J-Staff believes in block

March 1, 2010 • Journalism Staff  
Filed under Opinion

If the school board were to take away block scheduling and replace it with seven class periods a day, high-schoolers’ lives would be severely affected in many ways.

Students are extremely busy; they are busier and have more responsibilities than the generation before. With school, sports practices, then another practice of some sort, possibly even work and then homework, students’ after school hours are tightly packed.

Holton High has a very diverse group of students. There are dancers, football players, soccer players, baseball players, softball players, indoor track athletes, hockey stars and so many others. With ten-minute break and late start diminished, students have already felt the beginning of a rocky change. Now, with the possibility of losing a very preferred schedule, and more staff members, students are wondering about other solutions. Why not eliminate a plan time for teachers? Instead of having a plan every day, they can have one every other day. It might be a little bit harder, meaning they’ll have to do more work outside of school, but it would free up more teachers to teach the classes and enable students to keep their block schedule.

Lectures take up approximately forty-five to fifty minutes when learning something new in a class. If seven class periods a day goes in to effect, the lecture will take up the entire class period, leaving students to do their homework outside of class. It’s possible for the students to forget what they learned in class and have to guess on their homework late at night when they finally get some time to do it. With block scheduling, students can take more classes and they have more hands on learning, time for more one-on-one help with the teachers, and two days to do homework, instead of just one. Block scheduling is more ideal in preparing students for college classes and it teaches them more time management skills.

Another possibility for saving money is to not give every student a laptop. The FFA, journalism students, graphic design students and other students that may need them every day can have one. But is it truly necessary for every student to have a laptop? Some students don’t use their computers at all, and when there is no need, there is no care taken. This is why they get damaged and broken. The teachers who need the computers should have a cart in the back of the room. Then the computers could be used when they’re needed.

In conclusion, block scheduling and smarter computer usage is better for the students at Holton High School. Please take this into mind when considering the current situation. Decisions made will not only affect 318 students, but also 27 teachers, 5 paras, 3 aides, 3 cooks, 3 secretaries, and 2 counselors.

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