From extra testing to curriculum changes, a lot has been thrown at Naperville North’s class of 2018, sometimes making us feel like the unwanted whole grain snacks in the back of the vending machine. As the lone sophomores on The North Star, we noticed the challenges have piled up to make things pretty unfair for our class.

The annual Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) tests were introduced our freshman year. Once we realized how much valuable class time was spent on practice tests and how difficult the material was, the actual two-day test became something to dread. The test seemed to last forever, as we envied the other grade levels spending their day off.

The class of 2018 was the “guinea pig” group for this standardized test, and although it serves as a progress check for the state of Illinois, many students don’t see the benefit. On Tuesday, April 19, all Algebra 1 and English 1 students were required to take days off of instruction to waste away in front of a computer to complete this year’s PARCC test.

We were also the last class to take the mandatory Dynamic Earth Systems science course freshman year. The class’s curriculum consisted mainly of material we had learned in middle school, so the whole year felt like a review. Taking this mandatory class put us behind the incoming freshman class, and we now have less opportunities to take science classes that interest us.

Going into high school, the expectation is that everyone takes the ACT junior year. Older friends and siblings talk about it, practice centers are located all around town, teachers make reference to it and the SAT becomes almost an afterthought. However, this past winter, news began to spread about the state switching to providing the SAT test due to expenses. NNHS Assistant Principal Michele Chapman-Simmons said that the SAT will be an adjustment for everyone.

“For 16 years we have been giving the ACT, so we as teachers and you as students have done prep to understand the test,” Chapman-Simmons said. “We are all going to have to do some learning.”

While the change may save money, it certainly does not save us from the added anxiety or help our college prospects. Sophomore students are worried that the curriculum we’ve been taught will not line up with the SAT. Students still have the option  to decide between the ACT and the SAT. However, it seems unlikely that District 203 will fund the ACT in the future, so taking that test will have to come out of our own pocket.

Of course, a few extra tests isn’t the worst things that could be thrown our way.  But dropping so  many changes on one class seems regressive, and simply unfair.  Some of this is beyond the control of our local administrators, but they should do what they can to spare the Class of 2018 from being the guinea pig of first resort. We could use a break.