Underclassmen are gearing up for the final assessment week while having to fight the urge of thinking it’s summer already.

As assessment weeks is around the corner, students are beginning to put their final efforts into their grades before the big test, project, or essay takes place. Many students take these final weeks seriously, trying to best improve their grades for ultimate success while some students coast into this final assessment week. This is the final push before students are off for summer break.

Assessment week takes place every fall, winter, and spring at Williston. This is always at the end of the term before a long break or, in this case, summer vacation. This includes all of the material that is learned during the trimester through many class periods.  The spring assessment week will begin May 26 and end May 30, starting with G block and ending the year with F block. During this time teachers decide if they want to give the students tests, projects, or other types of tests.

Katie Toole, a three year junior, thinks the spring assessment week is not stressful, and it is actually fun.

“I think this assessment week is the easiest because everyone is outside and summer is almost here so when I take the tests I know that I am almost done,” Katie said.

During assessment week many students have lots of free time in between the tests and review blocks. On Monday, May 26, G block assessment will go from 8:30 to 10:00, and A block will not meet until 12:00, giving students plenty of time to hang out, study, or just relax. These in-between blocks are used differently depending on what test a student has or how much time a student puts into studying.

Dean Ruksnaitis, a junior,  believes it’s important to stay on task in this final week.

“This assessment week is the easiest to forget about but for me knowing that summer is right here I want to end on a good note before I leave,” Dean said.

This trimester assessment is especially interesting given the prevalence of websites like Chat GPT. Chat GPT is an artificial intelligence website designed to create human-like writing. After its launch, it was said that Chat GPT has 122.58 million daily users and around 400 million weekly users. Chat GPT is most used for answering questions, writing text, and assisting with complicated tasks. This puts a stress on the English department, which now is faced with detecting whether students’ writing is fully theirs or if they had help from AI.

Kyle Hanford, a English teacher at Williston, said AI is adding an unwanted challenge to assessment week for the English department.

Hanford said that the exam for his class will be a “graded discussion because AI has changed the perspective for the English department. How will we know that every kid doesn’t go back and look up everything on AI?”
A New York Times article written by Dana Goldstein emphasized the impact AI has on students.

“Many educators, concerned about cheating and shortcuts, are trying to limit student use of A.I. School leaders are grappling with these dilemmas as they confront a barrage of marketing claims around how A.I. could “transform,” “personalize” and “accelerate” learning,” Goldstein said.