“I’ve been preparing my students all year,” AP English III teacher Suzanne Dilday said. “We’ve been doing a lot of multiple choice and essay practice in class based on past AP tests that have been released.”

AP U.S. History teacher Karen Law had similar methods in preparing her students for the test.

“This is what we’ve been working at all year long,” Law said. “In U.S. History, the terms are the most important things to remember. I’ve given my class a review packet that contains most of what they need to know for the test. We’ve also had ongoing terms tests throughout the year that will help them a lot.”

The same question arises every year when it is time to choose classes for the following year: what is the difference between the AP test and an EOC?

“The AP test is designed to measure a students knowledge of college level skills and content while an EOC is focused more on high school level skills and content,” Dilday said. “In English, the reading selections are much more difficult, the writing tasks are harder, and the multiple choice questions are more analytical than that of an EOC. The main difference is that it’s timed.”

Being a timed test, the focus is switched from thoroughly checking answers to keeping an eye on the clock and answering as many questions as possible within the time limit.

“The key to being a good test taker is watching your time,” Law said. “It’s a timed test and some kids aren’t used to that. Be serious and stay focused.”

Regardless of the subject, teachers agree that there is one thing that students need to do in order to getting a passing 3 on the test.

“Understanding what is asked of you and being a good time manager is key,” Dilday said. “Breathe deeply. You’re ready.”

Following the conclusion of testing, teachers have different plans on what they will do to finish out the year.

“We’ll finish up the remaining TEKS and the last unit,” Law said. “Most recent history is not covered on the AP test so we don’t go over that. We might watch a film or two we missed during the year.”

The U.S. History test takes place on Friday, May 11 and the English test takes place on Wednesday, May 16. AP testing concludes May 18.

“Finally after four years of hard work and disappointment, everything has paid off,” senior Jacob Martella said.

The final competition left Martella feelings of worry.

“During the entire journalism competition I was thinking that this was the worst story that I have ever written,” Martella said. “I did not feel confident with the story that I was writing.”

Benefit of the doubt was something that was not seen in Martella’s attitude.

“Once the competition was over we had to wait for all of the results to be posted,” Martella said. “So when we were waiting I got a call from Mrs. Showers asking if I could come help her carry some papers. When I arrived she handed me the state qualifier paper and medal and everything was good.

“I was finally happy. I have been disappointed the last three years, so finally reaching my goal was an elation.”

Going to the UIL state competition is a big pressure. However, having confidence can go a long way.

“I thought my story was really bad,” Martella said. “But considering that it got first has given me confidence that I will take to state. It is with this confidence that I believe that I can win state.”

Others did not have as much luck.

“Competition at regionals was really intense,” senior Mahek Gupta. “Of course it was intense because everyone there were district winners. However, I just went out there and did my best.”

Ready writing had three competitors and Gupta was one of them.

“Ready writing is where you have two hours to write an expository essay,” Gupta said. “The prompts some what resemble SAT essay topics, as in they are very general. There are no page limits as to how much you can write, but I generally write two and half to three pages in the two hours.”

Gupta wasn’t the only one who had fun, but left disheartened.

“It was disappointing,” junior Joshua Workman. “To be honest we just had a bad day.”

Workman was one of the three competitors in computer science. But as a whole they all agreed that it was disappointing.

“We had the worst score we’ve ever had in both the written and hands-on portions,” Workman said. “We were unable to focus.”

For some their competitions allow one to jump right into them.

“I competed in ready writing for my first time this year,” senior Jaquan Wade said. “I liked ready writing because you don’t really have to study for it.”

Going to regionals as a senior marks an end to a chapter.

“Since it was my first year to do ready writing it was obviously my first year to make it to regionals,” Workman said. “It was fun, and I just enjoyed being with the team and enjoyed making it to regionals. One thing that I regret though is that I didn’t do this my entire high school career.”

While some have regrets for not competing all four years, some look forward to the upcoming year.

“Next year, we will have a new team because two people are graduating,” Workman said. “But I have no idea what next year will be like.”

Even though this year brought regrets, there some who just had fun with the experience.

“Regionals was incredibly fun,” Wade said. “It was fun and I just enjoyed being with the team and just going to regionals.”

Regionals brought an enjoyable and unforgettable experience for some. For them this experience will be the last time they could experience.

“The overall experience for me was something that I will never forget,” Gupta said. “It was a fun time just hanging out with friends and it was just awesome.”

The capacity of the Center of Performing Arts is 5360 and parking is 2000. Parking includes Ben Barber parking space.

Choir member and student body President Brianna Sims, however, disagrees with MISD’s decision.

“My honest opinion, when I first heard it, I was like ‘Wow only nine,’” Sims said. “First, our peers that we have spent three years of our lives with probably won’t be at our graduation. So I see it as unfair, considering that we have a very small class.”

In the eyes of Principal Jimmy Neal, nine tickets is not an issue.

“It will work out. Not everybody will use all nine tickets. The tickets that aren’t used will go back into the pile,” Neal said. “Overall, it should go well. We’ve done this before when the school first opened and it worked out okay.”

Prom chair and choir member Emily Pae agrees with her colleague Brianna Sims. Pae stated that MISD did not take it into account that a variety of students have large families.

“I don’t think its fair because they’re not taking into the account that some people have bigger families then others, and some people it may work and that’s awesome and that’s great, but some people have bigger families so it is not fair,” Pae said.

In the process, the topic of seat limitation had nothing to do with the tickets. According to Pae, the true issue is parking.

“I looked into it, and it’s not necessarily the seats the parking. There are only two thousand parking spaces but the actual performing art center seats about six thousand. So it doesn’t make sense of making a building that seats six thousand and a parking lot not big enough.” Pae said.

To ease the parking, seniors will be given three parking passes and will meet at the school before being bused over to the center for the ceremony.

Mrs. Hudgins’ stated that three tickets are the amount that is available for students. Considering teachers and administrator’s have to ride the bus with the students to provide more space.

“That is the only number that is available, even as teachers and administrators who can’t drive over there are taking the bus to give your parents many parking places as possible,” Hudgins said. “They’re even moving the buses that are parked near the transportation station to create more parking spaces, so that every family can have three parking spaces.”

Joshlyn Wilis, a member of DECA, believed students should have had more time to calculate whom they were going to invite, before they bought a numerous amount of invitations.

“Nine is a odd number anyway, and they [MISD] don’t take it to the fact that people already invited others outside extended family to come in,” Wilis said. “ They only went on the immediate family side. They didn’t take into the account that there are extended families coming in, and they should of told people ahead of time, so we could of planned for this.

Tickets will be available in Mrs. Hudgins’ office, but there must be a student ID present and shown in order to receive tickets.

For additional tickets, students not utilizing all tickets are encouraged to return extras to campus administration. Extra tickets will be distributed to students at a meeting on May 22 at 6:30 a.m. in the home campus library.

Tuesday night at Pennington Field, however, they managed a mere one goal in a 3-1 loss to Trophy Club Byron Nelson in the Sectional round of the playoffs.

“It stinks,” head coach Kirby Davis said. “It’s a long season. It’s a lot of work. It’s just disappointing.”

The Lady Jags fell behind early after Byron Nelson’s Lynnsey Brim scored off of loose ball following a corner kick in the 13th minute. It was the first time the Lady Jags trailed in the playoffs. Senior Ashley Cottrell said that goal made her work that much harder.

“It made me want to get it back,” Cottrell said. “I don’t know about the other girls. It should have pushed them a little more. We were expecting that.”

The Lady Jags would get a chance to draw level with 10 minutes before half but Cottrell’s shot from outside the box curled just wide of the far post. A few minutes later, Byron Nelson added to their lead. Senior Antoinette Bennett said it wasn’t all that deflating.

“We didn’t feel like it was over mainly because there was a whole second half to play,” Bennett said. “It definitely put everyone down a bit more.”

The second half, however, was a bit of a different story.

Marisella Chavez scored in the 53rd minute to bring the Lady Jags within one.

“It gave us hope,” Bennett said. “We felt we could come out and get another one.”

But that “one” would never come. Byron Nelson would add one more with six minutes remaining to seal the Lady Jags’ fate.

“It was the end,” Bennett said. “It just made the game done.”

The Lady Jags finish off the season with a final record of 20-4-1 and recorded their second straight District 7-4A championship, but for the second straight year, they bowed out in the fourth round.

The Lady Jags will lose five seniors next year. Cottrell said she will remember the team.

“It’s a great group of girls,” Cottrell said. “That’s it.”

“Making it this far took a lot of dedication and practice,” Clark said. “My goal this season was to improve with every meet and I pretty much did that.”

Clark ended the season with an 800 lbs. total and a 305 lbs. squat.

“The State meet was actually the only time when I didn’t improve this season,” Clark said. “My high for the season in squat was 325 lbs. and I only reached 305 lbs. at State. I think that’s the one thing that held me back from placing higher.”

Clark was ranked at #26 in the state in the 2010-2011 season and was moved up to #16 in the 2011-2012 season.

“I definitely improved a lot compared to last year,” Clark said. “I only had a 795 lbs. total last year and I got up to an 820 lbs. total this year.”

Despite not placing high enough to earn a medal, Clark says that making it to State was more than enough to make her senior year.

“I’m a senior. This was my last chance to make my mark on my school and even though I didn’t medal, I’m happy with my season,” Clark said. “I’m happy with my performance because I know I did my best. I’m just glad that I got to go to Corpus with some of my friends and teammates. Just making it this far meant that all my hard work and practice paid off.”

Though natural talent is a key component, Clark says that it isn’t the only factor in becoming a good lifter.

“A lot of people think that being a good lifter means that you’re just naturally strong or buff. They’re wrong,” Clark says. “Being a good lifter means having good focus. You have to know what you want, know how to get there, and be dedicated enough to work for it. That’s how I made it. Without focus, it all falls apart.”

Victoria Clark ended the season with a 355 lbs. dead lift, a 140 lbs. bench, and a 305 lbs. squat. Micaela Ikner had a total of 660 lbs. and Meagon Jones had a total of 290 lbs.

Summit placed 24^th at the State meet with their only point coming from Clark’s 5^th place finish.

The UIL academic team competed in the district meet March 21-22 at Joshua High.

“I am really proud of our district team,” said Michelle Showers. “There were 9 that made it to regionals. That includes a freshman who placed third in number sense, which is unheard of.”

Jacob Martella placed first in News and Feature Writing and second in Headline Writing. Christina Benavides placed first in Editorial Writing and the Journalism team won the district championship.

“There was a little pressure to keep up our title, but I got over the pressure once I got started,” Martella said.

Grant Wilke placed third in Number Sense and Nick Toliver placed first in Mathatics.

“It feels nice to be in a group with other nerds,” Toliver said. “I am ready for regionals.”

Wilke, who is a freshman, surprised himself on his third place win.

“I didn’t think I was going to do really well, so it was a surprise, but over all I am excited.” Wilke said.

In addition, Jaquan Wade placed second and Mehak Gupta placed first in the same Ready Writing.

“I feel happy and proud,” Wade said. “My sister made it last year and excelled to regionals and state, so I have high hopes of making it to state.”

This will be the fourth regional meet for Martella.

“I made it four years and its always an adventure,” Martella said. “This year, I am hoping to make it to state.”

The regional meet will be held at Hardin-Simmons University. Those who place in the top three in their competitions will advance to the state meet.

“I have good intentions for students who will make it to state,” Showers said.

Both Miller and Moreland advanced to the state meet with Miller placing 2^nd in his weight class with his last dead lift and Moreland placing 1^st in his weight class and also breaking the Regional Record in dead lift with a pull of 465 lbs.

Even though only two powerlifters placed high enough to advance to the state meet, many others set personal records.

“Even though I didn’t advance, I’m really proud of myself and my team,” senior Marc Blades said. “My goal this season was to qualify for the regional meet and better my total every meet and I did just that.”

Blades was one of five to set personal bests at this weekend’s meet. He broke his previous squat and dead lift records and left with a total of 1,395 lbs, placing 9^th.

“The key is having good form, mental strength, and being able to overcome mental blocks,” Blades said. “Knowing your body’s limits and how far you can push it is very important.”

Though he didn’t advance, Blades hopes to be able to support his fellow teammates at the state meet.

“I am hoping Coach Zschiesche will allow me to go with them to support them, but if not, they know I will be rooting for them here,” Blades said.

Junior Johnny Murphy also set personal bests breaking his squat, bench, and dead lift records and leaving with a total of 1,430 lbs, placing 7^th.

“I just wanted to qualify for regionals this season,” Murphy said. “I’m happy with my performance, but there are always things you can improve on. My goal for next season is to improve my dead lift and overall total.”

The five boys who competed in the regional meet are Mathew Barrett-Cobb, Marc Blades, Johnny Murphy, Dominique Moreland, and Jimmy Miller. Both Miller and Moreland advanced to the state meet with Miller placing 2^nd in his weight class with his last dead lift and Moreland placing 1^st in his weight class and also breaking the Regional Record in dead lift with a pull of 465 lbs.

Photos Courtesy: Craig Lusinger