Anyone who has ever run out of time during a big test will likely welcome the changes to this week’s exam schedule. Due to the addition of Power Hour this semester, exam periods have been extended from one hour and 55 minutes to two hours and 25 minutes.

In addition to extending each exam period by 30 minutes, home rooms no long will meet during exam week. As a result, any last-minute studying for afternoon exams will have to be done during Power Hour.

“I really appreciate the extra time,” senior Georgia Reis said. “Now we have enough time to watch two movies in biology and more time to work on our exam in statistics, which is much needed because the exam is going to be really long and hard. I have a pretty small home room, and I’d rather spend more time on exam than wasting it in home room.”

For other students, home room plays a bigger role in their school lives as they use the time to bond with others and study.

“I don’t like the idea and I’d rather have home room than Power Hour,” eighth-grader T.J. Zammas said. “I think home room is much more important because home room is only once a week and Power Hour happens almost every day. I really like my home room because I like the kids in it, and I like my homeroom teacher [Jessica] Hartman. We usually goof off and play cards in home room, but during exam week we study and work on our exam review.”

Other students oppose the idea of extra time because they fear teachers will alter their exams to fill the extra time.

“More time would just mean more questions,” senior Lev Freeman said. “My teachers would probably make us spend the entire period working on the exam by putting in more questions and make them harder. By increasing the time for exam, it would just give teachers opportunity to test the students more and I oppose the idea.”

Eighth-grader Devin Thrush appears ambivalent regarding the changes

“I don’t really mind,” he said. “I usually finish tests before the other kids, and I feel that it’s good for them to have this extra time and work carefully on their exams. I don’t really care about home room because I have Ms. [Susan] Orton, and she usually doesn’t let us goof off like the other homerooms do. So homeroom isn’t that important anyway.”