A Test for Robyn

Robyn Jacobs has a big history test on Friday, and she's telling everyone it will be a breeze - until a radio trivia contest costs her a hundred dollars over a question her class covered that very morning. Suddenly the cramming begins, with Mr. Whittaker's study tricks, a song about President Polk, and a late-night rescue from Mom and Dad. By Friday, Robyn can rattle off dates and treaties in her sleep. But when the test lands on her desk, her mind goes blank... and in a panic, she copies the answers off the boy next to her. Now Robyn has to face her mother, her teacher, and the truth. Her honesty earns her a second chance at the test, a hard-won C, and a brand-new rule: never wait until Thursday night to study.

Found on At Home and Abroad Album 12 · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

0164 Sixties-Something When a sixties nostalgia craze sweeps Odyssey, Connie goes searching for the decade's most inspiring writer - and finds far more than she bargained for.

1 of 2 0165 Bernard and Esther With the Imagination Station broken, Bernard proves a well-told story beats any machine by spinning the biblical tale of a brave young queen whose people's fate rests in her hands.

2 of 2 0166 Bernard and Esther At Whit's End, Bernard finishes his cliffhanger tale of Queen Esther, who must risk her life before the king to save her people from the scheming Haman.

0167 Dobson Comes to Town A bewildered stranger walks into Whit's End with no idea how he got there - and he turns out to be someone the whole town of Odyssey knows by name.

0168 The Curse A mysterious medicine man walks into Whit's End and pronounces an ancient curse on the building's owner - and one by one, the impossible signs start coming true.

0169 Hold Up! When a nervous stranger pulls a gun at closing time, Whit's End becomes the stage for a battle of wits - and a debate about whether people are really good at heart.

0170 A Test for Robyn A shortcut-loving Robyn learns the hard way that "cramming Thursday night" is no match for a big history test - or for her own conscience.

1 of 2 0171 The Cross of Cortes When a mysterious map from an old missionary friend draws Whit and Eugene to Mexico, their fact-finding trip turns into a treasure hunt shadowed by a dangerous rival.

2 of 2 0172 The Cross of Cortes A hunt for a legendary golden cross deep in a cave-riddled Mexican mountain turns treacherous when Whit, Eugene, and Dan discover they can't be sure who's really on their side.

0173 A Thanksgiving Carol When Eugene claims God has nothing to do with modern Thanksgiving, Whit and the gang set out to prove what the "thanks" is really about - by staging their own classic holiday tale on Kids Radio.

0174 Where's Your Daddy? A struggling mother and her two children, new to Odyssey and hiding a painful secret, find unexpected kindness at Whit's End as Christmas approaches.

0175 East, Winds Raining On Pearl Harbor Day, old Joe Finneman finally tells his great-niece what he saw in Honolulu on December 7, 1941 - and why his best friend, a Japanese American codebreaker, is the reason he can't hate anyone for that day.

1 of 2 0176 The Star A trip through the Imagination Station's new Christmas adventure separates Connie and Eugene in the ancient world, where each finds an unexpected guide on the road to the Christ child - and to King Herod's Jerusalem.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 2 more roles

2 supporting roles

Teacher Bill Maier 'Madman' Mike (a) Will Ryan

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Paul McCusker Writer Phil Lollar Director · Producer Bob Luttrell Sound Designer · Producer Chuck Bolte Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 3 min

Robyn Jacobs is bored, bored, bored - so bored that she is knocking on her sister Melanie's door looking for someone to play Chinese checkers. Melanie can't play; she is already studying for an English test that isn't until Friday, so she'll have the whole week to get ready. Robyn has a test on Friday too, in history, but she has told everyone it will be a breeze. Her plan is to cram on Thursday night and sail right through. At school the next day, her teacher reminds the class exactly what the test on Manifest Destiny will cover, then calls on Robyn, who guesses that Manifest Destiny was a boat sunk by England. The teacher warns everyone, and Robyn in particular, to give themselves plenty of time to study.

Walking home, Robyn insists that nobody ever really needs to know this boring stuff - right before the Fun 104 fun van rolls up and the station's DJ, Mike, pulls her out of the crowd as a contestant. If she can answer three trivia questions, she wins one hundred dollars. She breezes through the first two, but the last one asks what year California entered the Union - something her history class covered that very day. Robyn guesses 1846, the answer is 1850, and she walks away with nothing but a bumper sticker.

Feeling like a dimwit, Robyn decides she had better study after all and asks Eugene and Mr. Whittaker for advice. Mr. Whittaker explains that studying is never easy, but studying a little every night builds knowledge like building blocks. Since Robyn has left it late, he offers two tricks from his own childhood: turn the facts into songs, and learn the material by teaching it to someone else. Robyn tries teaching Melanie, but since she has only skimmed her book, her "lesson" comes out as a jumble of mixed-up treaties and battles. Her song about President Polk goes better, but she knows she needs real help. Too embarrassed to admit to her parents that the test won't be a breeze, she sits at dinner muttering about the Fugitive Slave Law until Melanie quietly tips off Mom and Dad. Ann and Dale come to her room and, though Dale goes on record that cramming is never the right way to study, they spend the evening helping her learn the material. By the walk to school on Friday, Robyn is rattling off dates and treaties and feels sure she is going to ace the test.

Instead, Melanie finds her after school sitting on a curb, staring at cars. When Robyn looked at the test, everything she had worked so hard to remember vanished - she went completely blank. At home she can barely eat and ends up crying in front of the television, and when her mother comes to talk, Robyn admits the whole truth: she panicked, saw the test of the boy sitting next to her, and copied his answers. She knew it was wrong, but she couldn't face failing after making such a mess of things. Ann promises they will figure something out, and together they go to see Robyn's teacher. The teacher commends Robyn for her honesty, and the principal decides that while cheating can never be condoned, honesty like hers should be rewarded - Robyn may retake the test on the spot.

Later, the whole Jacobs family celebrates with Mr. Whittaker. Robyn's new grade is a C, which everyone agrees is worth celebrating after all she has been through. The teaching trick didn't help, she admits, but the song did - it carried her through exactly one question, about Franklin Pierce. From now on, Robyn declares, she is studying for tests way in advance.