, Korah Wiley and
Jacqueline Bondell, tell of their
first years as science teachers of
NCSSM.
Korah Wiley heard of the
Anatomy
and Phys-
i o 1 o g y
opening
at NC-
SSMfrom
one of her
friends,
math
teacher
Philip
Rash. Al-
though
she has
no prior
formal Korah Wiley
teaching
experience, she claims to come
from a family of educators. She
says becoming a science teacher
has always been her “ultimate
goal” and her “plan since [she]
started undergrad.”
Finding “a balance between
[making lessons] fun and engag
ing and still giving necessary
information,” she said, is one
of the most difficult challenges
in teaching. As a graduate from
Duke University, she knew
stories of Duke undergraduates
asking the Teaching Assistant
difficult questions just for the
sake of “stumping” him or her.
Because she knew the reputa
tion of NCSSM, she wondered
if the students here would be
interested in “learning or trying
to prove something.”
However, in only a
matter of weeks, she
dubs the students as
“definitely one of the
pluses,” and enjoys her
“freedom to explore
and iimovate.”
Wiley’s interests in
clude sports, especially
basket
ball .ind
pool, the
atre, and
watching
movies.
She adds,
“I admit... I am a
movie junkie!”
Jacqueline Bon
dell teaches Phys
ics with Advanced
Topics. She thanks
an NCSSM alumn
for recommending
this school when
he heard she was
moving into this area. Before
coming to NCSSM, she taught
at a private school for two years
Jacqueline Bondell
and then continued teaching
physics at Rutgers University
in New Jersey.
She expected to be kept busy
here, but it turned out to ^ even
“more hectic than I imagined!”
Bondell says, “It’s a lot of hard
work, but worthwhile,” perhaps
expressing a sentiment present
in some of our own students.
Bondell loves to travel, and
has been to Russia, Poland,
Mexico, Canada, and Hawaii.
During the interview, she remi
nisces of her honeymoon in the
Caribbean, and points out its
beauty in a picture of her and
her husband.
She is also
interested
in rowing,
cooking,
baking, and
sports.
When
asked to
choose three
words to
describe her
personality,
Bondell an
swers that
" she is pa
tient, resilient,
and goofy. “Just
ask my students,” she says with
a smile. “I make bad jokes and
go off on tangents.”
Admissions process in full swing
1320 apply to be in class of2008
cause they are still deciding
whether they wish to attend and
leave their home,” Mason said.
“Leaving their school requires
sacrifices, like leaving football,
marching band, and friends
behind.”
This year’s Discovery Days
are on February 25th, March
11th, and March 18th. Wel
come Day is on April 29 with
the make up day on May 17th.
Mason suggested that all pro
spective students should tour
the school at least once before
being enrolled here.
Mason said that every year
there were several instances
where parents have to call the
school to correct an applica
tion because they were filling
out the paperwork for their
children and accidentally put
their own birthday or social se
curity number in instead. “This
year more students are filling
paperwork out on their own,
with parents helping to get it
polished, because this is a joint
family decision,” she said.
“The application process
weeds out a lot of the people
who really wouldn’t do well
here,” said current Juniors,
Mary Kohlmann and Mandy
Sullivan. “It was long, but
necessary because of the huge
number of applicants.”
Juniors adjust to schedule as workload increases in second trimester
By Amy Bryson
W ith the begiiming of
the second trimester,
many juniors have
been forced to adjust to changes
in schedule and workload.
“The main difference between
the fall trimester and the winter
trimester directly affects juniors
as they are required to now
take five core courses instead
of four,” Senior Vice President
for Academic Programs Steve
Warshaw said.
Junior Rebecca Lee added
Anatomy and Physiology as her
fifth core course, and found her
scliedule did not change much,
but the amount of work required
of her did.
“The workload is definitely
more,” Lee said. “I’m handling
it pretty well because I am just
getting it done, but I’m not
sleeping tliat much anymore.”
Junior Scott Ouzts antici
pated tliat the addition of Iris
Anatomy and Physiology class
to be difficult.
“I knew if [first trimester[
was so much work with four
core classes, then adding an
other one would have to be
lots of work and studying,”
Ouzts said. “Also by adding
Anatomy I knew I would have
so much new material to learn
and understand on top of my
other classes. The only thing I
didn’t expect was that I would
have so many assigmnents and
due dates to keep straight with
an additional class.”
Originally the school was
set up in a semester system
with students required to
take seven courses every
semesters. When the school
switched to a trimester
system two years ago, it was
decided to give juniors fewer
first trimester requirements.
"The first trimester was es
tablished to give the students
the opportunity to adjust to
the academic enviromnent,”
Senior Vice President of
Student Life Joan Barber
said. “Adding on additional
classes now will only involve
students practicing good time
management skills.”
Junior Anna Rains added
American Studies to her sched
ule and found her schedule has
drastically changed.
“[This trimester] is a lot more
work,” she said. “I think that
they definitely need to make
American Studies only a first
and second trimester course,
because it is like adding two
courses instead of one.”
Despite the challenge many
students face as the winter
"The
workload is
definitely
more."
-Rebecca
Lee
d
trimester begins, the admin
istration has faith backed by
statistics that the students will
adjust.
“Juniors are now typically
able to better handle these five
courses because as a group they
have improved and have, for the
most part, come to understand
what it takes to be successful
here,” Director of Academic
Programs Thomas Clayton said.
“Most juniors have evolved and
literally have enhanced their
ability to handle the stress and
work. As a result, despite the
addition of a course, we had
fewer juniors last year make D’s
in the second trimester than in
the first trimester.”
If lielp is needed in tlie adjust
ment, administration advises
students to take advantage of
tutorials, peer tutors and the
optional Super Study held on
Watts’ tliird floor. Students are
also encouraged to talk to their
teachers and to utilize their
support team, made up of tlieir
academic adviser, counselor
and SLI.
“Every student is different,”
Clayton said. “Each student is
going to have to deal with the
addition differently.”
Rains has already started to
adjust her habits to work with
the new trimester.
“I am trying to buckle down
and have definitely learned to
be more efficient with my time
so I can get all my work done
and still have a social life,”
she said.
Senior Teryn Norris-Hale
remembers his transition to
winter trimester as a positive
experience.
“Basically, I added on Envi-
romnental Science the second
trimester,” he said. "The work
level wasn’t that bad. I actu
ally enjoyed [second trimester]
more than first trimester.’’
Another major change that
affects the winter trimester is
the weather and the length
“The winter is sort of the long
trimester. It seems it is a long,
depressing period,” Clayton
said. “People need to recognize
that and prepare for it."