By Versailles Dalessio, Staff Writer
We’ve all heard the dreadful news. Longer classes Mondays and Fridays, but no time to work on the stacks of papers we’ve been given. Yet, is it as bad as we make it out to be? Some make it a bigger deal than it should be. If we just ignore the urge to look at the clock, then maybe time is going by faster than we think.
As the new school year approached, the administration decided to tighten up on Empower Time and schedule it between fourth and fifth period. Students tend to have more assignments to work on toward the end of the day, and this schedule encourages them to be more efficient in getting tasks done.
Now students are less likely to distract others from their work, as they’re being occupied with their own. It’s so much easier to focus in a peaceful environment with little disturbance.
Next thing adjusted was the length of Empower Time from 29 to 35 minutes. Although this seems like little to no change at all, when you’re rushing to get down those last thoughts on a piece of paper, you’ll realize how much of a game changer it really is.
For three days of the week – Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday – we’re now given time to complete our assignments, so we have more spare time after school to use as we wish. Aside from classes being slightly longer on Mondays and Fridays, if you put it into perspective, this new schedule isn’t as bad as we thought.
Last year many of us, including myself, relied on Empower Time to finish anything that wasn’t finished the previous night, making us less accountable for doing our work. Being given this time three days a week and closer to the end of the day, holds us responsible for getting our work done on our own and not using this time as just catch-up.
However, rather than teachers claiming you every second nine-weeks, we’re being claimed in two-week intervals, which helps out if we’re put with teachers we don’t necessarily want.
Now we don’t have to worry about being stuck in an unfamiliar place or being without our friends for too long. If worse comes to worst, we’re only there for two weeks at a time.
It’s nice to get out five minutes earlier in case traffic’s bad and you’re running late for work, or just simply because you’ve had a long day and you’re ready to leave. School gets out at precisely 3:10 every day, so why grumble over the short few minutes put into classes on just two days of the week?
MONDAY-FRIDAY SCHEDULE
- 1st: 8:05-9:05
- 2nd: 9:11-10:55
- 3rd: 11:01-12:58
- 4th: 1:04-2:04
- 5th: 2:10-3:10
TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY ET SCHEDULE
- 1st: 8:05-8:56
- 2nd: 9:01-10:39
- 3rd: 10:44-12:38
- 4th: 12:43-1:34
- ET: 1:39-2:14
- 5th: 2:19-3:10
Sophomore Versailles Dalessio can be reached @[email protected].
