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By Larry Stombaugh
For the Clemmons Courier

At a meeting of the Interfaith Community Alliance that was recently formed to assist local schools with various needs, it was announced that there is a critical need for proctors to volunteer to supervise end-of-year exams. There are nine schools in Lewisville and Clemmons that are in need of volunteers to monitor tests in late May and early June. The need is so significant that hundreds of volunteers will be needed to proctor exams at the local schools. Proctors are needed at all levels including at elementary, middle and high schools in the area.

The typical testing period is from 90 minutes to 180 minutes. Most proctoring assignments involve monitoring an entire class, but some of them involve monitoring just a few students who need special accommodations or additional testing time.   

Melody Hazelbaker is the testing coordinator at Clemmons Elementary. “I truly believe that most people don’t realize what a need schools have for proctors at the end of the school year,” she said. “Not only do our regular classrooms have a need for proctors, but all of our students who test in smaller groups or in a one-on-one testing situation need proctors as well. Some schools have a large population of students that do not test in their regular classrooms. When you start to count your small groups, as well as your regular classrooms, that amounts to a lot of people that are needed to administer end-of-year tests.”

Cornelia Hauhuth, who is the testing coordinator at Morgan Elementary, noted that she uses about 22 non-staff members to cover the classes and groups at her school that need proctors. She uses retired teachers, parents of students, and parents and college-age students of staff members to fill her needs. “I know that the middle schools need many more proctors and have less parental involvement so, from what I hear they struggle more with getting enough people,” she noted.

Anyone who registers as a volunteer can serve as a proctor after completing background screening and a proctor orientation training session. To sign up to proctor, go to WSFCSVolunteers.com, click on “New Volunteer,” and complete the registration form.

The local schools that are need of volunteers to proctor end of year exams and the dates for those exams are as follows:

• Clemmons Elementary School — May 29 and 30

• Clemmons Middle School — May 29- June 11

• Lewisville Elementary School — May 29-31

• Meadowlark Elementary School — May 29-31

• Meadowlark Middle School — May 29- June 4

• Morgan Elementary School — May 29 and 30

• Southwest Elementary School — May 29 and 30

• Ward Elementary School — May 29 – June 5

• West Forsyth High School — May 30 – June 10

On a personal note, As a recently retired high school teacher, I served as a proctor for many years. It is not a difficult job, but it is crucial to the process of maintaining the standards that must be met to ensure that required testing standards are met.

Proctoring exams not only provides a service to students, but it is also a tremendous benefit to teachers. The end of the school year is demanding and stressful for teachers at all levels, and when outsiders offer to volunteer their time to proctor exams, it makes it possible for teachers to spend more time with their students to review for tests and to have quality time in their own classrooms at the end of the school year.