VIDALIA — With spring break soon upon them, students at Vidalia Junior High School did a practice run for state testing Friday in one last attempt to prepare for the LEAP test.

While the rest of the school ran on a regular schedule, the eighth-grade students took a mock version of the writing portions of the LEAP test, which they will take March 23, two days after they return from Spring Break.

“This will give us an opportunity to go over the tests and review them Monday (after spring break), and then on Tuesday it will be the real deal,” Principal Whest Shirley said.

The practice portion that students completed Friday included essay questions and constructive response questions.

“A constructive response question is in the math part of the test, and you are explaining how you got (the answer) in a written question,” said student Sydney Ozburn, 14.

Students said they appreciated the opportunity to practice a little before facing the real thing. The LEAP test is a high-stakes test, which means if they don’t pass it, the students won’t proceed to the ninth grade.

“It has taken a lot of pressure off me,” 14-year-old Kyle Coley said. “Now I know how to be calm and not rush through it.”

Jordan Prisock, 14, said he felt more comfortable having completed the practice test as well.

“It seems like it helped me, because it showed us what we will have to do on the LEAP,” he said.

And that was a sentiment with which Ozburn agreed, saying, “Practice makes perfect.”

Teacher Belinda Freeman said the students have, for the most part, taken all of the LEAP test preparation seriously.

“They have really come in and worked hard because they know it will help them out,” she said.

LEAP testing will be completed in two phases this year. The first phase will be the writing portion of the test, which will be done March 23.

The second phase of the test, the traditional bubble tests associated with standardized testing, will be completed April 12-16.