Freshman Ethan Baxter stands in the quad, waiting for his next class to start. Photo courtesy of freshman Sean Williams.
San Luis Obispo High School freshman Ethan Baxter was sick for around two weeks before winter break. He had a lot of make-up work, so Expressions wanted to see how a first-year-student handled it.
Expressions: From your absence, how much work did you have to make up?
Freshman Ethan Baxter: I had like five tests and two weeks worth of math homework and classwork. And three projects in ceramics.
Expressions: Do you feel like the amount of make-up work was overwhelming?
Baxter: I felt like there were a little bit too many tests at once, but other than that it was fine. I think they gave me an acceptable amount of time with how long I was gone.
Expressions: Have your teachers been helpful?
Baxter: Somewhat, because they let me come in at lunch and do make-up work. I still have a missing test, but I got everything else done two days ago. I wasn’t able to complete my math test with a good grade because I forgot how to do the work. But I think I did well on my Spanish test.
Expressions: Do you think there is anything the teachers could do to improve how you make-up work if you are gone for an extended period of time?
Baxter: No, I don’t think so. Maybe they could make the workload a little bit easier or give you a little more time to complete the work as you go. My English teacher, math teacher, and Spanish teacher posted homework on Google Classroom, and so did my ceramics teacher, but I wasn’t able to do that work.
Expressions: Which class had the most work to make-up?
Baxter: I probably missed the most work with the notes and everything I didn’t do in Spanish. And there were three tests that I missed even though I thought I missed two.
Expressions: Have your grades been affected by this, and if so, are they improving?
Baxter: They have been affected greatly, they used to be all A’s but now they’re lower. They have been gradually improving. Given enough time, I was able to make up for all the missing assignments and tests that I have, but it was a bit stressful.
Baxter’s experience with missing work could teach many students at SLOHS to just keep calm, get your work done, and your grades should start to improve.