Tiger Times

No more long lunches?

Friday, December 11, 2009 By Kolby Arehart

Every trimester, we have ECA’s (end of course assessments). Everyone seems to get excited about the end of the trimester. But why would everyone get excited for ECA’s. The fact is, it’s not the ECA’s that everyone gets excited, it’s the longer lunch periods. Usually we get a 100-minute lunch, and that Friday we would just have a half day. That’s the only thing to look forward to at the end of the trimester. I like the longer lunch periods because it gives me a chance to go to a sit-down restaurant and de-stress after finals with my friends. When talking to students here at dear old IF, they seemed to echo the same thing. "I liked the long lunches because it gives me time to eat my food," Oliver Duncan, junior, said. "It gave me time to eat and socialize with friends," Cole Tremeling, junior, said. But there is a plus side to short lunches. There are no more ECA’s to worry about. In almost all math and science classes, we were stuck with not only taking the ECA’s but also the teachers‘ finals. Kelly Somsen, math teacher, admitted, "Many math teachers are still giving a final and an ECA." "I felt like something was going to die in me," Robert Clay, junior, said when he would find out that he was not only going to take the ECA but a final also. But some teachers like the idea of not giving an ECA. "I like not having to give them an ECA because I don’t think the _district) ECA matched with what I teach the students," science teacher Wendy Straub said. Students seems to have different opinions on this subject. "I like it because I’m not so stressed anymore about ECA’s," Brady Galbriath, junior, said. "I love how I don’t have to worry about ECA’s anymore," Austin Weller, junior, said. "I like them because it gives me a chance to pull my grade up if I need it," Cody Bowling, sophomore, said. I personally liked the way it used to be. The longer lunches and half day gave a student a chance to work with the teacher to bring their grades up. I think the only thing that the ECA’s where good for was that they could help bring your grade up if you really needed it.