As AP week has come to an end, students can finally take a break from the last month of studying.  However, instead of late nights, students are left with one of the most inconvenient requirement that all students try to avoid: making up gym classes.  At the AP assembly, assistant principal Dr. Fitzgerald made it very clear that gym classes missed because of AP tests needed to be made up. This announcement was met with a united groan from the student body.   

In the span of the two weeks of AP testing, students can have up to four gym classes.  As students can take up to seven AP classes, it is common for AP tests to fall on more than one or two days that students have gym. 

As the end of the year nears, students focused on end-of-year exams, summer plans, or college applications, not on gym makeups. 

Moreover, since juniors and sophomores are still required to attend class after their AP exams are over, their off periods still remain the same. Most juniors have packed schedules and therefore have only a few off periods, so it is difficult for students to make up four gym classes with only a month left of school.  Since these off periods are limited, students usually try to use them effectively; this is the only time that some students can visit their teachers for a full hour.  This limited free time has also started to be used for preparing for end of the year exams, such as Regents exams and finals.

Although it is understandable that gym classes should be made up when a student is absent for personal reasons, missing gym for national standardized tests is beyond students’ control.  Students should not be penalized for taking challenging courses that require them to miss a gym class or two. 

To meet the desires of both the gym teachers and students, a compromise should be made; students should not be required to make up more than one or two gym classes.  Additionally, gym classes can also be made up with by writing essays related to physical activities.  This would be easier for students to do than devoting a full hour to gym and would still be educational. Implementing such policies would take a lot of stress off of busy students who are preparing for the end of the year.