A new class schedule continues to mix things up

As everyone well knows, the schedule for this semester has changed. In these tumultuous times, members of the community and school need to be flexible as things are constantly changing.

At the beginning of the spring semester, the length of classes has been increased to an hour long, which is 15 minutes longer than previously. Closed Trojan Time on Wednesdays have remained 30 minutes, and Open Trojan Times have been completely erased from the schedule.

“I think it’s been positive,” stated Kelley O’Hern, a math teacher, when asked about whether the schedule change has been positive or negative. “We haven’t asked students directly, but I think a lot of them appreciate the extra time.”

With classes increased by 15 minutes, some people think that it has had positive effects, like allowing teachers to spend more time explaining their lesson. But others think that it has been negative.

“It’s kind of great, because… the teachers have more time to explain, but our attention span just stops at 40 minutes, and then has like 20 minutes left,” said Loura Welson, a junior.

Welson also mentioned that sitting for 15 more minutes can be painful and boring. This is mostly due to the fact that with distance learning, no one is surrounded by classmates that they can talk to and do activities with. Instead, most classes are just sitting and listening to lectures by teachers.

One positive that students have mentioned is the removal of Open Trojan Time, when twice a week students would have to create their own appointments to meet with teachers to do work.

“I like only Closed Trojan Times because Open Trojan Time was just annoying to have to sign up for and get to on time. And… I feel like no one actually did the work in that class, and just sat there,” claimed Braxton Johansen, a freshman.

Like all things, this new schedule is not perfect and made to fit every student’s needs. But one thing that several students have mentioned is wanting a longer lunch. This brings up the question of whether or not the schedule will change once again for the fourth quarter.

“It could definitely happen,” said Principal Blaine Torpey. But he also stated, “what we are really spending a lot of time focusing on is how to build the schedule for a hybrid schedule.”

In times like these, all we can do is take on the changes and go with the flow. It is possible that students may be returning to campus soon, or distance learning could continue. This time of life is unpredictable and unprecedented, so our school is doing the best to help us get our education and still enjoy it even when we are all so far apart.