After taking their AP tests, many students wonder what kinds of grades and projects the teachers have added to their curriculum, believing that they are done learning new material for the rest of the school year.

Teachers find ways to either evaluate their students on what they have learned or continue to reemphasize the topics that the students have already learned. Sophomore Chuck Reese said, “Although we students may not enjoy it, it is important that we continue to refresh our minds on what we learned rather than completely forgot about it.” Reese is taking AP NSL this year. Like other sophomores, this is his first AP class.

There are many different methods that teachers use for assessing students after their AP tests.

Social studies teacher Steven Watson has his AP NSL students make a news video based on a current event that has happened this year. They incorporated different terms that they have learned throughout the year, ensuring that the students retain what they have learned.

Other classes such as AP Language (also known as Lang) do other things such as begin learning the material for the following year. After the AP Lang test, teacher Sharon Lee starts to teach her students the topics of AP Literature (also known as Lit), which junior students commonly take as seniors. “Because [AP Lit and AP Lang] are so different, students need to be refreshed with symbols, theme, etc,” said Lee.

Despite the apparent benefits, some students find working far after the AP test to be useless.

Some students believe that there is no point in continuing to do work in a class after the exam has been taken. Many students do not see the benefits of doing work for a class that has essentially been completed.

However, some students do see the benefits to having these activities after the AP exam. Students such as Reese actually enjoyed doing their NSL projects and projects for other classes.

Also, students who took AP Lang junior year found it helpful to begin preparing for AP Lit in 12th grade. Many thought that AP Lit was arguably one of the hardest English classes offered at RHS so getting prepared for it the year before played a big role in helping students succeed. Junior Will Anderson said, “Preparing for AP Lit will better prepare me for the class next year.”

While many of the students have mixed feelings about having work after tests there are apparent benefits to doing it. Most students find these projects to be helpful and refreshing, because they can work with their peers in a group environment.

Another aspect of the post-AP test projects that students liked were the smaller assignments that boost their grades. Sophomore Audrey Lyhus had a borderline grade in her AP NSL class but the assignments that Watson issued since the exam have helped her greatly to bump up her grade. Lyhus said, “I’m happy that my grade went up by doing assignments that were on topics we’ve learned before.”

So there are many benefits with the added obligations that come with work after AP tests. Students feel that since they worked so strenuously on studying for the AP test, they should be able to relax for the trest of the year. However they stil want to potentially improve their grades. While students can see both the strengths and drawbacks about having to complete extra assignments, the consensus is just to push towards finishing the school year strong.