The start of spring brings with it longer days, those strange bits of sunshine and, for students, a looming closeness of testing season.

Whether it is finals, standardized testing, AP tests, the SAT or, for many, a combination of these, every student will be testing at some point in the next two months.

Our entire school year is geared toward getting us ready to pass these tests, meeting all of the decided learning targets by the deadline. We have become so focused on the importance of test taking however, we are losing sight of the true meaning of an education. As senior Kaley Bartel said, “It makes learning more about passing a test, than learning it for knowledge.”

The constant focus on testing takes the passion out of learning by making students no more than a number on a piece of paper. How is this supposed to be reflective of our years of education or, furthermore, a teacher’s years of teaching as some push to have teachers’ pay and evaluation be based upon their students’ scores? We do need to be evaluated as students and as schools, but is one test on one afternoon truly the best measure of students’ proficiencies?

These tests are geared toward such a narrow group of students. What about the kids who have never succeeded at test taking; are they supposed to just be left behind? Senior Lily Eckert expressed her concerns, “I’m not a very good test taker, so I don’t think (a test) reflects my abilities.”

The pressure from these tests create such a negative and stressful environment that it is hard for students to perform at their best. Kingston student Shannon Gill described test stress, stating, “the anticipation of tests throws you off.”

Luckily for students at Kingston High School, however, our teachers do their best to prepare us as much as possible. Many of the AP teachers host weekend study sessions leading up to the AP testing dates, and a new SAT prep has been introduced at the school starting this year.

This just goes to show once again that our teachers are truly the pillars of our education system, working diligently to not just to prepare us for another test, but to bring passion back into our learning.

— Martha Rabura is a student at Kingston High School. Contact her at martharabura@century link.net