Aug. 21, 2015
Pros and Cons of 8-Hour Day
by THS Media Gregory Miranda
What’s a new school year without a few changes right, with the addition to our new Truman staff members as well as the new yet confusing lunch schedule, the biggest change comes to our courses and schedules. When you look at that white sheet that you got during enrollment with all your personal information at the top and your courses down below, you’ll see an newly added eighth hour to the school day. Whether you're a fan of any of the changes in the 2015-2016 school year, the Independence School District, and more importantly Truman High School all have good intentions in mind. “The eight hour day was implemented to have students would have more chances to take more credits and more classes,” head principal Pamela Boatright said. And if you're are a fan of any of the new classes such as Astronomy, Meteorology or bringing back beloved past courses such as Creative Writing this gives students more academic freedom pursuing courses that are most interesting. If you enjoy the elective classes then it gives you that break throughout your day where you just relax and do what you love. While the concept of an eight hour day is not completely ironed out the way that is time oriented for the students as we all acknowledge that you may be overwhelmed with what quite possibly means more homework and less time spent on the lesson putting you in a tight spot. And having four minute passing periods turning you in the track star you never thought you'd be, running to every classes leaving you with a sigh of relief as you step into your next class, I believe you'll be thanking the school district and Truman later if you were ever in a pickle of having to take a course in high school or needing that extra practical or fine art under you belt to walk across the stage. Maybe we need more times to adjust and maybe the cons outweigh the negative but as the year goes on we'll find something we like about it and move on. |
by THS Media Abygai Pena
Most of us feel completely overwhelmed at school. In fact, Tim Elmore from “Psychology Today” write about his work with adolescents since 1979 and states “ I believe that students are more ‘stressed out’ today than at any other time I began working with them.”
You see, stress, in the simplest terms can be described as a condition in which an individual experiences challenges to physical or emotional well-being that overwhelm their coping capacity. For many students school is a big trigger of stress, with grades, friends and extracurricular activities. It can often be too much for a lot of us and adding a extra class period cannot be helping alleviate the pain and suffering felt by the masses, eight periods is no opiate. An additional class means a heavier workload which can be detrimental to students who are already having trouble with the old seven class block ruling making it hard for many to be prescribed to an adequate learning environment. Adding an additional class has changed the entire schedule and caused class times to become shorter. A noble teacher of mine said something that stuck a cord in class, “ You cannot try to cut an extra piece of a pie and expect them to still remain the same size.” What he means by this that that we cannot add an additional class and expect the classes to stay the same length that they once were, this within itself has caused the passing times to be shorter yet another stressful addendum. How? That is the only question we can ask right now. Someone please feel free to explain to me how any student is willing and able to dart from the learning villas to the third floor and make it on time, such an incredible feat should not be required by any school. The time crunch here at Truman High School is serious and approaching a danger zone. Lunch has been reduced to a mere 20 minutes and the traffic flow in the Scramble Area knocks almost half of that time out of our precious hands. Answer me this? Can we as students learn to adapt to this new schedule change and use it as a tool for practicing time management? Or will practicality give way to comfort? The district shall decide. |