Catholic Central is officially more than halfway through the 2025-26 school year. First semester grades are completed, exam stress is over, and new beginnings are starting. Excitement from new classes and warmer weather (far) in the horizon, students are looking ahead. However, taking time to reflect back on what has happened can help achieve a better semester.
Around 80 students participated in answering questions about their experience for the first semester. 30 are freshmen, 17 are sophomores, 17 are juniors, and 15 are seniors. With rest from the summer helping students feel less stressed and creating new friendships, many students said their semester was an overall eight out of ten or just a little below, reporting a seven or six.
The top three classes in the first semester were students’ English class in first place, Art in second and Academic Strategies/Learning Lab in third. This comes as no surprise because in the start of the year the freshman and seniors’ favorite teachers were the English teachers, Ms. Oman and Ms. Kozminski. These wonderful teachers have been promoting reading and writing all semester long, and it has rubbed off on all the students.
The three least favorite classes in the first semester were Algebra (both one and two), English and Theology. With English being in both top three for best and worst classes, it seems that the school is split in a love-hate relationship. On the other hand, Algebra seems to be giving lots of grief to the students with tricky concepts and homework with no end in sight. Whether it’s just a dislike for math or being confused on what is happening, the math department is always ready to help where needed! Reach out to your teachers when the work gets rough and hopefully math will make its way up from being a dark spot in your day!
Procrastination in the first semester was HIGH. On a scale from no procrastination at all (one) to procrastinating everyday (ten), most students reported a seven or higher leaving homework for the next day or even the day it’s due. This may be due to not having class everyday or being at a sport for the afternoon. At least these students are recognizing their faults and can improve upon them.
Looking on to second semester, 61.5% of students said it’s harder for them to wake up in the mornings for school and 38.5% said it’s harder the first semester. 72.2% of students are optimistic that they will have better grades second semester whereas 27.8% think their grades peaked for this year. Finally, 75% of students reported they go to more sporting and school events in the first semester instead of second semester. With this data, it looks like students are wanting to lock in with their grades and get through these final months. Majority of the students said they are most excited for summer or spring break with hopes for warmer weather.
With anticipation for this semester, the hope is that the end of this school year will end as good or even better than how it started. Keep focus on school work and maybe attend some winter and spring sporting events and this semester will be by quickly.
