Academics

Former students voice opinions about exit requirements

Taylor Barth

February 21, 2008

The reactions and opinions of former Centennial students differed when asked about the elimination of exit requirements. Some thought the change was a good idea; some thought the requirements were something people should value; and others had no opinion.

“Even though I’m sure a lot of students are happy they don’t have to do exit requirements anymore, looking back on my four years of high school, they helped prepare me for college,” said Shannon Foley, a freshman at the University of Nebraska, Kearney. Foley felt that the exits helped her with a college course that she is now taking because she got a lot of writing practice.

All high school students were required to complete each of the 24 requirements to graduate. Students were scored with an excellent, proficient, not acceptable, or not attempted. Students who received 11 or more excellents would “graduate with excellence.” Some people strived for this reward and others thought it was overrated.

“I didn’t see a need for students to complete them, because whether you needed them or not, you still had to complete the assignment for the class,” said Bronson Gierhan, a freshman at Nebraska Wesleyan, Lincoln.

UNK junior Morgan Kellogg said, “It was more or less just remembering to have the teacher sign the slip. It seemed to be more work for the teacher to come up with something that fulfilled the requirement.”

From now on, students will not be deprived of class projects and papers, they just won’t have to fill out the paperwork for the exits.