What happens when senioritis strikes?
NORWICH – For most students, senior year in high school is an opportunity to enjoy the time left before entering the worlds of college or work. But is enjoying this time becoming a complete waste of time?
At the beginning of senior year, through January, seniors work hard just as if it were any other year. Class ranks and final averages are still being calculated and colleges are still determining applications.
As Norwich High School Senior Charlotte Fetzko says: “September to January is a really stressful time for us seniors. We are applying to college and waiting to hear back from them. It doesn’t get much more stressful than that.”
But once getting into college, seniors start to down a different path called ‘senioritis.’ From February until June, where students were once sitting at their desks, empty seats prevail, and where they once earned As on report cards, Cs and Ds begin to appear.
“Seniorits is when seniors stop doing their work because they don’t have any motivation. Once you are accepted to college, there is nothing else to really work for,” said Norwich High School senior Abby Dean.
Some seniors opt to take AP courses, while others take a variety of elective credits in combination with DCMO-BOCES’ New Visions program. Others are permitted to leave early or arrive late for pre-approved, legitimate reasons such as a job or college courses. There are also service learning options and senior projects required at some Chenango County schools.
But, to combat the prevailing tendency amongst the majority to simply stop studying, most districts require seniors to take a minimum of five classes, plus gym, even it they don’t need the extra credits to graduate.
“We believe that there is a correlation between the senior year and students’ likelihood of success in college. Because of a high drop out rate for college, we want them to stay focused in high school,” said Greene Central High School Guidance Counselor Matt Butler.
Butler said ‘senioritis’ is inevitable for most students and keeping them busy is a constant challenge. For those who don’t ultimately like taking the electives that they chose, they may drop it but must replace it with another elective, he said.
But Butler admits that seniors can end up in too many study halls. “The study hall thing happens,” he said. “We haven’t solved the problem, just trying to control it.”
The administration and faculty at Unadilla Valley High School have made it a goal to get seniors into classrooms and out of study halls. Not many students are in study halls, and Superintendent Robert J. Mackey would like to do away with them altogether.
“We do try to keep our kids busy. Our goal is to not have any study halls. Historically, most of my problems as a principal and administrator have been disciplinary problems at lunch, during study halls and on the buses,” he said.
Moreover, seniors at UV are required to take a 10-week course intended to bridge the gap between school and the working world. The faculty decided several years ago to hold kids accountable for what they have learned in school and connect that with what they plan to do afterwards, according to the course’s teacher Terri Jackson.
Seniors learn the formal process of a job search, from preparing resumes, writing cover letters, applying and interviewing.
New Visions
DCMO BOCES New Visions program offers seniors five, hands-on career-shadowing options - from law, business and nursing to agriculture and education. Students attend credits courses and intern at a selected business or organization for a week or two throughout the year. They must apply and are accepted based on GPA, recommendations, references and interviews.
About 10 students from area districts are currently participating in New Visions. Though there is no mandated limit to the number of students who can participate, about 10 “sufficiently fills the program,” said program coordinator and lawyer Mike Genute.
“There might be greater appeal for schools to promote New Visions to more students if there were a financial arrangement that was less of a burden on the school district,” said Genute. It currently costs about $7,000 per student to take the New Visions, a portion of which is picked up by the state.
Megan Garofalo, a Norwich High School senior participating in New Visions’ allied health program, attests that she’d rather be doing something she enjoys: “New Vision really showed me what it would be like to work in a hospital, and learning this way is a lot more interesting than learning from a book.”
Through New Visions, seniors have shadowed at many area businesses and organizations, including: The Evening Sun; Norwich City and Chenango County Courts; Social Services, Area Agency on Aging, Sidney Federal, New York Mutual, Chenango Memorial and on private farms.
Krissie Collier, student intern, contributed to this article.
At the beginning of senior year, through January, seniors work hard just as if it were any other year. Class ranks and final averages are still being calculated and colleges are still determining applications.
As Norwich High School Senior Charlotte Fetzko says: “September to January is a really stressful time for us seniors. We are applying to college and waiting to hear back from them. It doesn’t get much more stressful than that.”
But once getting into college, seniors start to down a different path called ‘senioritis.’ From February until June, where students were once sitting at their desks, empty seats prevail, and where they once earned As on report cards, Cs and Ds begin to appear.
“Seniorits is when seniors stop doing their work because they don’t have any motivation. Once you are accepted to college, there is nothing else to really work for,” said Norwich High School senior Abby Dean.
Some seniors opt to take AP courses, while others take a variety of elective credits in combination with DCMO-BOCES’ New Visions program. Others are permitted to leave early or arrive late for pre-approved, legitimate reasons such as a job or college courses. There are also service learning options and senior projects required at some Chenango County schools.
But, to combat the prevailing tendency amongst the majority to simply stop studying, most districts require seniors to take a minimum of five classes, plus gym, even it they don’t need the extra credits to graduate.
“We believe that there is a correlation between the senior year and students’ likelihood of success in college. Because of a high drop out rate for college, we want them to stay focused in high school,” said Greene Central High School Guidance Counselor Matt Butler.
Butler said ‘senioritis’ is inevitable for most students and keeping them busy is a constant challenge. For those who don’t ultimately like taking the electives that they chose, they may drop it but must replace it with another elective, he said.
But Butler admits that seniors can end up in too many study halls. “The study hall thing happens,” he said. “We haven’t solved the problem, just trying to control it.”
The administration and faculty at Unadilla Valley High School have made it a goal to get seniors into classrooms and out of study halls. Not many students are in study halls, and Superintendent Robert J. Mackey would like to do away with them altogether.
“We do try to keep our kids busy. Our goal is to not have any study halls. Historically, most of my problems as a principal and administrator have been disciplinary problems at lunch, during study halls and on the buses,” he said.
Moreover, seniors at UV are required to take a 10-week course intended to bridge the gap between school and the working world. The faculty decided several years ago to hold kids accountable for what they have learned in school and connect that with what they plan to do afterwards, according to the course’s teacher Terri Jackson.
Seniors learn the formal process of a job search, from preparing resumes, writing cover letters, applying and interviewing.
New Visions
DCMO BOCES New Visions program offers seniors five, hands-on career-shadowing options - from law, business and nursing to agriculture and education. Students attend credits courses and intern at a selected business or organization for a week or two throughout the year. They must apply and are accepted based on GPA, recommendations, references and interviews.
About 10 students from area districts are currently participating in New Visions. Though there is no mandated limit to the number of students who can participate, about 10 “sufficiently fills the program,” said program coordinator and lawyer Mike Genute.
“There might be greater appeal for schools to promote New Visions to more students if there were a financial arrangement that was less of a burden on the school district,” said Genute. It currently costs about $7,000 per student to take the New Visions, a portion of which is picked up by the state.
Megan Garofalo, a Norwich High School senior participating in New Visions’ allied health program, attests that she’d rather be doing something she enjoys: “New Vision really showed me what it would be like to work in a hospital, and learning this way is a lot more interesting than learning from a book.”
Through New Visions, seniors have shadowed at many area businesses and organizations, including: The Evening Sun; Norwich City and Chenango County Courts; Social Services, Area Agency on Aging, Sidney Federal, New York Mutual, Chenango Memorial and on private farms.
Krissie Collier, student intern, contributed to this article.
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