As midterms come near on Jan. 12th, Staples students are rushing to finish all of their projects and review material from the entire semester. The majority of students have a mixture of tests and alternate assignments to prepare for.

Emily Snow’s ’15 midterms this year consist of all tests, except for her forensics project. In this project, students work as a team to solve a fake crime scene, ending with a mock trial.

“[There are] a lot of projects within projects,” she said.

For this assignment, Snow is in the blood, fingerprints and detective groups because of the class’ small size.

Despite the large amount of work that comes with this project, Snow admits that it is an enjoyable type of midterm.

Social studies teacher Daniel Heaphy acts as a neighbor in the crime scene.

“He’s the best one this year. He’s so funny,” Snow said with a laugh.

In addition to forensics, some language classes have alternate midterms.

“[We have to] design a house and give an oral presentation about the different rooms and what’s inside them,” Mary Luciano ’16 said.

Tyler Miller ’18 has a similar Spanish project.

“[We] create a video of us describing a certain artist. [We talk about] their life and why they’re good in Spanish,” Miller said.

Miller shared that this is his easiest midterm and his Biology Honors test is the hardest.

“It’s a lot of memorization. [The] best strategy is to use flashcards or to put my hand over it and repeat it until I remember it,” Miller said.

Despite all of the stress that comes with midterms, Miller has a positive outlook.

“[It’s] kind of nerve racking. It seems like a really big deal because we have half days, but if you keep calm, it’s not that much more than middle school,” Miller reflected.