Written by: Isaac Julian, Staff Writer
OPPORTUNITY: The Enrichment period is a beneficial tool for both students and teachers at Poly.
With the return to school in-person at Poly, came the addition of the Enhancement period. Every Tuesday and Thursday, all students get the chance to go to their teacher of choice for an extra period. With this change, the school’s schedule was altered to accommodate the extra period. With this came shorter class periods on these two days. The question is, how beneficial is this new period? What is it doing for the students and teachers at Poly? Both of these groups were asked to give their insight into these questions.
The most common concern was the time taken away from already-existing classes. This meant that, twice per week, teachers were forced to fit their whole agenda into periods that were ten minutes shorter than before. Mrs. Dubuisson pointed out that the period length before Enrichment was preferred, and with the new schedule being “just a little too short for [her] AP US History classes.” Other teachers such as Mr. Schiller said that they “used to feel that way” about the lack of time, but their perspective changed over time. Nearly every teacher at Poly agreed that this downside is far outweighed by Enrichment’s benefits.
The ability to get makeup work and test corrections done during the school day seems to be the most appreciated aspect of this period. Before Enrichment’s addition, students would be expected to make time on their own to make up any missed work. When asked, Mrs. Wilson put it best. She brought up how “a lot of kids don’t have the ability to get to school early or stay late,” making it difficult to arrange time outside of school hours. Wilson asserts that the only alternative is coming in during lunch, causing students to miss their “mental break” and “time with their peers.” The absence of this new period would leave less time for students to stay on top of this make-up work and puts even more stress on them to arrange it themselves. If someone is struggling in class, they no longer have to worry about missing out on things in their own life to get back on track.
But what are the students’ views on this extra time? It seems that most kids have learned to utilize the time to suit themselves best. Maxim Strong (11), had to miss a couple of days in the past week because of sickness and used the period to “make up things [he’s] missed” in his absence. Many students like Gisselle Cline (11), need the extra time “to actually get homework done with [her] double sports practices,” which makes her evenings very busy. For those who have already worked hard, Enrichment can be a time to decompress for a bit. Lars Atkinson (11) says he likes to “just hang out and have fun” after the morning grind. These kids have the freedom to choose how they spend this extra time, and most are wise with this decision.
The logical conclusion to pull from these opinions is that Enrichment is here to stay. Providing opportunities to both the students and teachers, helps everyone on campus stay on track and progress through the year. It seems that Poly made the right decision in adding Enrichment, and hopefully it will continue to help the students learn. Use your Enrichment time wisely Bears for your individual needs.