Subscribe to The VoiceNews FeedSubscribe to The VoiceComments

Browse > Home / Opinions / C567

C567

May 17, 2010

Natasha Sosa, asst. specials sections editor  

Filed under Opinions

If you walk down the hallways at Pres on any given school-day morning, you’re liable to hear many things. It’s likely that you’ll overhear a few girls complaining about a project, and even more probable that the sounds of students stressing out over an upcoming test will reach your ears. Perhaps most frequently heard of all, however, are the stories of how exhausted and sleep-deprived Pres girls are. We know that we’re supposed to get at least 9.5 hours of sleep, but between school, projects, and the many other time-consuming activities that we all have going on, reaching that figure seems to be an impossible goal.
However, the Presentation administration has decided to take steps to combat the overall sleep issue and decrease stress in general. Next school year, the school will be implementing a policy of having a C567 day once a month, excluding the months of August and December, according to Mrs. Hernandez. These morning collaborations function just like typical collaborations; students do not need to be on campus unless they are involved in some sort of activity, which means that once a month, students can afford to sleep in.

  

This is a huge step forward for Pres. Teenagers have been proven by a number of studies to do better in school when start times are pushed back because their natural body rhythm is to wake up around 10 a.m. By having school start later on these days, students will be able to come to school more refreshed and awake than before, allowing them to focus more in the classroom and enjoy more academic successes. Instead of students being “zombies” in first period, they will instead be more animated because they will have gotten a healthy amount of sleep. 

Furthermore, the once-a-month morning collaborations provide a good compromise between after-school activities and a healthy start time. One common worry with having collaboration at the beginning of the day is that it will make after-school athletic programs impossible. However, C567 days are only scheduled to happen once a month, as well as on days that have been determined to inconvenience athletes the least, so they will not significantly interfere with the schedules of those students who do play sports. 

Even those who don’t want to use the time for sleeping in can reap benefits from the new policy. Students can use the time in the morning to finish up homework or meet with a teacher before school to ask questions. The extra block of time can also be used to work on a project. Students can even just relax and take some time off before school starts by reading or otherwise enjoying themselves. 

Overall, this new policy has the potential to enact some real change here at Pres. If this trial run succeeds, it could improve academic performances as well as overall health. Now that students can catch an extra hour or so of sleep, there will be fewer complaints about sleep deprivation circling throughout the hallways—and, if people use their time wisely, fewer test-induced panics as well. 

Email This Story Email This Story       Print This Story Print This Story      

Tags: , , ,

Comments

Feel free to leave a comment...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!