“We set a deadline and we went over it by one month,” English teacher Conrad Pruitt said. Pruitt’s senior class was supposed to turn their senior project essay Dec 19 but Pruitt ended up extending the deadline to Jan 19. While the majority of other seniors turned in their essays in November, Pruitt does have an explanation for his actions. “I wanted the students to work on some of the mechanics of their writing, to develop ideas on the topic and develop their argumentative skills,” Pruitt said. He also added that his students are making up for the deadline because of the extra work that they are doing while trying to understand their topics better. Pruitt completely defends his actions, because there was no definite deadline given to the English teachers about the time senior projects had to be submitted. The only thing asked of them was for students to complete the essay. Many of Pruitt’s students also share the beliefs of their teacher, that they needed more understanding of the topic and they needed to improve upon their writing mechanics. They agree that Pruitt’s actions are justified, and they believe they needed to learn more before submitting the project. Senior Bushra Abdelmalak said, “We’ve been doing other things.” When asked whether this postponed due date is due to laziness, Abdelmalak said, “I think Mr. Pruitt cares more about us knowing more than actually doing the project early.” Another English teacher, Diana McGrath, also supports Pruitt’s decision. Although she said that the English teachers had indeed agreed upon a deadline around Thanksgiving, she added that it was still the teacher’s decision to set the date for his class. “He still had other material to cover before [submitting],” said McGrath. On the other hand some seniors who turned in the essay in November were outraged by Pruitt’s choice of postponing the due date. “It’s really unfair because all other students had a shorter time to do it,” said senior Albert Tom. Many of the seniors passed in their essays before winter break. “All senior projects should have a set date,” Tom said. Whether this will happen again next school year still rests in Pruitt’s hands. When asked about this Pruitt said, “Just for this year, but I’m going to base it on the preparation level of the students.”