TOPSFIELD -- During the winter months, colds and flu run rampant through busy school hallways as millions of germs linger on every doorknob and handrail.

But seniors beware: Another illness lurks in the classroom, and it targets only the school's eldest students.

Although not an actual medical malady, "senioritis" is a contagious condition that rears its ugly head when high school graduation is just months away.

The affliction is known by many terms, like senior slide or senior slump. But there's only one thing that Masconomet High School officials want their students to know it as: a very bad idea.

To burnt-out high school seniors, slacking off during second semester | after they've already been accepted to a college or job | can be tempting, especially after surviving SATs, college applications, midterms, and planning the rest of their adult lives.

That senior slump mentality starts to take over: Homework? Not doing it. Studying? Not going to bother. Activities? Don't feel like going.

"I want to go on it so bad," said senior Allyson Hoyt of Middleton of the senior slump, as if she were talking about a Caribbean cruise. "It's so tempting."

"I'm trying to stay out of it after midterms," said Ashley Leighton, a senior from Boxford. "But definitely everyone is starting to slack."

But high school officials warn seniors that a mental meltdown during their last semester isn't a good idea. Richard Meegan, director of the guidance department at Masconomet Regional High School, said taking it easy now will only come back to haunt students, especially if they plan to pursue higher education.

"More kids are applying to college than ever before, which means more competition," he said.

Meegan said that because colleges see more applicants, they can be more selective. If a senior's grades take a serious dive in the student's last semester, a college could be tempted to offer the slot to someone who appears more focused on intellectual pursuits.

"Definitely keep on track," warned Leighton. She hopes to major in business or psychology next year, but hasn't heard back yet from all the colleges she applied to. "The better your grades are, the better chance you have."

Meegan attended a college admissions seminar last year, hosted by Ivy League heavyweights like Harvard, and heard it directly from the horse's mouth | the final semester matters.

"They made it clear to us that they check second-semester grades," he said of the college admissions officers who spoke with him. "They said that since the admissions process is done, they don't have much else to do."

At Masconomet, second-semester grades, no matter how ghastly, are sent to the colleges that every student plans to attend. And in some cases, would-be grads have received letters expressing concern from their new schools.

"A school in Pennsylvania actually required one of our students to come down and explain why they let things go," Meegan said.

Many of those threatening letters have been saved by the guidance counselors and distributed to all new seniors to prove how real the danger is.

"It's not that you want to scare them," Meegan explained. "You want to educate them. This is not a scare tactic. It's a promise."

Masco guidance counselors hold many seminars and educational programs about how important the final semester is, encouraging kids to stay involved in the school. They've called on the parents to keep the pressure on their seniors. They've called on the teachers to keep their expectations high.

Before becoming director of the guidance department in July, Meegan spent 39 years as a social studies teacher at Masconomet High School, 15 years of which he was the department head. He has taught many top students in Advanced Placement psychology at Masco, but has also seen his fair share of disappointing senior send-offs.

"Last year was one of the worst I've ever seen," Meegan remembered. "First semester, the students had mostly A's and B's. But in the second semester, I failed a couple of people, only because they didn't do the work. I even had a few D's and C's."

The reality, however, is that no matter how much the teachers, parents, and counselors push, the final say in the "to slack or not to slack" predicament lies with the students.

"There are some kids that take a lot of pride in what they do," Meegan said. "It's not about the end product, but the process. But I think some people are only thinking of the end result. Ultimately, it's up to the students. We're really limited in what we can do."

Some college-bound seniors have found ways of staying motivated as they inch closer to the light at the end of their high school tunnel.

"I want to be able to go to my dream school, and they expect a lot," said Hoyt, who hopes to attend Babson College in the fall. "And my parents, I don't want to feel their wrath."

Many seniors also feel the pull of the "last hurrah" in high school, and are determined to get the most out of every second they have left at Masco, inside the classroom and out.

"I never got involved in school," Hoyt said. "But this year, any senior event, I've been there. Any big game, I've been there."





Masco facts

Total enrollment: 1440

Class of 2007: About 335 students

Highest grade-point average (weighted, after six semesters): 5.146, out of a possible 5.3

College placement, Class of 2006: four-year college, 82 percent; two-year college, 11 percent; other schooling, 1 percent; armed forces,1 percent, other, 5 percent