By Dalena Bui
Staff Writer
The Keystone Exams are end-of-course assessments designed to assess proficiency in various subjects. The Keystones show the school district how well students are assessed and it reflects on the school and how well they teach the students.
Keystones. That name alone makes the juniors at SLA stomachs drop. The juniors at SLA have never heard of Keystones until this year. The reason why is because the Keystones were made to replace the PSSA. The only thing I heard was that it is a test that lasted for 3 hours. That made my heart drop. Taking a test is hard alone, but taking a 3 hour test sounded horrible. The juniors were tested in 3 major subject, English, Math, and Science.
I am not allowed to write about things I saw in the Keystone but I can give an overall evaluation of what I felt. The math and english section I felt confident in. But when I heard about science I wasn’t too sure of myself. I felt like I couldn’t recall anything I learned over the past 2 years in science. The test confirmed my worst fear. There were things I have never seen in the subject of science. I knew I was not going to do well and so did the rest of my classmates . We all agreed when we all looked at each other and said “See all of you in May, because we’re not passing this.”
The worst part about testing was sitting in a room for hours on end with nothing to do. Since my cell phone and every other juniors phone was taken away. We all had to sit there and do nothing until the time ran out. That was honestly, to me, the worst part of the Keystone week. But, when I finished the last question on each test I felt a sense of accomplishment.
Overall, it was a good experience. It really showed me that I have learned a lot over the years. My teachers all helped us prepare for the test and it did help for the most part. This test brought out the worst and the best in me.
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