Kyle Dodson prepares students for examinations

With the end of the year right around the corner, teachers have begun handing out their finals to students. Some teachers give out tests but others choose to go with projects. DODx is the project teacher Kyle Dodson charges his English 11 class to complete. Dodson bases this idea off the famous company that hosts regularly scheduled educational seminars called TED Talks.

This multi million dollar company which was founded in 1984 continues to host local events with their outreach program called TEDx. TEDx is a similar seminar to the main TED talks but is hosted in more local cities.

DODx is the idea that Dodson came up with 3 years ago for his English 11 class. It is an assignment that is given to the juniors about a specific word that has a special meaning or that the student could most relate to. The students have to organize a speech and write a paper about the word they chose.

“I’m really proud of how determined my English 11 students have been this year,” Dodson said. “Having them around has been a blast for me this year and I cannot wait to see what they have in store for me with their finals. The students really seemed to enjoy the idea of DODX so I decided to keep the concept running. I really hope that the students take this assignment to heart and make the best out of this final.”

The speech that the students have to come up with will be presented in front of the entire class. Dodson will base the grading criteria off how well the speech is written and what kind of impact or difference it made in their lives.

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Junior Akash Singh is ready to make a final impression for Dodson. He is aiming for an ‘A’ grade and believes that he will be able to reach that goal.

“I’m hoping to make this English final a really good one,” Singh said. “With the help of Mr. Dodson, I feel like I have grown into a better writer. I didn’t feel as confident in myself at the beginning of the year, but I have gradually improved throughout the year. I believe that I can make the best out of this final and really leave a good last impression in Mr. Dodson’s class.”

The grading criteria for this final is straight forward. It is based off a points system from 6 through 25, 25 being the highest grade you can get and a 6 being the lowest you can get.

For an ‘A’ final, Dodson is looking for a paper that has zero to little flaws, has a well-structured paper, and has a clear meaning of the subject through the entire paper.

The students will also have to give a speech about the paper that they wrote. Dodson wants the student to express the topic that they choose, have a good delivery and use other actions to reach the audience.

Another junior that will be taking the final is Carlee Whipple who is also prepared to pass the final. She is ready for the task of speaking in front of her entire class.

“I am really excited to perform my speech in front of the class,” Whipple said. “I am obviously nervous but I think I need to face my fears and make sure I get a good grade on this. I am proud of myself since I have grown as a person and a writer and Mr. Dodson really pushed me to be myself and don’t worry about certain mistakes because you can come back from them.”

DODx is not the only final that Dodson will be giving out. The senior drama students will be doing a duo performance in front of the drama class as a final for just the seniors.

Senior Jeremiah Sieperda will be performing for the last time as a high schooler. He reflects on the ups and downs of drama.

“That sadness is finally sinking in,” Sieperda said. “It’s kind of unreal that this is really going to be my last performance. Drama has one so much for me. It was really fun these past few years having Mr. Dodson be a mentor and I really learned a lot from him. I am really going to miss the community of drama class. After the entire year, we as a class have gotten really close and I will miss that. I will also miss all the fun moments we had as a class doing improv games.”

All drama students are performing their final scenes for drama. Their final is to perform a two-person scene from one of Shakespeare’s comedies. Part of the final is that they are to use an environment somewhere on the FCS Campus to perform their scene.

According to students and faculty, a single final can either make or break your grade in that certain class. Students will be concentrated on making the best out of their final tests of the year.

This writer can be reached via email: Suky Cheema and via Twitter: sukyboiii