Raising the Bar: Ending the school year strong

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) - It can be a difficult time for students as they endure end-of-year testing and it’s a good time for parents to keep a close eye on their child’s mental health.

In this week’s Raising the Bar segment, 13 News’ Valerie Cavazos spoke with Michael Bryan, a counselor at Catalina Foothills High School, about a critical age to watch.

“Yeah, and kids are just like adults - we will focus at the end,” Bryan said. “We want to be done and we want to kind of sometimes ease up at the end, and that’s not a good thing for students. We want the expectation to be set by parents that kids finish right up until the last period of the last day, and the summer doesn’t start until after that. Some kids get this idea that, ‘Hey, I can just kind of coast in the last few days, the last week doesn’t matter,’ and that’s a recipe for disaster.”

What’s happening, though, in the last weeks of school, even the last month of school? What are the teachers doing? What are the schools doing? Why is this so important?

“Well, the very end of the school is kind of the culmination, and the last week of school is usually marked with finals, at least in the high schools, and so those are the most important days,” Bryan said. “That’s your chance to perform and to show what you’ve learned. I mean, it’s kind of like game time - you practice and now finals are game time and you need to show up. So, if you don’t show up, you’re not gonna do well, and that in turn affects your grades. And kids have to understand, parents have to, at least in high school, that if you don’t pass a class, you have to repeat that class. You don’t just advance just because you finish the school year, you’re gonna have to go back and make that up.”

“Well, teachers are tired just like students, but you know, they’re not going to give you that break that you think you might deserve,” Bryan said. “They want to see you demonstrate your ability to finish. They want the work that you’ve promised to do. They want the assignments. And, if you’re a student or a parent, you know, dig in and find out what assignments you might be missing and don’t tell yourself that the teachers are out there to punish you. They want you to be successful. So if you think, ‘Hey, something’s too late, I can’t do it.’ [That] may not be the case. Ask the teachers. Worst case is you get a ‘No, you can’t turn it in.’ Best cases, ‘Yeah, turn it in.’”

What are some examples of conversations that parents can have with their kids?

“That’s a good question. I think an example would be, ‘Hey, these are my expectations. These are my expectations for you. You get on board and can you support those expectations? And what expectations have you set for yourself?’ And then the other thing I think is sometimes parents make their own child the problem when really the problem is maybe getting an assignment in or finishing. You need to, as a parent, pair up with your child, become a team and attack the problem, but don’t make, don’t make your child the problem.”

Cavazos will be bringing these local “Raising the Bar” segments every Monday to help you kick start each week with local expert advice on education. Previous stories can be found here.

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