Classes still adjusting from winter storm ahead of AP exams
Winter Storm Uri happened almost a year ago causing a lost of power across the state. Recently, ERCOT released a report on the improvements made to the power grid and what would happen if there were another storm this winter.
March 30, 2021
There’s a little more than a month until AP exams begin, and classes are trying to cover all the necessary material while having to make up for lost time from bad weather and asynchronous learning days.
“I don’t think it affected students too much,” AP Human Geography teacher Jennifer Nelken said. “I think the upcoming asynchronous days and holiday break will cut into some of our time.”
Missing two weeks has had little impact on some students such as freshman Vihaan Lalwani.
“I think the missing two weeks have affected me because it made me realize that I am doing great as is,” Lalwani said. “And, just a little effort will get me where I want to go.“
However, February’s two unplanned weeks away from the usual learning environment, took a toll on some students.
“The two weeks have affected my grades because they have gone down due to the missing work I have,” freshman Swetha Prakash said. “The power went out in our apartment so I couldn’t work on anything.”
With some students and teachers suffering prolonged power outages and internet connections as a result of February’s storm, district officials requested teachers to make some accommodations.
“We gave less work that week of learning [Feb. 22-26] because we knew it would be hard for everyone to work with the issues because of the winter storm,” Nelken said. “Many schools missed those days, so we are in the same boat. The extra week was tough but we had extra days built in that unit, so luckily it all worked out.”
According to AP Economics/AP Human Geography teacher Gary Mumford, some teachers are making adjustments to make up for the lost time.
“We removed enrichment activities from the unit we were currently in and still tested on the original unit test day,” Mumford said. “We did this to preserve the same amount of review days before the exam as we thought this was important for this freshman AP class. But, it does put a little more responsibility on the students to study on their own for the exam.”
