The pressure was on for the juniors last year when they were getting ready for the Literacy Exam. The school was dependent on those scores because it was very close to being put on an improvement plan.

The improvement plan would consist of officials paying visits to the school frequently, as well as more work and a very structured environment said English teacher Trisha White.

“That wouldn’t have been fun for teachers or students, so we’re very thankful that we stayed out of school improvement,” White said.

Since the exam was so important, English teachers conducted many opportunities to help the students on it. They provided time for the seniors of last year to tutor the juniors, gave extra practice sheets to work on in class, and also had many class discussions to prepare.

Senior Adam Patterson recalls the ordinate amount of work they did.

“We did all kinds of crazy stuff, but I guess it worked because we did pretty good,” Patterson said.

Their hard work definitely showed because the scores were higher than they’ve ever been before, saving the school from lockdown, and relieving the pressure from students and school staff.

“I was confident that they were going to do a great job,” White said. “I wasn’t expecting 87 percent, but that was a wonderful surprise.”

White said the juniors put in lot of effort and did a great job. “They worked really hard and I really appreciated that, so they deserve a reward.”

Sometime in the near future, the students who took the Literacy Exam last year are going to have a party to celebrate their success.