Student Opinion: Senior Schedule Could Look Different
Launch the media gallery 1 playerSenior year is the last year we get before we have a huge transition and have to start managing on our own. As seniors, we are expected to think about college, jobs, money, and our future careers. On top of that we have go practices and extracurriculars. Most, if not all of us, work throughout the week or pick up shifts on the weekends. Even after all of this, we have to find time to complete all of our homework.
I think many people think of block scheduling as a way to just get out of school early, however, it’s more than that. Block scheduling would give us seniors some freedom and independence before leaving for college. This would allow us to pick up work shifts, participate in extracurriculars, and start making decisions about our future.
For us seniors in a small rural school, our schedules are already so packed. Every day Monday through Friday is a repeating cycle of school, practice, and homework. By implying the block schedule for the senior class, this would allow us to take our required classes in person at school, then leave once classes have finished. This way we don’t have to fill up the rest of our school days with non-required classes. We would get the opportunity to leave school and use our own time. Whether that is going to work, doing online classes, homework, or just doing something productive.
This is a year that we are supposed to start figuring out what comes next, but sometimes our school schedule makes it hard. There's so much going on. Block scheduling would also give us a chance to do more job shadowing and college visits without missing any of our required classes. By getting the afternoon off, seniors can use that time to fill out scholarships, apply to colleges, go on college visit, or job shadow, giving them more time to find out what they really want to do after high school. Not only does it give us some freedom and responsibility, it also allows us to figure out time management, preparing us for what the next year will bring.
When we are living in a small town and going to a small school, where students tend to always be involved in everything, having a little bit of flexibility could make a huge difference. We are all students, athletes, and employees just trying to manage it all in the same day. A senior block schedule would give us students more freedom, more responsibility, and more opportunities to explore our future. While still getting the experience and classes we need before we graduate. I think that this would be a great schedule change in our senior year.