Lorena Robelo
Chronicle Reporter
Math teacher, Hakop Antonyan, caught his AP Calculus class cheating. On Oct. 30, Antonyan distributed what was considered a “hard test” for some of his students but many of them passed with a good grade but showed no work.
This got Antonyan suspicious. On Nov. 2, he accused many people of cheating and gave the accused cheaters an opportunity to confess that they cheated and they would suffer a less severe consequence than they would if they did not say anything and he found out they did cheat. Only one person came to confess.
Many students felt like they were wrongfully accused. Student Itzeel Padilla was accused of cheating when she clearly said she is innocent. “I didn’t cheat and I was offended he even thought I did,” said Itzeel. “I go to his tutoring everyday he has it, I go to him for help after school when I don’t understand something, and I go to the AP readiness workshop every time they have it. I have no reason to cheat.”
Some students who were not accused of cheating and got a good grade on the test were furious because that score will no longer count because of the cheaters. “I got a 100 percent on my test and now it doesn’t even count because of the cheaters,” said student Diego Tamayo. “That could have brought my grade up by so much but now my hard work and studying is worth nothing.”
Antonyan was “upset” and “disappointed.” He said, “The reward that teachers expect from students is more than the grade, it’s the knowledge they gain and how they can apply that in their future. And how do they expect to pass the AP Exam when they are not doing honest work?”
Antonyan distributed a new test on Nov. 3 to test out his theory and see if his students actually know their Calculus.