Second semester brings improved version of Trojan Time

The new semester brought with it new grades, tests, sports, and Trojan Time. Feb. 26 – 27 was the first time the new, second-semester version of Trojan Time at CVHS took place.

During the first semester, Trojan Time was a time set aside on block days for students to learn about school values, goal setting, community building, and more with their third period classes. Starting in the second semester, students are given the opportunity to sign up for a class of their choice through the TeachMore system. While many students disliked the first semester version of Trojan Time, many now like the fact that there is time set aside specifically for them to spend getting help from their teachers.

“It’s an interesting addition to our day. It’s a great time to study and do homework and get the help you need to succeed in your classes,” sophomore Sophia Siopack explained.

Students have the freedom to choose which class they want to go to, as long it is one of their current teachers. Some teachers use Trojan Time to give help to students that are struggling or have questions, while others are offering open study halls.

“It’s a good time to get my work done,” junior Miranda Jiang said. “But I can also get help from my teachers if I need it.”

“Teachers feel similarly,” added Spanish teacher and Trojan Time coordinator Candice Tigerman. “We appreciate having opportunities to have extra time to work with students.”

The second semester Trojan Time seems to be effective and successful so far, but some have doubts and found problems with the new system.

“I like how it is second semester and you can use it as a study hall. I don’t know how effective it is as another class period during the day,” sophomore Miles Bardin said. “I would rather use the time to actually be in my classes.”

Teachers are able to limit the number of students signing up for their class on the TeachMore site to make sure their class won’t overfill. However, some teachers forgot to add limits to their classes during the first week and weren’t able to accept all the students that originally signed up for their class. This caused some students to complain of being “kicked out of classes.”

“Trojan Time is constantly evolving and we are working on figuring out the best way to serve the most possible students,” Tigerman explained. “There will be some hiccups, or growing pains, along the way.”

Looking to the future, Tigerman is confident that Trojan Time will return next year, although the school year will start off with how the current Trojan Time is, instead of reverting back to how it was during first semester this year.

“Overall, it’s pretty impressive to be able to have such a big change at such a big school and have it be so successful,” Tigerman said.